CNDH AND TUNISIA’S NATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS COMMISSION DISCUSS THE EXEPERIENCE OF THE MOROCCAN TRUTH COMMISSION

The 2-day meeting between the (Moroccan) National Human Rights Council the delegation of the “National Commission on Investigation into the abuses recorded during the period from 17 December 2010 until the achievement of its subject” kicked off on Monday July 18, 2011.

This meeting was held in cooperation with the regional office of UN Women in North Africa. It aimed to present and discuss the experience of the Moroccan truth commission and its working mechanisms.

During the opening session, CNDH President, Mr. Driss El Yazami, highlighted the importance of exchange in the field of transitional justice. He said that this exchange does not exclude the fact that each experience has its own characteristics that make it unique in this field. “I think that the Tunisian people will find thier own path in the field of transitional justice given the potential of the Tunisian society”, he added.

Mr. El Yazami indicated that the Council has supported several experiences in the field. It has recently supported the creation of Togo’s truth commission.

For his part, Mr. Tawfiq Bouderbala, President of the Tunisian National Commission, shed light on the mandate of the his commission, composed of 16 members, including nine women. The commission is primarily concerned with the elucidation of truth about the violations, he said. He added that the commission started its work but come to realize that there is a need to strengthen the capacities of its members and consider international experiences in the field. “Each country has its own particularities and specificities in the field of transitional justice, the commission is very interested in the Moroccan experience”, he said.

Ms Leila Rhiwi, coordinator of the regional office of UN Women in North Africa, highlighted the eagerness of her office to share the experiences of transitional justice in the Maghreb region. The office always insists on the integration of gender approach in such processes, she said, underlining the importance of exchange and interaction between the experiences of transitional justice in the region.

Several points were scheduled during this meeting, including: ’listening techniques and data collection’, ’precautions that must be taken to take into account the psychological state of victims’, ’files analysis techniques’, ’creation of database: collection and analysis tools’, ’drafting techniques of the final report’, etc. Several former IER members and staff members will attend these sessions.

The Tunisian delegation visited the headquarters of the Moroccan former truth commission, the Inter-ministerial Delegation for Human Rights, Driss Benzekri Foundation for Human Rights and Democracy and other civil society groups...

The participants highlighted IER’s main work areas. These areas were a kind of roadmap of reforms and measures to be taken to strengthen the rule of law, namely:

 identification of the political, constitutional, legislative and social contexts of the past serious human rights violations;

 identification of the types of violations;

 elucidation of truth regarding the fate of those whose fate remains unknown;

 preparation of the foundations that will guarantee the non-repetition of such violations;

 preservation of memory and conversion of its individual dimension to a collective dimension;

 organization of public hearings;

 Individual and community (collective) reparation.