Drâa-Tafilalet Region: CRDH Holds Its 12th Regular Meeting
In line with Law 76-15 on the reorganization of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and its Rules of Procedures, the Regional Human Rights Commission (CRDH) in the Drâa-Tafilalet region, Morocco, will hold its 12th Regular Meeting on Saturday 15 June 2024, at 9 am, at the CRDH headquarters in Errachidia, Morocco.
Mrs. Fatima Aârach, President of the CRDH in the Draa-Tafilalet region, will chair this meeting.
The program of this meeting includes the presentation of CRDH activities from 2019 to mid-June 2024, outcomes of CRDH’s Standing Committees, discussion and approval of CRDH members’ reports, presentation and approval of the CRDH draft semi-annual report 2024, establishment of the committee for final drafting of the report, and presentation of progress on the CRDH’s action program 2024.
The CRDH in the Draa-Tafilalet region was inaugurated on 8 October 2020. It comprises three standing committees: Standing Committee on Protecting Human Rights, Standing Committee on Promoting Human Rights, and Standing Committee on Following up and Assessing Public Policies.
Contact:
Phone: +212 535 79 11 82
Email: crdh.draatafilalet@cndh.org.ma
Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima Region: Training Session on International Human Rights Conventions and Effective Access to Justice- Role of Attorney
The Regional Human Rights Commission (CRDH) in Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima, in partnership with the Tangier Bar Association, will organize a training session on “International Human Rights Conventions and Effective Access to Justice- Role of Attorney,” on Thursday 13 June 2024 in Tangier, Morocco.
This event is part of the implementation of the partnership agreement between CRDH and the Bar Association. It is included in CRDH’s annual action plan for promoting human rights culture.
The training session aims to raise awareness among lawyers about the contents of international conventions. It emphasizes the importance of these instruments as a reference framework in lawyers’ arguments for defending and protecting fundamental human rights and freedoms. It also aims to enhance their roles in redress and positively influence the administration of justice.
Mr. Anas Saadoun, Judge assigned to the Chairperson of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), will facilitate this training session.
Participants will focus, through workshops, on understanding concepts of the effectiveness of human rights, the supremacy of international conventions over national legislation and the role of lawyers in integrating the conventions contents into judicial practice.
CRDH President, President of the Bar Association and Head of Rights and Freedoms Committee at the Bar Association will deliver opening statements.
Protection Thursday Program: Foreigners and Discrimination, Current Situation in light of the CERD Concluding Observations
Within the framework of its monthly program, “Protection Thursday,” and on the occasion of the International Day for Countering Hate Speech, marked on June 18 each year, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) organizes an interactive online symposium on “Foreigners and Discrimination, Current Situation in light of the concluding observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)”, at 6:30 pm, on Thursday 13 June 2024.
The proceedings of this symposium will be live on the CNDH’s Facebook page.
It is part of the CNDH’s monthly program "Protection Thursday", and the continuation of its online seminars on "Protecting human rights within the context of migration”.
It aims to explore hate speech and its associated forms of discrimination and address the roles of relevant protective mechanisms. It also seeks to highlight interactions related to ways of enhancing stakeholders’ engagement in promoting equal rights and combating all forms of discrimination in light of the CERD concluding observations, following its review of Morocco’s report in November 2023.
Mrs. Amina Bouayach, CNDH Chairperson, will deliver an opening statement at this symposium.
Mr. Abderrafie Hamdi, Head of the CNDH Protection and Monitoring Directorate, will moderate this seminar.
Participants will focus on several key issues, including the national legislative framework and the development of a protection system, challenges faced by foreigners in achieving equality, civil society experiences, CNDH recommendations and outcomes regarding racial discrimination, CERD Concluding Observations, and the intersectional approach as a tool for combating discrimination.
Since 2013, Morocco has approved the National Strategy for Migration and Asylum. About a decade ago, several action programs were implemented to support foreigners’ social and economic integration and enhance respect for human rights in managing migration.
CNDH Shares its Experience and Expertise with Central African Republic NHRI
The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) will meet, from 10 and 14 June 2024, with a delegation from the National Commission for Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of the Central African Republic, led by Mr. Yackoisset Ossene, Chair of the Commission.
During this visit, the CNDH will share its experience as a National Human Rights Institution (NHRI) for the protection and promotion of human rights.
Ms. Amina Bouayach, CNDH Chairperson, will launch the opening session of this visit on Monday 10 June 2024, at 10 am at the CNDH headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.
This visit is part of the CNDH actions aiming to strengthen its relations with NHRIs members of the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), share its expertise and experiences and encourage the establishment of African NHRIs and raising their voices in various forums and events.
This visit is also part of the CNDH’s effort to assist the Central African Republic NHRI in acquiring membership in the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI) and supporting its request for accreditation from the GANHRI Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA).
The program includes several aspects related to the experience of transitional justice in Morocco.
The delegation will also visit the CNDH photo exhibition featuring the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission. Additionally, they will meet with the CNDH officials to gain insights into the CNDH missions, including monitoring and protecting human rights, handling complaints, detainees’ rights, data processing, foreigners’ rights, protection of persons with disabilities and children, trials observation, drafting reports and opinions, among others.
The CNDH will also share insights on its experience as a NHRI that hosts three national mechanisms (National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, National Child Redress Mechanism, and National Mechanism for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities).
The delegation will visit the CNDH Regional Commission in the Casablanca-Settat region and the cemetery of the 1981 social events victims in Casablanca, Morocco.
Study day: Exploring Child Exploitation through Begging and Ensuring Protection
The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) /National Child Redress Mechanism is organizing a study day entitled “Phenomenon of Child Exploitation through Begging: What Protection?” on Friday 7 June 2024, at 9 am at the CNDH headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.
The study day aims to shed light on this issue and its repercussions on child rights and to formulate recommendations and proposals that would contribute to reducing the phenomenon and its causes so that children can enjoy all their rights stipulated in international agreements, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Participants will address child begging issue through approaches focusing mainly on understanding this phenomenon in terms of causes, repercussions, and methods of exploiting children. They will also examine the effective implementation of an integrated public policy for child protection and the harmonization of the national protective legislative system with the international normative framework. Besides, stakeholders will explore the convergence in terms of approach/intervention and the connection to human trafficking and access to rehabilitation programs for children.
Representatives of the Ministry of Solidarity, Social Inclusion and Family, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Presidency of the Public Prosecution, and Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE), will participate in this study day. Academic experts and associations working in the field of child protection will also take part in this event.
CNDH Regional Commission in Tangier, Morocco, organizes Round Table on Children Sexual Abuse and Strengthening Protection Mechanisms
The Regional Human Rights Commission (CRDH) in the Tangier-Tetouan-Al Hoceima region is organizing a round table on “Children Sexual Abuse and strengthening protection mechanisms” on Friday 24 May 2024, at 3:30 p.m. in Tangier, Morocco.
This meeting is part of the CRDH mandate related to promoting and protecting human rights. It is also the implementation of its annual action program.
The symposium aims to engage relevant stakeholders working in childhood sectors to diagnose the current situation and determine the effectiveness of sectoral mechanisms and programs in protecting children and combating violence against them, particularly those in vulnerable situations.
The meeting also seeks to draw attention to the gravity of these abuses on physical and mental health of children, as underlined in reports from the World Health Organization. It will be an opportunity to urge relevant stakeholders to address this issue by encouraging reporting, enhancing prevention mechanisms, and ensuring the effectiveness of public policies, aligning with international human rights conventions, particularly the Convention on the Rights of the Child and its two Optional Protocols, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Agenda by 2030.
National Child Redress Mechanism, judges, lawyers, psychoanalysts, institutional actors, civil society organizations and experts will participate in this event.
Protecting Child Rights in the Context of the Atlas Earthquake: CNDH Preliminary Recommendations Resulting from Digital Monitoring and On-site Visits
In line with its missions and mandate enshrined in its Law No. 76-15, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) will present its reports entitled “Protection of Child Rights amidst the Atlas Earthquake- September 8, 2023: CNDH Recommendations Resulting from Digital Monitoring and On-site Visits.”
The presentation of this report will take place on Friday 24 May 2024, at 9:00 am, at the CNDH headquarters in Rabat, Morocco.
These conclusions and recommendations, which coincide with the commemoration of the National Day for the Rights of the Child, are part of the CNDH interaction with the Atlas earthquake tragedy occurring on September 8, 2023.
Within this context, Ms. Amina Bouayach, CNDH Chairperson, initiated a working group to follow up on the human rights situation in the affected areas. She also established a specific follow-up system for child rights through on-site visits and digital monitoring.
CNDH Chairperson stated that these recommendations concern the legal, procedural and converging dimensions of public policies established for children. They are recommendations related to enhancing proactiveness and resilience in disaster response, promoting the principle of children’s participation and advocating for conditions conducive to a safe digital environment, thus limiting misinformation.
These conclusions and recommendations address child rights issues in the digital space and beyond. They are founded on the centrality of protecting child rights across its normative, procedural and value-driven dimensions and the place of this specific protection in the CNDH priority directions. This commitment is reflected in the CNDH’s focus on monitoring, follow-up and redress, whether in ordinary circumstances or during crises.
Respecting the principle of children’s participation, the CNDH will ensure the participation of children in this meeting. The CNDH will also invite a girl or a boy to chair the opening session of this event.
Amina Bouayach receives prestigious North-South Prize tomorrow in Lisbon
Chairperson of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council, Ms Amina Bouayach, will be honored during the celebration of the 29th North-South Prize of the Council of Europe award ceremony, on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, in Lisbon, Portugal. She will receive the 2023 prestigious North-South Prize, and address the ceremony, at the Portuguese Parliament.
The Prize will be presented by H.E President of the Portuguese Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and President of the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
First Moroccan woman and third Moroccan figure to win the North South Prize (after His Majesty's advisor, Mr. André Azoulay, and the late former Prime Minister, Mr. Abderrahmane Youssoufi), Ms Bouayach was awarded the prize in “recognition of her commitment to the promotion of Human Rights, gender equality and the prevention of torture on a regional and continental levels”. The Prize, as announced in January 2024, aimed as well to “recognize Ms. Bouayach´s engagement in political advocacy for the abolition of death penalty, as well as her work to reinforce both civil society structures in the Mediterranean region and North-South cooperation based on common democratic values.”
The Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjørn Berge, as well as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the North-South Centre, Ambassador Francesca Camilleri Vettiger, will also take part in award ceremony.
The North-South Prize is awarded each year since 1995 to two candidates (activists, personalities or organisations) who have stood out for their exceptional commitment to promoting North-South solidarity.
CNDH Pavilion Closing Ceremony at 29th Session of the SIEL
“CNDH Pavilion created interaction with thousands of visitors and followers on Facebook and X platforms. Over 100 national and international participants and hundreds of children from all Moroccan regions took part in more than 40 events”
The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) Pavilion held its closing ceremony at the International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL), which was held from 9 to 19 May 2024 in Rabat, Morocco.
This year, the CNDH Pavilion at SIEL coincided with the celebration of 20 years of the establishment of Reconciliation and Equity Commission (known under its French acronym IER).
Commemorating the “20 years of Truth, Justice and Reconciliation… a Milestone and a Process”, the CNDH pavilion shared with its visitors, including children and youth, Morocco’s transitional justice experience, pioneering at national, regional and international levels.
Ms. Amina Bouayach, CNDH Chairperson, stated that the CNDH succeeded in expanding awareness about Morocco's transitional justice experience and sharing the resulting legislative and constitutional reforms. This year, the Human Rights Pavilion addressed current and emerging issues and challenges, as part of the priorities of the effectiveness of human rights and freedoms.
Over the ten-day event, the Human Rights Pavilion hosted thousands of visitors from different groups, ages and nationalities. 13 seminars facilitated by Moroccan and foreign experts and stakeholders, including more than 100 figures from various fields, along with institutional and civil partners and human rights activists.
The CNDH also organized 19 literary discussions on publications approaching emerging human rights issues. Distinguished national and international authors and writers (Morocco, Ivory Coast, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Burundi, Palestine, Gabon, and Burkina Faso) participated in these meetings. Significant space was provided to present novels and poets in Amazigh and Hassani languages to promote cultural and linguistic pluralism of Moroccan identity.
Implementing the principle of participation, which the CNDH advocates to institutionalize, the CNDH Pavilion hosted each morning children from all Moroccan regions and provided them with a platform to raise their voices and express their concerns and expectations through various artistic performances, including theatre, drawing, singing and music.
Ms. Bouayach also met with a delegation of Palestinian children from Alquds who visited the CNDH Pavilion at the SIEL.
The Human Rights Pavilion was an open and inclusive space embracing all voices and perspectives. It provided accessibility for persons with disabilities, including sign language, tactile paving guidance for blind and visually impaired persons, accessible shelves, writing tables and entrance to receive visitors with mobility disabilities.
Enhancing its digital interaction with its social media platforms’ followers, all CNDH activities were online live on its Facebook platform with more than 60 hours of sign language interpretation.
Hence, the CNDH achieved significant interaction on its Facebook and X platforms. At least 350,000 people viewed one of the CNDH content (an increase of 1000%), amounting to 350 publications, videos and tweets in various languages (Arabic, Amazigh and English). At least 46,000 people interacted with these publications.
Human Rights Pavilion at 29th session of SIEL 2024 commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission
“Commemorating 20 Years of Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation...a Milestone and a Process”
13 intellectual symposiums with 76 national and international speakers, 17 literary discussions addressing transitional justice, memory preservation, and current and emerging human rights issues...
On the occasion of the 29th session of the International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL), taking place from 9 to 19 June 2024 in Rabat, Morocco, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) pavilion commemorates the two decades anniversary of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) experience.
Under the slogan “Commemorating Truth, Equity and Reconciliation... a Milestone and a Process,” the CNDH participation in SIEL 2024 aims to highlight Morocco’s pioneering transitional justice experience at the national, regional and international levels.
Ms. Amina Bouayach, CNDH Chairperson, emphasized that the pavilion’s main theme is dedicated to commemorating twenty years of truth, justice and reconciliation- a milestone and a process. The CNDH’s aim extends beyond a mere celebration; it seeks to share insights with visitors on the various facets of Morocco’s transitional justice journey, including significant legislative and constitutional reforms and achievements. It also aims to foster reflection, meaningful dialogue, and the exchange of perspectives among creators, writers, authors, civil society, readers, youth, students and children.
As customary, the Human Rights Pavilion stands as an open and inclusive space, embracing all voices and perspectives. Its activities will focus on issues related to Morocco’s transitional justice experience, exploring its diverse interpretations through literary discussions, seminars and testimonials.
Children and youth from across Morocco will participate in the CNDH events on this occasion.
Over the ten-day event, the Human Rights Pavilion will host 13 seminars facilitated by Moroccan and foreign experts and stakeholders, including 76 figures from various fields, along with 17 literary discussions on publications addressing transitional justice, memory preservation, and current and emerging human rights issues- a reflection of the priorities regarding the effectiveness of human rights and freedoms.
250 girls and boys from the 12 Moroccan regions will participate in the CNDH events.
The CNDH will also exhibit its publications including annual and thematic reports, memoranda and opinions, etc.
Participants will address key themes including literature and its intersection with major contemporary tragedies as well as its role in promoting cultural expression and diversity. They will also explore topics such as Morocco’s interaction with the international human rights system, youth civic engagement amidst social transformation, multi-element national identity and establishing the Amazigh New Year as an official holiday, human rights through the prism of memory and history, the right to water, Morocco’s presidency of the Human Rights Council, National preventive mechanism against torture as part of the non-recurrence guarantee recommendation, and more.
The CNDH pavilion will host open meetings featuring esteemed writers, poets, and philosophers, including Abdellatif Laâbi (Morocco), Charline Effah (Gabon), Tarik El-Ariss (Lebanon), Ahmed Haddachi (Morocco), and Monique Elboudo (Burkina Faso), Omar Ait Said (Morocco), Concilie Bigiramana (Burundi), Said Belgharbi (Morocco), Véronique Tadjo (Ivory Coast), Taoufik El Ouadie (Morocco), Othman Siloum (Morocco), among others.
Accessibility for persons with disabilities, including sign language, will be provided at the CNDH pavilion.
Each morning, it will host artistic children’s performances, offering an opportunity to interact with their expressions and creativity as part of the implementation of the principle of children’s participation, which the CNDH advocates to institutionalize.