Moroccan government council approved the bill No. 76- 15 on the reorganization of the National Human Rights Council

The Moroccan government council approved the bill No. 76- 15 on the reorganization of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) of Morocco on Tuesday 25 May 2017.

The press release of the government council indicated that the bill presented by the Moroccan State Minister for Human Rights, aims to reorganize the CNDH according to articles 161 and 171 of the Constitution.

This text will complete the implementation of a national system for the protection and promotion of human rights.

By virtue of this bill, the CNDH action will be reinforced, as it would play the role of three main mechanisms provided by international instruments, mainly:

• The national children redress mechanism for children’s victims of violations;
• The independent mechanism to promote, protect and monitor the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities;
• The national preventive mechanism against torture (NPM).

This draft law aims, as well, to enhance the role of the CNDH to mainstream the human rights approach in various public policies and the national legal system in order to guarantee for citizens the effective enjoyment of their civil, political, economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, as provided for by the Moroccan constitution and the international human rights instruments ratified by Morocco.

This text proposes to anchor the pluralistic and pluridisciplinary nature of the composition of the CNDH. It also enshrines and reinforces the experience of the regional human rights commissions (CRDHs). This text is in line with the Paris Principle governing National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) and the Belgrade Principles on the relationship between NHRIs and Parliaments approved by the Human Rights Council at its 20^th session (18 June- 6 July 2012 in Geneva).

Finally, this bill took into account the general comments of the Subcommittee on Accreditation under the Global Alliance of National Human Rights Institutions (GANHRI).