CNDH PRESIDENT CALLS FOR PROTECTION OF HIV/AIDS EFFECTED PERSONS AGAINST ALL FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION

Mr. Driss El Yazami, president of the (Moroccan) National Human Rights Council, said during the opening session of a seminar on AIDS and human rights, held in Rabat on September 27, 2011, that “AIDS effected persons are victims of different, explicit and implicit, forms of discrimination”. We need to eliminate stereotypes and protect these persons and their families and provide them with access to treatment, he added.

This seminar was organized by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), UNAIDS and the (Moroccan) National Program to Fight against AIDS. It was held in line with the implementation of a project that aims to protect human rights of HIV/AIDS effected persons.

Insisting on the importance of human rights based approach in the fight against AIDS, Mr. El Yazami indicated that the Council (CNDH) is committed to fight against this disease. CNDH has signed a partnership agreement with UNAIDS, which should be developed to be implemented at the level of the 13 CNDH regional human rights commissions, he said.

CNDH president called all stakeholders (civil society, health sector, national institutions working in the field of human rights, etc.) to unite their efforts to fight stigmatization and discrimination against HIV/AIDS effected persons.

For his part, Mr. Kamal Alami, UNAIDS representative, stressed that the protection of patients’ rights necessitates the strengthening of the human rights based approach. Failure to adopt this approach has negative impacts on the situations of this group in terms of access to treatment, social integrity and enjoyment of rights, he said.

Director of the Ministry of Health’s Directorate of Epidemiology and Diseases Control Mr. Abderrahmane Benmamoune explained that the ministry relied, within the framework of the implementation of the national strategy to fight against AIDS, on both the human rights and law based approaches. He highlighted the need to adopt the human rights based approach in strategies related to the fight against diseases like the tuberculosis and the smallpox.

Several contributions were presented during this seminar. In this regard Mr. Bouchaib Doulkifel, advisor to CNDH president, gave a presentation in which he shed light on the role of CNDH in the fight against AIDS. He highlighted the Council’s mandate in the protection of human rights and liberties, including the rights of HIV/AIDS effected persons.

A study on the different forms of stigmatization and discrimination against this group was presented by the representative of the Association for the Fight against AIDS. All contributions stressed the need to protect HIV/AIDS effected persons’ human rights.

This seminar was organized in sessions, including “role of CNDH in the fight against AIDS”, “legislative aspects of the fight against AIDS”, etc. Its conclusions will be exploited in the drafting of a CNDH plan of action on AIDS and human rights.