Human Rights and Postage Stamps, East of Morocco
The traveling exhibition on “Human Rights and Postage Stamps”, organized by Poste du Maroc in cooperation with the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH), the United Nations Information Office and Amnesty International (Morocco Section) on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will arrive in Oujda, east of Morocco, on February 7, 2009.
The exhibition, which was already held in Rabat and Tangier, will make it possible to exhibit a set of postage stamps on human rights in Morocco.
On this occasion, Poste du Maroc will release a special postage stamp at this exhibition, which will be held on February 7, 2009, at 17.00 at the Galeries des arts, located at Mhaj Prince Héritier Moulay Hassan, Oujda.
Preserving the Memory: Case of Tazmamart
In cooperation with the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ), the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) and the Association of Victims of Tazmamart Prison (AVIBAT) organize on December 22, 2008, in Rabat, a workshop on “Preserving Positive Memory: Case of Tazmamart”.
The workshop will be a major step to exchange views between various international, national and local stakeholders involved in preserving the memory linked to political violence, with the aim to enrich the first proposals on the Tazmamart site.
The meeting will see the participation of human rights associations, the Errachidia Local Coordination Body of Community Reparation, as well as partners of the CCDH in this program, namely the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Culture, the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), the CDG, a financial group, the Ministry of Housing, in addition to several experts: historians, artists, filmmakers, architects etc ....
The opening of the workshop is scheduled at 9:00 am at Hotel Tulip Farah in Rabat, and will be attended by Mr. Ahmed Herzenni, CCDH President, Mr. Ahmed Merzouki, AVIBAT President, and Mr Habib Nessar, ICTJ representative.
Seminar on the Death Penalty
The Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) and Ensemble Contre la Peine de Mort (ECPM), a French association, organize, on October 11-12, 2008 in Rabat, a seminar on the death penalty.
The seminar aims to set the stage for a scientific, objective and calm debate on the death penalty issue according to several approaches: legal, religious, sociological and human rights.
This meeting sees the participation of CCDH members, representatives of the government departments concerned, parliamentarians, judges, lawyers, academics, Muslim scholars (Ulemas), NGOs, media and many national and international experts in the field.
Three plenary sessions will mark the seminar, revolving around the following themes:
• Death penalty and Human Rights;
• Death penalty in the Islamic doctrine;
• Death penalty in national legislation;
• Death penalty from the perspective of criminology;
• Death penalty from an international viewpoint.
The opening of the proceedings of the seminar, which will be chaired by Ahmed Herzenni, CCDH President, will take place at 9:00 am at the Hotel Tour Hassan, Rabat.
Competition to Design Postcards on UDHR Articles
In commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the Center for Documentation, Information and Training in Human Rights (CDIFDH), an entity under the aegis of the Advisory Council on Human Rights and invested with an advisory mission that consists in making proposals and giving impetus as regards issues referring to the promotion of the human rights culture in Morocco, is organizing a competition to design postcards on the UDHR articles.
The goal of the contest is to popularize the 30 articles and to enable young people to express themselves through the UDHR 30 articles. The contest is about the representations of one or more UDHR articles through: drawing, painting, computer graphics.
The contest is open to two categories of youngsters: 13 - 18 years and 19-25 years. Each category will be awarded 5 prizes and 10 postcards will be published.
For more information on the terms of participation and application form, please visit the websites of the CCDH: www.ccdh.org.ma or the CDIFDH: www.cdifdh.org.ma.
Please send your application before January 10, 2009 at the following address: Rue Chellali Ouzoud, No. 10, Rabat-Agdal. / Tel: 037 77 73 95 - 037 77 74 11 / Fax: 037 77 74 17.
CNDH IN GENEVA FOR THE 20th SESSION OF UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL
In interactive dialogues on cultural rights and elimination of discrimination against womenThe National Human Rights Council participates, as a national human rights institution for the protection and promotion of human rights, in the 20th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, held from 18 to 6 July 2012.
CNDH will have the floor in the interactive dialogues with the Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice and with the UN Special Rapporteur in the field of cultural rights, respectively on 21 and 22 July 2012.
These UN two special procedures will submit the reports of their visits to Morocco; in September 2011 for the independent expert and February 2011 for the working group.
CNDH’s delegation will be made of Ms Meriem Khrouz member, and Ms Naïma Benwakrim, chargée de mission.
Several themes are scheduled for discussion at the UNHRC’s 20th regular session: right to health, right to education, freedom of expression and opinion, trafficking in persons, freedom of peaceful assembly and association.
INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM IN DAKHLA ON "SAHARAN HISTORY, MEMORY AND HERITAGE: RESEARCH, PRESERVATION AND MUSEALIZATION"
Under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the (Moroccan) National Human Rights Council (CNDH) organizes, on 16-17 December 2011 in Dakhla, an international symposium on "Saharan History, Memory and Heritage: research, preservation and musealization."The symposium is organized in line with the follow-up of the implementation of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations related to archive, history and memory. It aims to develop an inventory on historical research on the Atlantic Sahara and to explore new research paths, covering issues related to history, memory and tangible and intangible heritage of the region.
This international gathering is held in partnership with the Agency for Promotion and Economic and Social Development of the Southern Provinces of the Kingdom, the Region and Wilaya of Oued Eddahab-Lagouira, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Rabat (University of Mohammed V-Agdal) and the Moroccan national phosphates company (OCP). It will be attended by some thirty historians, sociologists, anthropologists, university professors and experts from Morocco and nine foreign countries (France, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, USA, Qatar, Senegal, Mauritania and Niger).
Several points are scheduled for discussion, mainly the following: inventory on historical research on the Sahara, colonial archives (Spain - France), immediate history, oral history, tangible and intangible heritage of the Sahara, heritage: methods and processes of identification, inventory and preservation of memory, heritage and national and international cultural policies and musealization process of intangible heritage.
On the sidelines of this symposium, tribute will be given to Mr. Pierre Bonte, Research Director at the National Center for Scientific Research in France (CNRS) and member of the College de France’s Laboratory of Social Anthropology in Paris. He is a specialist in Baydan and Tuareg societies. He has several publications, including "L’Emirat de l’Adrar mauritanien : Harîm, compétition et protection dans une société tribale saharienne" (2008) (The Emirate of Mauritanian Adrar: Harim, Competition and Protection in a Tribal Saharan Society), "La montagne de fer. La SNIM. Une société minière du Sahara mauritanien à l’heure de la mondialisation" (2001) (The Iron Mountain. SNIM, A Mining Company in Mauritanian Sahara at the Time of Globalization) and "Epouser au plus proche. Inceste, prohibitions et stratégies matrimoniales autour de la Méditerrnée" (1994) (Marriage between Relatives. Incest, Prohibitions and Matrimonial Strategies around the Mediterranean).
CNDH organized on 15-July 16, 2011 an international symposium in Al-Hoceima on "Cultural Heritage of the Rif: What museography?" and held meeting with civil society actors in Nador on "Museum of the Rif: role of civil society", on September 16, 2011.
Summary
Activity: International symposium on "History, Memory and Saharan Heritage: research, preservation and musealization"
Date: 16-17 December 2011
Venue: Headquarters of the Wilaya of Dakhla
Contact: CNDH Communication department (+212 537732913)
Steering Committee for Citizenship Platform for Promotion of Human Rights Culture Set up
The Steering Committee for Citizenship Platform for the Promotion of the Human Rights Culture (Platform) held a meeting on December 15, 2009 in Rabat under the chairmanship of Mr. Ahmed Herzenni, President of the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH).Following this meeting, the participants decided to organize the committee on the following basis:
- An office of the committee;
- Creation of three internal working groups according to the areas of the Platform;
The division of responsibilities within the committee monitoring the implementation of the Platform is as follows:
- Committee Chairman: Mr. Ahmed Herzenni, CCDH President;
- Vice President: Ms. Farida Elkhamlichi, Advisor to the Prime Minister;
- Secretary General: Mr. Abdessalam Elouazanni, Dean of the Faculty of Education Sciences
- Head of communication and relations with the press: Mr. Noureddine Rakib, SNRT journalist;
- Coordinator of the Awareness Working Group: Mr. Abderrahmane Bellouch, Moroccan Association for Cultural Exchange;
- Coordinator of the Education Working Group: Mr. Mustapha Kak, Director of the Center for the Training of Inspectors, Ministry of National Education, Higher Education, Staff Training and Scientific Research;
- Coordinator of the Working Group on Vocational Training: Mr. Driss Najim, Adviser to the Minister of Justice.
It should be noted that the installation ceremony of the monitoring committee, composed of representatives of governmental and public institutions, including the CCDH and the representatives of the university, public media and civil society, took place on October 28, 2009 under the chairmanship of the CCDH President.
The Platform aims to build momentum for the mobilization of government and non government stakeholders to coordinate and integrate all activities of promoting the human rights culture in the framework of a vision which is comprehensive, consistent and permanent, and which meets a societal goal based on upholding the values of human rights in society and the ownership of these values by its members.
The Platform has identified three levels of intervention, namely education, training and awareness.
20.5 Million Moroccan Dirhams for the Program of Support for Reparation Actions in Regions Affected By Human Rights Violations
As part of the implementation of the recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER), mainly as regards community reparation, the CDG, a financial group and the agency in charge of executing the Program, launches for local associations of target provinces, indicated below, two calls for proposals for a total of 20.5 million dirhams for the year 2009.The call for proposals No. 1-2009 meant for the provinces and prefecture of Figuig, Zagora, Errachidia, Khenifra, Al Hoceima, Nador and Hay Mohammadi, (Casablanca), enjoys support from the European Union, under the Financing Agreement MED/2006/18-122, and a contribution from the Agency for the Development of the Eastern Provinces. The second call for proposals (No. 2/2009) benefits from a contribution from the CDG and the Provincial Councils of the Provinces of Azilal, Khemisset and Tan Tan.
These calls for proposals aim at achieving the overall objective of the Program, which is to improve the sense of fairness and contribute to the development of the regions and communities victims of past human rights violations.
Actions eligible for funding must meet the following requirements:
- Building the capacity of local stakeholders, mainly in the areas of local governance, promotion of human rights and citizenship, and development approaches;
- Preserving the positive memory through the rehabilitation of places of memory, creating spaces for the preservation of memory and data collection on human rights violations;
- Supporting income-generating activities directed at the communities targeted by the program;
- Gender mainstreaming by supporting awareness-raising and referral for women, creating income-generating activities, and supporting actions to combat illiteracy and improve women's access to basic social services;
- Protecting the environment through awareness raising activities;
- Improving the access of target communities to basic social services.
For more information, see the Guidelines for the Call for Proposals No 1/2009 and 2/2009.
The deadline for applications is 8 June 2009 at 16.00.
Applicants for a grant should be local associations with headquarters in target provinces.
Applicants may act individually or with partner organizations. Partners must be other associations.
These calls for proposals will make it possible to finance up to 90% of projects meeting the requirements of the call.
The full guidelines for applicants and the presentation form of a brief note can be downloaded at the following Internet websites:
http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/cgi/frame12.pl
www.delmar.ec.europa.eu &
http://www.cdg.ma
http://www.ccdh.org.ma
Local associations of the Provinces of Azilal, Khemisset and Tan Tan are requested to download the full guidelines for applicants and the presentation form of a brief note under number 1/2009 at the following Internet websites:
http://www.cdg.ma
http://www.ccdh.org.ma
The full guidelines for applicants and the presentation form of a brief note are also available on paper at the headquarters of the program local bodies at the following addresses:
- Al-Hoceima: Bd Al Moujahid Abdellah Hammou, Im.3, 3ème étage, A.7
- Errachidia Rue M'Deghra n° 212 AP; 3, Oued Lahmer
- Figuig Angle, Bd Hassan II et rue Al Qods, cité Baghdad, Figuig
- Khenifra Bd. Zerktouni, Quartier Faiza. Imm. 67, 3° étage, Ap. 7
- Nador Bd. Hassan II, rue 5 Im.11. A 1
- Zagora Cité Hassani, Rue Assaoussane, Imm ZOUZI, Rdc, AP n° 22
- Casablanca (Hay Mohammadi) N° 158, rue Aviateur Borgadame, 4° étage, La villettte, Hay Mohammadi
- Azilal Quartier Al Wahda
- Tan Tan 01, bis bloc 05, hay EL MASSIRA
- Khemisset Av. Khalid Ibn El Oualid N° 530 A.5 Hakamat.
Information sessions will be organized in each target province in May 2009.
The following email can be used for any information you may need:
ugp@cdg.ma
Press Conference on PANDDH
The Steering Committee on drawing up the National Action Plan in Democracy and Human Rights (PANDDH) in Morocco will organize on March 31, 2009 at 10:30 am at the headquarters of the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) a conference press to present the results of the first phase of work in the process of developing the PANDDH and to announce its internal structure and working arrangements.The conference will be an opportunity to present the work program of the Committee, including the organization of a national seminar on April 3-4 2009, whose objective is to present the conclusions of the regional consultation meetings and think about the priority themes which will fall under the remit of the Steering Committee.
The project to draw up the PANDDH is a response to the concern of developing strategies for the promotion and protection of human rights in Morocco. This project benefits from a support program under a convention between the European Union and the CCDH. Its management was entrusted to the Center for Documentation, Information and Training in Human Rights (CDIFDH).
It is worth mentioning that this process was officially launched at the symposium held on April 25-26, 2008 in Rabat. Then, four regional information and consultation meetings were held in Marrakesh, Meknes, Agadir and Tangier in June and July 2008. Finally, the Steering Committee in charge of drafting the PANDDH was officially installed on December 3 -4 2008 in Rabat.
CCDH 31st Plenary Session
The Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) holds its 31st plenary session on December 5, 2008 at the CCDH headquarters, located at Place Chouahada, Bab Laalou, Rabat.The session will discuss two items on the agenda: the Press Code and the quarterly report of the CCDH activities.
The CCDH was asked in February 2007 by the Prime Minister to issue an advisory opinion on the draft Code of the Press and Professional Journalists, including maily its aspects of public freedoms and human rights.
To this end, the CCDH established a working group composed of its members and administrative executives. In addition to its meetings held in camera and dedicated to the discussion of this project, the Group organized meetings with the Minister of Communication and experts in the field.
The CCDH received also memoranda from the National Union of Press (SNP) and the National Federation of Publishers (FNE) stating their positions and proposals on the amendments proposed by this project.
In a preliminary memorandum addressed to the Prime Minister, the CCDH highlighted the need to deepen discussion on the project taking into consideration the following points:
- The role and responsibilities of the media in informing citizens within the process of democracy-building;
- Consolidating the constitutional gains in the field of freedom of expression and the need to develop a professional environment likely to continue the dynamics of social development in our country;
- Considering the legal vacuum related to the access to information and the right to information;
- The provisions containing imprisonment for non payment of debt and liberty-depriving sanctions;
- The need to define and clarify the media action and content complained of, to avoid interpretations that may restrict the freedoms of opinion, expression and cultural and artistic creation.
Also, the CCDH held in April 2008, a seminar on “the press code between international standards and national law”, attended by several stakeholders and experts in the field. The objective was to enrich the public debate and raise persistent issues in this regard.
Taking into account the different mutations at the national and international levels, the CCDH is now following this consultation process by integrating the debate on the press code in a global dynamic thinking on the public communication, in order to understand the different aspects of ethical and professional organization, including mainly the issue of self-regulation.
The opening of the session is scheduled at 9.00 am.