Ten-day disability rights campaign at Casablanca international book fair, more than 25,000 visited us and exchange with us on disability rights

More than 25 000 visited our exhibition stall this year at the Casablanca International Publishing and Book Fair 2016, better known in French as the Salon International de l'Edition et du Livre (SIEL), held from February 12 to 21, 2016.

All activities at our 360 m² stall revolved around disability rights and issues. Over ten days, the Stall hosted more than sixty activities. These activities were led by some 260 national and international experts and stakeholders, from 25 countries (Australia, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Gabon, Ghana, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Mexico, Morocco, Niger, Palestine, Portugal, Rwanda, Senegal, Tunisia, Turkey, UK, and the United States of America). The activities included training sessions, roundtable discussions, and awareness-raising workshops and activities for children, civil society stakeholders, and passers-by.  

The CNDH gave tributes at the book fair to 16 Moroccan Special Olympic and Paralympic athletes and champions (tennis, badminton and athletics).   

The CNDH’s thirteen regional human rights commissions mobilized about one hundred disability rights organizations, including regional networks, local associations and associations of families from all over Morocco to take part in or lead meetings and activities at the stall.

The Council also held an international meeting at the book fair on disability rights protection mechanisms, inviting experts and representatives of several national human rights institutions. The participants of this meeting shared good practices and exchanged, particularly on the experiences of NHRIs in Senegal, Ghana, Mexico, Gabon and Jordan.

On the sidelines of this ten-day campaign, the Council's regional human rights commission of Rabat and HandiFilm Association held the 10^th Cinema and Disability Festival “My dignity, my right”, from 30 March to 2 April 2016 in Rabat. The tenth edition featured an international competition of short movies on disability, an awareness-raising podcast competition, a roundtable discussion on disability in Moroccan cinema, a scenario writing workshop, and a lecture on the right to dignity and how this right can affect the lives of people with disabilities.

The CNDH had launched a national competition for young Moroccan architects to design an accessible exhibition stall at the 22^nd Casablanca International Publishing and Book Fair. The stall won the first Accessibility Award, awarded by the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development and the Ministry of Culture.

CNDH and IFES hold an international seminar on electoral legislation reform in Morocco

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES-Washington) will hold an international seminar on electoral legislation reform in Morocco on the 19^th and 20^th of January 2016, at the headquarters of the House of Councillors (the Upper House) in Rabat. The seminar will advocate for an “electoral legislation that lives up to the constitutional promises and Morocco’s treaty commitments”.

Renowned experts in the field, mainly from Morocco, Canada and the United States, will take part in this event, which has two main objectives:

·       identify key electoral legislation reform challenges;

·       propose key amendments to the legislative and regulatory framework governing elections, for an inclusive human rights-based electoral legislation that lives up to the constitutional promises and Morocco’s treaty commitments.

The gathering will kick off on Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at 9:00 a.m. It will particularly focus on eight main points: access to voting rights, electoral legislation stability, the preparation of the national electorate, electoral district boundaries, affirmative action and the constitutional principle of parity, the legal framework governing independent and impartial election observation, the regulation of electoral economy and the fight against corruption, as well as the new challenges of electoral communication.

The former Advisory Council on Human Rights (1990-2011) and the CNDH, since 2011, have contributed to reforming the national electoral system through their independent and impartial election observation reports and recommendations in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2015, in addition to the observation of the constitutional referendum of July 1, 2011.

International seminar in Rabat to share good practices on independent and impartial election observation

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) holds on Thursday, November 12, 2015, an international seminar in Rabat to capitalize on the previous independent and impartial election observation experiences and share lessons and good practices.

The participants will exchange and share their good practices and experiences in election observation and the evaluation of training and support programs for observers. They will also discuss the different approaches and challenges of the impartial and independent election observation.

This international gathering will also discuss the legislative framework governing elections in Morocco and advocate for more initiatives and joint actions by the different stockholders, following their respective prerogatives.

Representatives of national and international organizations accredited by the Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers will take part in this seminar, which will address three main points: 'training of observers and the implementation of a new training strategy', 'election observation: scope and limits of approaches', and 'legal framework governing elections in Morocco: comprehensive analysis and proposals for improvement'.

On Wednesday, November 11, 2015, CNDH will hold a national workshop on its own election observation experience. CNDH’s regional human rights commissions will share the outcome of the regional workshops they held in October to assess the 2015 election observation. During these workshops, the regional commissions evaluated the process following a set of criteria: the mobilization and deployment of observers, women representation, strategic choices, training of observers, use of electronic tools, and to what extent the competent authorities facilitated the role of election observers. These workshops also analyzed the results of the elections.

For the 2015 election observation, the Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers accredited 41 organizations, including 34 Moroccan associations, the National Human Rights Council, and six international NGOs. These organizations deployed more than 4000 observers, including 76 international observers, to monitor the local and regional elections and the elections of the House of Councillors (campaigns and election dates). CNDH also invited other international experts and organizations and national human rights institutions to monitor and observe the 2015 elections.

Bogotá and Medellín (Colombia) host El ciclo de Cine marroquí y Derechos Humanos

 

The Colombian capital Bogotá and the second largest city in Colombia Medellín will host the third Moroccan Cinema and Human Rights Festival (El Ciclo de Cine Marroquí y Derechos Humanos) from the 1st to the 29th September 2015. Después de Tánger. Marruecos, Hoy (After Tangier - Morocco Today) is the theme of this third edition.

The event is organized by ARTEDEA (Arte Dignidad en Acción –ONG) and the Centro para la Acción Intercultural Universitaria Ciudadana (CAPAIUC), in partnership with the National Human Rights Council, the Moroccan Cinematographic Centre, Mohammed V University in Rabat, the Colombian Ministry of Culture, the Cinemateca Distrital de Bogotá, the Town Councils of Bogotá and Medellín and the universities of Antioquia and Jorge Tadeo Lozano.

CNDH's support to this event is made in line with its efforts to promote the culture of human rights, mainly through art and cinema.

The festival will screen new Moroccan movies and shed light on the freedom, democracy, modernity and human rights values they convey. The selected films address several human rights issues, like individual freedoms, environment, gender and equality, minorities and cultural rights, childhood and children’s rights, peace, employment, youth, migration, etc.

Workshops and debate sessions with actors, film directors, institutional stakeholders, academics, and Moroccan and Colombian human rights activists will be held on the sidelines of the festival. The will particularly focus on memory, culture and national reconciliation; religion and human rights; cinema and identity, Scenario, conflict and national reality, etc.

El ciclo de Cine marroquí y Derechos Humano is an initiative launched by ARTEDEA and CAPAIUC, in partnership with the National Human Rights Council. The first festival was held in Madrid in 2014. The second was held in Barcelona in 2015.

 

 

 

 

More than 4,000 observers and 41 national and international organizations to observe Morocco's upcoming elections

The Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers has accredited 41 national and international organizations: 34 Moroccan associations and six international NGOs, in addition to the National Human Rights Council (CNDH). 

The accredited organizations will deploy more than 4,000 observers, including 76 international observers, to observe the campaigns and the elections of the Councils of the regions and the municipalities, due on the 4th of September, the elections of the prefectural and provincial councils, due on the 17th of September, and the elections of the House of Councilors, due on the 2nd of October 2015. 

The Commission received 67 accreditation applications. It rejected 16 associations either for incomplete files or because the applying associations' artiles of association do not expressly refer to election observation or the promotion of human rights, democracy or citizenship, as set out in the provisions of Law # 30.11 on the terms and conditions of independent and impartial election observation. 

 

Accredited national associations

- Instance nationale des droits de l’Homme (for human rights);

- Collectif associatif pour l’observation des élections (for election observation);

- Forum civil démocratique marocain (for the promotion of democracy); 

- Observatoire national des droits de l’électeur (for voter's rights);

- Association Titrit (local association in Agadir);

- Médiateur pour la démocratie et les droits de l’Homme (for democacy and human rights);

- Collectif pour la promotion des droits des personnes en situation d’handicap (for disability rights); 

- Association Génération de la technique et du développement (local development association in Essmara);

- Association Jeunesse sans frontières pour le développement (local development association in Haouz);

- Centre de réflexion stratégique et de défense de la démocratie (local development association in Laayoune); 

- Association Tisghnasse  pour la culture et le développement (local development association in Nador); 

- Organisation marocaine des droits humains (for human rights);

- Centre des droits des gens (for human rights);

- Centre Chourouk pour la démocratie et l’information (for democracy and information);

- Association créativités féminines (in Sefrou);

- Fédération de la ligue démocratique des femmes (for women's rights); 

- Forum Karama pour les droits de l’Homme (for human rights);

- Association marocaine de lutte contre la violence à l’égard des femmes(for the fighting violence against women);

- Réseau Al Amal pour le secours et le développement durable (local association for sustainable development in Al Hoceima); 

- Association Rif pour les droits de l’Homme (for human rights in the region of Rif;

- Association Arif pour la culture et le patrimoine (local association for culture and cultural heritage in Al Hoceima);

- Association d’appui aux  personnes Handicapées (for disability rights and assistance in Laayoune);

- Alliance  nationale de la jeunesse et de l’enfance (for youth and children);

- Association marocaine des jeunesses pour le développement (for development);

- Forum marocain pour la démocratie et les droits de l’Homme for democracy and human rights);

- Association Tassila pour la Coopération et le développement rural (local association for cooperation and rural development in Agadir);

- Collectif El Madkouri pour les droits de l’Homme (local human rights association in El Gara);

- Association Univers presse pour l’information (local press and information association in Rhamna);

- Conseil régional du Réseau marocain des droits de l’Homme (network for human rights in the region of Béni Mellal-Khénifra);

- Observatoire des libertés et des droits de l’Homme (freedom and human rights observatory in the Region of Grand Casablanca);

- Association Hay Al Aouda pour l’environnement et le développement (local association for environment and development in Essmara);

- Association des chercheurs dans le droit du contentieux (local association of litigation law researchers in Oujda);

- Association nationale pour le développement durable et la coopération internationale (national association for sustainable development and international cooperation in Oued Zem); and 

- Forum Iffous pour la démocratie et les droits de l’Homme (local forum for democracy and human rights in Tata).

 

Accredited international organizations

- International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES);

- National Democratic Institute (NDI);

- Arab Election Watch (Arab network for election observation);

- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, 

- Arab Federation for Human Rights Centers; and 

- Gender Concerns International. 

 

CNDH will also deploy 500 obsrevers. Under its founding law, the Council has the possibility to invite international experts and organizations to participate in the election observation process. It has thus extended invitation to the diplomatic missions of Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, the national human rights institutions (NHRIs) of Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Palestine and Tunisia, the Arab Network of NHRIs, United Cities and Local Governments-Africa (UCLG-Africa) and the Observatory of political elections in the Arab-Muslim world.  

The European Union has also sent an election observation mission electoral mission, in Morocco from August 15 through September 14, for an overall assessment of the entire electoral process.

Political empowerment of people with disabilities in Laayoune

ADAPH, a local disability rights group, and the Moroccan Coalition for the promotion of disability rights held a workshop on the political empowerment and participation of people with disabilities in Laayoune on Saturday 15 August 2015, with the support of CNDH’s regional human rights commission in Laayoune. The activity was also supported by Handicap International, the National Democratic Institute and the Commune of Foum El Oued in Laayoune.

The workshop, said the organizers, aimed at promoting and advocating for effective political participation of people with disabilities and inciting political parties to include disability rights in the heart of their agendas and programs.

In addition to statements and remarks on the political empowerment and effective participation of people with disabilities in the political life, the workshop shed light on the preliminary conclusions and outcome of the meetings held by the ADAPH with its partners, including the Regional Human Rights Commission of Laayoune-Smara, political parties, local authorities, disability rights organizations, etc. on its political empowerment of people with disabilities project.

This project aims at raising political awareness of persons with disabilities, advocating for their effective participation in managing local affairs, increasing their political presence within political parties, and encouraging these parties to put disability and disability rights at the heart of political program priorities.

Special accreditation commission launches official website for 2015 election observation

The Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers launches today Monday, July 13, 2015 its official website for the 2015 election observation: www.observation-elections2015.ma.

The commission’s website gives information about the special accreditation commission, the accreditation procedure and criteria for accreditation, independent and impartial election observation, the national legislation and international standards governing election observation, etc.

Organizations that can observe elections under Law # 30-11 on the terms and conditions of independent and impartial election observation can download the documents required for their accreditation application (application form, the observation charter, the list of proposed observers), and learn about the deadlines and procedures to submit applications.

Chaired by CNDH Chairman, the Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers convened its first meeting on Monday, June 8, 2015 at CNDH headquarters in Rabat to prepare for the independent and impartial observation of the 2015 upcoming elections. The commission called for accreditation applications to observe the upcoming elections and set the 30^th of July 2015 as deadline to receive applications. The Commission will decide on accreditation applications and notify its decision to the applying organization, no later than August 10, 2015.

Under Law # 30-11, a special commission for the accreditation of election observers is established within the National Human Rights Council (CNDH). The commission is mandated to receive, review and decide on the accreditation applications. It issues special cards and badges to accredited organizations for their observers and drafts the observation charter that includes the principles and fundamental rules that every accredited observer must respect.

Chaired by CNDH Chairman, or someone else acting on his behalf, the Special Commission for the Accreditation of Election Observers include four members representing the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and the Ministry of Communication, a representative of the Délégation interministérielle aux droits de l’Homme (inter-ministerial department for human rights), a representative of the National Authority for Integrity and Prevention and Fight against Corruption and five representatives of civil society associations acting as members of the National Human Rights Council.

The 2015 election observation will concern the elections of the Councils of the regions and the municipalities, due on the 4^th of September 2015, the elections of the prefectural and provincial councils, due on the 17^th of September 2015, and the elections of the House of Councillors, due on the 2^nd of October 2015.

CNDH 10th PLENARY SESSION: Gender equality and the right to petition and submit legislative initiatives by citizens

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) holds its tenth ordinary session on Friday July 3, 2015. On the agenda a memorandum on two main bills governing legislative initiatives by citizens and the right to petition, the 2014 annual report a draft thematic report on gender equality.

Strengthening and promoting participatory democracy is the aim of CNDH’s memo that reviews and comments draft bill # 64-14 on the right of citizens to legislative initiatives and draft bill # 44.41 on the right to petition. The memo includes recommendations to redefine some concepts to expand the right to petition, make the motion and petition procedures accessible and easier, reduce grounds for inadmissibility, monitor follow-up and outcome, etc.  

CNDH board members will discuss and approve a thematic report on gender equality that will be published soon. The report tackles and discusses achievements and challenges regarding women’s rights and equality 10 years after the reform of the Moroccan Family Code, 4 years since the 2011 Constitution and 20 years after the Beijing Platform.

CNDH draft annual report 2014 is also on the agenda of the session. It covers several topics including the 2^nd World Human Rights Forum (Marrakesh 2014), interaction with parliament and the government, justice reform, CNDH’s efforts and campaigns in the fight against torture, civil liberties, prison conditions, children’s rights, disability rights, asylum and immigration, gender equality and parity, business and human rights and human rights in the Southern Provinces.

The opening session will be chaired by CNDH Chairman Driss El Yazami, starting at 5:00 p.m. at the Golden Tulip Farah in Rabat.

CNDH and UNHCR-Morocco commemorate World Refugee Day 2015

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and the UN refugee agency UNHCR commemorate the World Refugee Day from 18 to 20 June 2015. The 2015 World Refugee Day Campaign tells the human side of the refugee plight and aims to bring the public closer to the refugee story, showing refugees as “ordinary people living through extraordinary times”.

 

About World Refugee Day, June 20 2015

On the World Refugee Day, June 20, UNHCR commemorates the strength and resilience of the more than 60 million people around the world forced to flee their homes due to war or human rights abuses.

The 2015 World Refugee Day Campaign aims to bring the public closer to the human side of the refugee story by sharing stories of hope and resilience from displaced people. These stories will highlight the common links we all share with refugees, returnees, IDPs and resettled refugees.

The Campaign micro-site www.refugeeday.org features stories from refugees who describe in their own words their own passions and interests; cooking, music, poetry, or sports. Through their testimonials UNHCR aims to show that these are ordinary people living through extraordinary times.

 

The Campaign in Morocco

To commemorate the World Refugee Day in Morocco, CNDH and UNHCR team up to stage two exhibition stalls in Rabat-Ville and Casa Port train stations. The stalls will be an opportunity to raise awareness about refugees and refugee rights. CNDH, UNHCR, the representatives of Ministry of Moroccans Living Abroad and Migration Affairs and refuges themselves will be meeting with and bringing the Moroccan public closer to the stories of refugees. It will also be an opportunity for the refugees to meet with the public and tell their stories in their own words.

The East-West Foundation, a UNHCR partner, will organize several workshops and activities to commemorate the World Refugee Day in its intercultural centers in Rabat and Oujda.

 

CNDH/ UNHCR

Activity	Venue	Date
Exhibition Stall	Rabat Ville train station- Rabat	18-20 June 3:00-7:00 p.m. &9:00-11:00 p.m.
Exhibition Stall	Casa Port train station, Casablanca	18-20 June 3:00-7:00 p.m. &9:00-11:00 p.m.

East-West Foundation

Activity	Venue	Date
Entertainment, cultural and gastronomic activities for refugees. Entertainment: games and art workshops	Centre Interculturel  -Rabat, FOO	17 June 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Intercultural cooking workshop (Syria / Iraq / Palestine / Yemen)	Centre Interculturel  -Rabat, FOO	19 June 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Iftar to celebrate Ramadan with refugees	Centre Interculturel  -Rabat, FOO	19 June 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
Iftar to celebrate Ramadan with refugees	Centre Interculturel  -Oujda, FOO	19 June 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.
A day to raise awareness about refugees and refugee rights	Centre Interculturel  -Rabat, FOO	20 June

 

International colloquium on the Moroccan penal code and penal procedure code reform

Rabat, 15-16 June 2015

The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) and 9 national and international organizations (the Hassania Association of Judges (Amicale Hassania), the Club of Magistrates, the Moroccan Association for Women Judges, the Moroccan Association Bar, the Spring of Dignity Coalition, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network, the International Federation for Human Rights, the International Commission of Jurists and Penal Reform International) hold an international colloquium on the “Penal Code and the Penal Procedure Code: Reform Challenges”, on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 of June 2015, at the House of Representatives in Rabat.

This international gathering is fruit of an unprecedented partnership of leading human rights NGOs and the main Moroccan associations of legal professionals. It is also supported by MarocDroit, a website for legal science and studies. More than 50 statements on the penal system will be delivered in the gathering by lawyers and academicians from the faculties of law in Tangier, Salé, Agadir, Oujda, Meknes Rabat, Fez, Mohammedia and Marrakech. A statement by the Moroccan Minister of Justice and Liberties will open the colloquium. Several lawyers and researchers from Tunisia, Jordan, France, Switzerland and Senegal will take part in the gathering as well.

The partner institutions and organizations share a strong conviction that the ongoing reform of the penal code and the penal procedure code is strategically important. This reform, according to the organizers, must take into consideration the progressive provisions of the Constitution, Morocco’s treaty practice, the broad consensus on the recommendations of the National Charter of Judicial Reform and the recent international developments related to national penal justice systems.

The international gathering sets two main objectives: identifying key issues and challenges in the penal legislation reform, through discussing and examining the draft penal code and the draft penal procedure code, and coming up with key proposals and amendments to the two draft laws, for a human rights-based penal policy.

The opening session of the colloquium will be held on Monday, June 15, 2015 at the Chamber of Deputies at 9am.

CNDH contributed to the national dialogue on judicial reform and released opinions and memorandums on several related aspects (fight against terrorism, violence against women, alternatives to incarceration, etc.). The Council has made fundamental proposals concerning military justice, the penal procedure, the Statutes of Judges and the organization of the High Council of the Judiciary.