UPR: Protection of human rights, a constant and irreversible choice for Morocco – Justice Minister

The protection and promotion of human rights are ”constant and irreversible” choices for Morocco, and are reflected in the strengthening of the Kingdom’s adherence to UN human rights mechanisms, stressed Tuesday in Geneva, Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi.

Abdellatif Ouahbi made the remarks in a speech in Geneva during the interactive dialogue under the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism.

During the session, the Moroccan delegation, including representatives of the different national sectors presented comprehensive data on Morocco’s commitments to human rights.

The delegation members expounded the programs and policies adopted for the empowerment of women, the reform of the family code, the preservation of the right to education, health and work, the fight against poverty, as well as the protection of women victims of violence, migrants, people with special needs and public freedoms.

Following the presentations made by the Justice Minister and other members of the delegation, diplomatic representations to the UN in Geneva welcomed Morocco’s actions in favor of strengthening its human rights system, while expressing their support for the projects and reforms launched by Morocco in various fields.

Speakers praised the National Action Plan on Democracy and Human Rights (PANDDH) and the continuous work towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and highlighted the considerable progress made in this direction since the adoption of the Constitution of 2011.

The social programs launched by Morocco to assist vulnerable categories, fight poverty and integrate all social groups in the socio-economic life were welcomed by the delegates, who paid tribute to the commitment of the Kingdom to meet global challenges related to sustainable development and the protection of migrants’ rights.

In his presentation of the national report that covers the period 2017-2022, the Justice Minister outlined that this period has seen the strengthening of the involvement of the Kingdom in the UN human rights mechanisms, with the continued adherence to the Optional Protocols to the fundamental conventions of human rights.

He cited, in this regard, the filing of accession documents to the first optional protocol to the international covenant on political and civil rights and the optional protocol to the convention on the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women.

Regarding the interaction with the UN mechanisms of human rights and the consolidation of conventional practices, Ouahbi said that this period was marked by a regularity in the submission of periodic reports on the implementation of international conventions, and by an opening on the mechanism of special procedures. In this connection, Morocco hosted the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in 2018, and held meetings with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in 2019. In addition, a delegation of experts from the Committee on Migrant Workers visited the Kingdom in May 2022, he recalled.

Regarding the approach adopted in the preparation of the national report for this UPR, the Minister noted that various parties concerned at the central and regional levels have been involved in the process of drafting the national report, explaining that the process of consultations has focused, in a first stage on the central level, the ministerial departments, national institutions and the judiciary.

The second stage has seen the adoption of the same approach in all regions of the Kingdom, through the organization of 12 consultative meetings that have seen the participation of local authorities, decentralized services of ministerial departments, the judiciary, the National Human Rights Council and some 634 associations, in addition to universities and media, said the Minister.

Referring to the practice of human rights, Ouahbi said that the Kingdom has continued to take legislative and institutional measures as part of the implementation of the Constitution and international commitments of Morocco in the field of human rights, adding that the adoption of a new law of the National Human Rights Council has allowed the strengthening of the prerogatives of this national institution and the consolidation of its preventive roles, through the creation of three national mechanism.