Backtracking on Human Rights Hurting Morocco's Position

Washington DC—Feb 03, 2009--The most challenging appointment in the Moroccan government is the job of the Minister of Communications and spokesman for the government. This impossible task goes to Mr. Khalid Naciri. Mr. Naciri’s assignment has been made difficult because of few recent perplexing actions undertaken by the Moroccan government.
Couple of weeks ago, Mr. Naciri was in the awkward position of rebuking allegations made by the human right organization, Human Rights Watch (HRW), in its recent annual report. HRW alleged that “[the Moroccan government] aided by complaisant courts use[s] repressive legislation to punish and imprison peaceful opponents”. The American based human right organization accused the Moroccan authorities of “relying on laws providing prison terms for "defamatory" or "false" speech to prosecute critical reporting and commentary”.
To highlight “Morocco's backtracking on rights”, HRW report addressed the case of Driss Chahtane, editor of al-Mish'al weekly, currently in prison for defamation, and the arrest and imprisonment of Chekib el-Khayari, president of the Association for Human Rights in the Rif, who accused certain Moroccan officials of complicity in narcotics trafficking.

During his press conference, Morocco’s Communications Minister complained about the “imbalance” of HRW report, yet, Mr. Naciri did not challenge the assertions made by the human right organization. Without addressing the merits of individual cases mentioned in HRW report, the Minister lost an opportunity to counter present the Moroccan government position. Were the trials of el-Khayari and Chahtane free and fair? What evidences did the Moroccan authorities have against the two activists?

In cases like the one Morocco is facing, producing facts on specific cases to counter allegations made by human rights organizations is the best tool to win back the international community’s backing and to demonstrate the biases of a damaging report. Otherwise, complaining about a “one sided reporting” is a commonly heard protest from governments unhappy about human rights reports. These objections always fall on deaf ear.

Furthermore, Mr. Naciri used the oldest reason on the book stating: “We expect big international NGOs to have the courage to state the reality, which is a lot more complex in Morocco”. The justification of “Morocco being complex” is too simplistic and does not justify the arrests of several journalists and closures of some independent magazines and newspapers.

Nonetheless, Mr. Naciri could not counter HRW charges because he does not have all the necessary background information to articulate his government position. The decisions to close down magazines and jail journalists are not made during government meetings. Instead, a small group of powerful individuals close to the circle of decision in Rabat are the only ones who have the power to issue such verdicts. Mr. Naciri was unable to defend his government.

However, the larger question that remains unanswered is: What is the reasoning and the final end game behind silencing a group of young writers and reports that have been showing the world - up until their arrest or sacking- the possibilities truly free and democratic Morocco can offer to the Arab and Islamic world?

To add insult to injury, as Mr. Naciri was struggling to fend off HRW assertions, Rabat decided to go ahead and execute a court order liquidating the assets of the major independent weekly magazine in the country. The recent closure of the French language weekly news magazine Le Journal Hebdomadaire is the last act of a series of actions by the Moroccan government to silence the independent press in Morocco. The ramification of the closure of Le Journal Hebdomadaire will, without a doubt, have a lasting negative impact on the image of Morocco as a modern democracy. The Moroccan public and the international community are well aware of the true sinister reasons behind the demise of this fiercely independent news outlet. Furthermore, the opponents of the North African Kingdom, especially the Western Saharan separatists and their supporters, have been using this regression in civil freedoms to push for their agendas.

In the future, official Morocco will have hard time making the case for their country as a model emerging democratic society. When the world views Morocco as a nation constantly mounting attacks on freedom of expression and using an impartial judiciary to achieve political gains, it will be hard for Rabat to push for its Advanced Status with the European Union or to convince the United Nation of its ability to establish a true regionalism system for the Western Sahara.

The Moroccan official making decisions to persecute bloggers, jail journalists and shut down independent magazines either do not realize the extent of the impact of their decisions, or do grasp the brunt and just do not care about the reaction of the rest of world community.

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Fahd said:

Ideology!!!
If you are talking about an analytical science based on theories as in the subject of Political Science, I am telling you simply " you are wrong". But if you are debating the issue from an ideological sight, I will say that is fine. The subject of human rights is a very complicated notion. Morocco has witnessed for the last 10 years an enormous change in this matter. The transitional justice process represented by the IER and the advance status of Morocco within European sphere, and other significant projects took place just in a 10 years period of time. Trials against journalist in France are more than what is happening in Morocco, almost 65 000 cases in 2 years.Now I can not express my self freely in North America, but I can criticize everything in Morocco even the king. Are you familiar with the undercover contract of selling euro fighters to Saudi Arabia, the prince Charles had a direct hand for this contract. This contract is called ' Alyamama" the day after the Guardian wanted to write a report about it, what happen after that is that they have been asked to "keep quiet, or else..." What do you call this?! MI6 and MI5 are managed through the royale family.
Why Canada did not let "George Galawy" to enter the Canadian Territory?!!. Why is it impossible to write an article just mentioning Jews. My friends there are many examples that show either we talk about the " Human Rights issue" and put it in its right track. Universities in North America are highly controlled by cameras even inside amphitheaters, cameras everywhere, police are inside campuses. Arab students are watched daily, examples of undercover officers every single day are discovered. Are you fooling your selves or are you brain washed. If so, read Introductions of Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, and Psychology, I think this could help you become "Critical Thinkers". A critical thinker is simply a person that has the emotional fortitude to accept others thoughts, if you do not fell this way, it means that you are in state of anxiety, and you are in the " Confirmation Bias State" You remind me of Angelina Jolie or Madonna, when the want to help or adopt poor they go to Africa at the time there are millions of children abuses and homeless kids every where in New York. We Moroccans know what we will be reaching, it is a matter of time, in 1998 no one could say a word against the king, and now articles are writing about the King Hassan 2 " Le dernier Pharaoun" and they are charged. Can British do the same with the Queen Elizabeth.

02/06/10

Moroccan Patriot said:

You do not need a report by HRW to tell you what is clear to anyone with eyes
Morocco is regressing. You do not need to do a million dollar study to see that. The Moroccan govt. just like many other govts, the US included, has used the farce that is "terrorism" to take rights away from people. They have used it as an excuse just like the US has!! Everyone knows there is no, "terrorism".

Now if you want to talk about freedom of the press, We went from almost stalin like conditions to freedom to speak about almost anything we wanted provided you did not cross the three red lines. These red lines are known to just about any reporter out there!

You do not talk badly about the Monarchy, The Western Sahara is a part of Morocco and you do not denigrate Islam publicly. If you stay clear of these three red lines you generally have no problems in Morocco. To be fair, they are even outlined in the Moroccan Constitution!!!

The problems that have occured in Morocco have happened because of poor decisions by govt officials, notably the foriegn minister and the ministry of the interior. One of them has been changed, so that is a step in the right direction. The errors committed by these ministries were very basic and obvious, the broke Moroccan law!!!

If the Ministries follow Moroccan law, then Morocco's HRW standing will continue to rise. Morocco has made some really good progress over the last 15 years or so. I am certain that it will continue to make progress, but the problem Moroccan society keeps coming up against is lack of respect for the rule of law. This lack of respect for the law manifests itself in a variety of ways, from Police officers and public officials taking bribes, to motorists and the public continuing to "grease the wheels". The courts themselves are known for being rife with corruption.

I want to make a very important point, we should not paint the entire country with one broad brush. Most people in Morocco are honest. There are some extremely competent, honest public officials with the highest sense of integrity I have encountered in any country. The changes that need to be implemented are simply in the regulation and enforcement area. Moroccan law exists. Now it just has to be enforced uniformally.

02/06/10

Morcelli said:

I am shocked
Well Mr Golstein
In this case you are presuming that Morocco is guilty until it is proven innocent when you say:
" We will correct our reports and statements if and when we are shown to have gotten facts wrong. "

You can't do business in such a way Mr Goldstien, your statement in my opinion makes Morocco the good guy.
Now Mr Goldstein you are giving us a good reason to believe that Morocco do also say the truth because others such as HRW rely on "rush to judgment" reports.

02/05/10

Eric Goldstein said:

Deputy Director, Human Rights Watch
As the HRW researcher responsible for covering Morocco, I completely agree with this essay. When reporters asked my organization to respond to Minister Naciri's criticisms, we responded that instead of relying on generalities he should provide us instances where are facts are incorrect. We said the same thing when officials of the justice and interior ministries received us in Rabat last Thursday. We are still waiting for replies. We will correct our reports and statements if and when we are shown to have gotten facts wrong.

02/05/10

Dr Hussein Ben Kirat said:

Morocco and Democracy: Transparency of politicians
This is part of my previous comments on the Human Right's Report and Mr. Naciri's response.
Mr. Naciri is a considerable weight in Moroccan politics but by accepting the job to defend the indefensible puts his credibility at risk. The trials are ordinary in the system that exists, but the argument is that the system itself or part of it is in question. And as for the argument that the Human Rights report was selective this is a poor criticism, because the cases are by themselves selective and real, which Mr. Naciri does not deny. The Human Rights report, contrary to Mr. Naciri's assumption that it ignores Moroccan achievement, it has in fact praised most if not all Morocco's reforms. Mr. Naciri is well aware of the lack of an independent judiciary system and, to be fair, he does acknowledge the reality of Morocco's problems, though the whole civil society should move forward to push for transparency, democracy, freedom of speech and the reform of antiquated laws of the Medieval European Period, and above all and the most pressing problem of corruption at root level of the citizen who is part of that corruption, “as you need two hands to applaud”, or “you need two to tango”. Notwithstanding, as Sidi Abderrahman el Majdoub said, “when you enter the field to play football, you should accept the rules of the game, including its vulgar language, but if you want to remain a gentleman and be reserved and respected, stay outside of it; respect comes from within and not from the outside, and has to be earned.” So, when you are in politics, you should also accept criticism and praise, if you pretend to be in a democratic system. There is no doubt that Morocco is moving ahead, in the right direction, of all its immediate Union of the Maghreb Amazigh/Arab neighbours and the other Muslim and Arabs states (Malaysia and Indonesia apart). However, there is still a long way to go before Morocco can remedy most of its problems, not least its language and identity.
Dr. Hussein Ben Kirat

02/05/10

Mike Smith said:

Is Morocco becoming Burma?
I have been a regular morocco visitor for the last 20 years since the old days of Hassan II. I can clearly see that there have been some changes, some for the best and some for the worst. However, I can also see that this country is moving backwards in a lot of areas, some of them are related to press freedom. I thought that Mohammed's era was going to be different which it did at the beginning. It's unfortunate to see this regression but sometime I can understand it given the context of the country when you look at it from a local perspective.

02/04/10

Morcelli said:

Naciri
Poor Naciri reminds me the Iraqi information minister during Saddam " standing in front of cameras and declares forcefully, "There are no American troops in Baghdad!" Meanwhile, black smoke rises in the distance behind him, weapons fire can be heard all around, and American tanks rumble down streets only yards away.

Pay no attention to those tanks, Mohammad Saeed al-Sahhaf may as well be saying. There are no invaders, no troops — only "liars."

"The infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad," he said at one news conference. "We slaughtered them."

Naciri is placed in a situation where he has no choice but defend lies and deceptions. If he was a decent man, he would never accept a position where he thinks that he is fooling his own people.

Lah isma7 lih wi 3awnou.

02/04/10

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