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COMMITTEE ON ELIMINATION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION CONCLUDES REVIEW OF SITUATION IN MOROCCO
07 August 1998
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MORNING
HR/CERD/98/41
7 August 1998
Moroccan officials defended their Government's implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination this morning, stating that Morocco had always condemned any form of racial, linguistic or ethnic discrimination.
Responding to questions raised by members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination yesterday, the Moroccan delegation indicated that the Government did not believe in establishing demographic data based on racial criteria. There was no policy of segregation or racial discrimination in Morocco.
Regis de Gouttes, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Morocco, in preliminary concluding remarks hoped that the dialogue with the Committee would be beneficial and would enhance the judicial and legislative reforms undertaken by the Government. He underlined the need for a demographic composition based on linguistic, racial and ethnic criteria.
The remarks came as the Committee concluded its consideration of a report from Morocco. The Committee will issue written observations and recommendations on the report of Morocco towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes 21 August. Morocco is one of the 150 States parties to the Convention.
Also this morning, the Committee briefly exchanged views on various issues regarding its methods of work and its relations with other human rights bodies.
The following Committee members participated in the debate on the report of Morocco and the work of the Committee: Yuri A. Rechetov, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Ivan Garvalov, Michael P. Banton, Theodoor van Boven, Gay McDougall, Agha Shahi, Shanti Sadiq Ali, and Luis Valencia Rodriguez.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to begin reviewing the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the early warning and urgent procedure mechanism.
Discussion
NACER BENJELLOUN-TOUIMI, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, responding to a number of questions raised by Committee members yesterday afternoon, said that the complexity of the composition of the population had made it difficult to establish statistical data based on race. It was not easy to distinguish and divide the Moroccan population according to their race or ethnic belonging.
Mr. Benjelloun-Touimi said that the Government had not accepted to establish a census based on colour, racial or ethnic origin. In general, people were offended when asked about their colour or race. Because of that, the Government had never attempted to carry out a survey to establish statistical data on the composition of the population on ethnic, linguistic or racial criteria. Instead, the authorities had carried out a national census on socio-economic criteria, he added.
Islam was the State religion and most of the country's population belonged to the Muslim faith, Mr. Benjelloun-Touimi stated. Morocco had no policy of segregation or racial discrimination and had always condemned apartheid. The problem of racial discrimination did not arise in the country and legislation contained few provisions dealing explicitly with this issue. Nevertheless, it did contain the means for punishing such behaviour should that became necessary.
DRISS BELMAHI, Juridical Counsellor in the Cabinet of the Minister of Human Rights of Morocco, said that one of the priorities of the new Government was to improve the judicial system to make it more effective and humane. To that effect, seminars and other educational conferences had been carried out involving the personnel of the judiciary, police and prison guards. With the aim of speeding up justice in all instances of the courts, the Ministry of Justice, on its part, had made administrative reforms within the Ministry and in the courts to ease bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The Government of Morocco believed that prison conditions should be humane and should be places of rehabilitation, Mr. Belmahi affirmed. To that end, the Ministry of Interior had carried out a series of reforms aimed at improving prison conditions: new prisons were built; prison personnel were re-trained; and medical facilities within the prisons were increased. International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were taking part in the activities aimed at improving prison conditions.
The role of NGOs inside Morocco had radically increased since the new Government was installed to power, Mr Belmahi said. The new Prime Minister, being a former Secretary of the "Association of Arab Lawyers”, had encouraged the presence of various NGOs to promote rights prescribed in all international human rights instruments. The opening of an office in Rabat of
Amnesty International and the scheduled meeting of Amnesty's International Council in 1999 were among the examples to be cited.
In its efforts to align national legislation with the country's international obligations, the Government had undertaken legislative reforms to that end, the delegate said. While preparing the report for the Committee, the Government had invited NGOs to participate in providing information and in disseminating the report, he added.
In response to other questions raised by Committee experts, the delegation of Morocco said that the Government placed great importance to the promotion and protection of the Berber culture and tradition. Numerous associations were created to deal with Berber culture, language and tradition; there were 11 newspapers and periodicals which targeted the Berber public and several local radios broadcast news and music in three Berber languages.
The existence of the Jewish community in Morocco was discovered after the independence of the country in 1956 when King Mohammed V visited southern Morocco, the delegation said. When Berbers descended from their mountain homes to pay allegiance to the King, it was discovered that some of them were carrying Jewish symbols. Since then, research programmes had established the presence of a Jewish community within the Moroccan society. They enjoyed their own personal status which was conferred on them by their own religious institutions. That special treatment was in no way discriminatory, but an example of the recognition of the right to freedom of worship laid down in the Constitution, added the delegation.
REGIS DE GOUTTES, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Morocco, in concluding remarks thanked the delegation for the additional information made available to the members of the Committee during their constructive dialogue. He hoped that the dialogue with the Committee would be beneficial and would enhance the judicial and legislative reforms undertaken by the Government. He underlined the need for a demographic composition based on linguistic, racial and ethnic criteria. He said the Moroccan penal code should be reformed in line with the provisions of the Convention. He further said that in the report, indications on cases of punishment for racial discrimination were absent and he expected that such information would be included in the next periodic report.
HR/CERD/98/41
7 August 1998
Moroccan officials defended their Government's implementation of the provisions of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination this morning, stating that Morocco had always condemned any form of racial, linguistic or ethnic discrimination.
Responding to questions raised by members of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination yesterday, the Moroccan delegation indicated that the Government did not believe in establishing demographic data based on racial criteria. There was no policy of segregation or racial discrimination in Morocco.
Regis de Gouttes, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Morocco, in preliminary concluding remarks hoped that the dialogue with the Committee would be beneficial and would enhance the judicial and legislative reforms undertaken by the Government. He underlined the need for a demographic composition based on linguistic, racial and ethnic criteria.
The remarks came as the Committee concluded its consideration of a report from Morocco. The Committee will issue written observations and recommendations on the report of Morocco towards the end of its three-week session, which concludes 21 August. Morocco is one of the 150 States parties to the Convention.
Also this morning, the Committee briefly exchanged views on various issues regarding its methods of work and its relations with other human rights bodies.
The following Committee members participated in the debate on the report of Morocco and the work of the Committee: Yuri A. Rechetov, Mario Jorge Yutzis, Mahmoud Aboul-Nasr, Ivan Garvalov, Michael P. Banton, Theodoor van Boven, Gay McDougall, Agha Shahi, Shanti Sadiq Ali, and Luis Valencia Rodriguez.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to begin reviewing the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina under the early warning and urgent procedure mechanism.
Discussion
NACER BENJELLOUN-TOUIMI, Permanent Representative of Morocco to the United Nations Office at Geneva, responding to a number of questions raised by Committee members yesterday afternoon, said that the complexity of the composition of the population had made it difficult to establish statistical data based on race. It was not easy to distinguish and divide the Moroccan population according to their race or ethnic belonging.
Mr. Benjelloun-Touimi said that the Government had not accepted to establish a census based on colour, racial or ethnic origin. In general, people were offended when asked about their colour or race. Because of that, the Government had never attempted to carry out a survey to establish statistical data on the composition of the population on ethnic, linguistic or racial criteria. Instead, the authorities had carried out a national census on socio-economic criteria, he added.
Islam was the State religion and most of the country's population belonged to the Muslim faith, Mr. Benjelloun-Touimi stated. Morocco had no policy of segregation or racial discrimination and had always condemned apartheid. The problem of racial discrimination did not arise in the country and legislation contained few provisions dealing explicitly with this issue. Nevertheless, it did contain the means for punishing such behaviour should that became necessary.
DRISS BELMAHI, Juridical Counsellor in the Cabinet of the Minister of Human Rights of Morocco, said that one of the priorities of the new Government was to improve the judicial system to make it more effective and humane. To that effect, seminars and other educational conferences had been carried out involving the personnel of the judiciary, police and prison guards. With the aim of speeding up justice in all instances of the courts, the Ministry of Justice, on its part, had made administrative reforms within the Ministry and in the courts to ease bureaucratic bottlenecks.
The Government of Morocco believed that prison conditions should be humane and should be places of rehabilitation, Mr. Belmahi affirmed. To that end, the Ministry of Interior had carried out a series of reforms aimed at improving prison conditions: new prisons were built; prison personnel were re-trained; and medical facilities within the prisons were increased. International non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were taking part in the activities aimed at improving prison conditions.
The role of NGOs inside Morocco had radically increased since the new Government was installed to power, Mr Belmahi said. The new Prime Minister, being a former Secretary of the "Association of Arab Lawyers”, had encouraged the presence of various NGOs to promote rights prescribed in all international human rights instruments. The opening of an office in Rabat of
Amnesty International and the scheduled meeting of Amnesty's International Council in 1999 were among the examples to be cited.
In its efforts to align national legislation with the country's international obligations, the Government had undertaken legislative reforms to that end, the delegate said. While preparing the report for the Committee, the Government had invited NGOs to participate in providing information and in disseminating the report, he added.
In response to other questions raised by Committee experts, the delegation of Morocco said that the Government placed great importance to the promotion and protection of the Berber culture and tradition. Numerous associations were created to deal with Berber culture, language and tradition; there were 11 newspapers and periodicals which targeted the Berber public and several local radios broadcast news and music in three Berber languages.
The existence of the Jewish community in Morocco was discovered after the independence of the country in 1956 when King Mohammed V visited southern Morocco, the delegation said. When Berbers descended from their mountain homes to pay allegiance to the King, it was discovered that some of them were carrying Jewish symbols. Since then, research programmes had established the presence of a Jewish community within the Moroccan society. They enjoyed their own personal status which was conferred on them by their own religious institutions. That special treatment was in no way discriminatory, but an example of the recognition of the right to freedom of worship laid down in the Constitution, added the delegation.
REGIS DE GOUTTES, the Committee expert who served as country rapporteur to the report of Morocco, in concluding remarks thanked the delegation for the additional information made available to the members of the Committee during their constructive dialogue. He hoped that the dialogue with the Committee would be beneficial and would enhance the judicial and legislative reforms undertaken by the Government. He underlined the need for a demographic composition based on linguistic, racial and ethnic criteria. He said the Moroccan penal code should be reformed in line with the provisions of the Convention. He further said that in the report, indications on cases of punishment for racial discrimination were absent and he expected that such information would be included in the next periodic report.