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Association Council meeting between Morocco and the EU Date: 09-10-2000
EMHRN Observations and Recommendations to the Association Council meeting between Morocco and the European Union, 9 October 2000.

The Association Council is holding its first meeting within the framework of the association agreement between the European Union and Morocco, which came into effect on 1st March 2000. The Council is to examine questions relating to the implementation of this agreement. The meeting will provide an opportunity for dialogue concerning the different ‘baskets’ of the Partnership, including the political ‘basket’. As a result, the dialogue should touch upon the human rights situation.

Founded in January 1997, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) numbers more than 60 human rights organisations and civil society components in most South and East Mediterranean countries, as well as the European Union. Its objective is to make an active contribution, together with its member organisations, to the progressive implementation of the human rights commitments that have been taken, and to the reinforcement of the rule of law, in accordance with the Barcelona Declaration and the association agreements between the EU and its partners.

The agreement between Morocco and the European Union includes the following clause:

"Respect for the democratic principles and fundamental human rights established by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shall inspire the domestic and external policies of the Community and Morocco and shall constitute an essential element of this agreement".

In light of the stance taken by its members, the EMHRN is worried about the increase of xenophobia in Europe and, in particular, about recent serious racist incidents against Moroccan nationals.

The EMHRN welcomes the positive way the situation regarding human rights and fundamental freedoms has developed in Morocco since the beginning of the 1990s, and particularly, in the past few years.

To emphasize how the situation has come on, notably since King Mohamed VI's accession to the throne, the Network would point out that:

restrictive measures taken for political reasons have been lifted: the majority of former detainees have had their passports reinstated and returned, Abraham Serfaty has come home and the house of Abdeslam Yassine, a politico-religious leader (Al Adl wa Al Ihsane), is no longer unlawfully under surveillance.
there has been an outline of a settlement on the disappeared, notably concerning the state's responsibility and compensation for victims and their families.
there has been an increase in the margin of freedoms in general, notably freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly and association; and civil society has been reinforced.
a program of government reforms has been adopted, taking into account the demands made by the human rights movement. It is worth pointing out here the government's commitment to reinforcing the laws guiding freedoms, the status of women and the electoral code, and to creating an institution for mediation and intervention as a supplementary guarantee of respect for individual liberties.
the Sovereign has made a solemn commitment to keep a close eye on respect for basic rights and freedoms, notably in an unprecedented speech given on the occasion of the 51st anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights; he has asserted the need to clarify a new concept of authority, one that is compatible with respect for laws and freedoms; in the coronation speech on 30th July last year he announced the decision to take all the measures necessary to rehabilitate disappeared victims, to reform the human rights advisory council and to set up an independent broadcasting authority (a reform demanded by civil society including the human rights movement since March 93).
However, the EMHRN notes that:

measures inspired by security policy are still in existence; force is being used, outside the law, with protesters and notably, with the unemployed academics.
the government has seized two newspapers; these seizures, amongst others, have been prompted by their 'editorial line'.
the process of law reform, justice reform and reform of the administration is slow
the "integration plan for women within the development process" that was prepared by the government in discussions with civil society has been pushed to one side
monies were used illegally on a large scale during the by-elections, discrediting democracy in the eyes of large sectors of the population.
The EMHRN formulates the following recommendations:

the restrictive policy of freedoms based on an authoritarian conception of public order should be scrapped, and there should be a definitive and fair settlement on the issue of enforced disappearance and arbitrary detention, on the basis of establishing the truth and ensuring the full and effective rehabilitation of victims.
legal guarantees for individual and public freedoms should be reinforced, so as to harmonise domestic law with international norms (legislation on public freedoms, the code of penal procedure and the penal code, suppression of civil imprisonment), conforming with the demands and suggestions made by civil society.
the legal, political, social and cultural status of women should be promoted, conforming with commitments undertaken by the State before the international community and the legitimate demands of women's organisations and human rights organisations in Morocco.
justice reform, an essential foundation of the rule of law, should be speeded up; this means setting up satisfactory legal guarantees for the independence of judges, training them and pointing them in new directions; it also means a modernisation of justice.
institutional, legal and practical guarantees for free and honest elections should be reinforced.
a National Plan for the promotion of human rights, conforming with the recommendations of the World Human Rights Conference that took place in Vienna 1993, should be set up as a follow-up to actions already initiated by the government.
projects involving human rights in Morocco within the bilateral framework of the MEDA programmes should be reinforced.
the measures taken by the States of the European Union to thwart racism and secure the rights and dignity of Moroccans living in Europe should be reinforced.
EMHRN, 5.10.2000
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