The National Council for Human Rights (CNDH) praised, on November 22 in Geneva, Morocco’s constitutional and legislative progress in implementing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).
In an address to the 111th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), CNDH Director of Human Rights Monitoring and Protection, Abderrafie Hamdi, called for the implementation of a comprehensive legal framework to combat all forms of racial discrimination and the acceleration of the adoption of the draft law amending and supplementing the Penal Code, in line with the National Council’s recommendations outlined in its 2019 memorandum, which aims to ensure that the draft Penal Code complies with the Constitution and international human rights standards.
During this session, devoted to examining the 19th, 20th, and 21st periodic reports on the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), CNDH also recommended amending the nationality law to allow foreign men married to Moroccan women to obtain the Moroccan citizenship.
In what concerns the Amazigh language and culture, Hamdi praised the government’s different initiatives to promote the official status of Amazigh, stressing the importance of undertaking all the necessary legal, political, and financial measures to accelerate the implementation of the provisions of Organic Law 26.16 establishing the process for implementing the official status of Amazigh, as well as the modalities for its integration in education and in priority areas of public life.
Hamdi also commended Morocco’s efforts to protect and promote the rights of foreigners and prevent all forms of discrimination, calling on the government to guarantee respect for the principle of non-refoulement of asylum seekers.
The Moroccan official reported that between 2019 and 2022, the CNDH processed approximately 12,000 complaints and requests, fewer than 15 cases of which involved allegations of racial discrimination.
Hamdi explained, in this regard, that these cases mainly concerned the medical field, stigmatizing comments by online media that could incite hatred or racial discrimination, complaints of gender-based violence against a foreign detainee, and allegations of discrimination in access to justice for non-regularized foreigners. The official also added that the CNDH and its commissions have undertaken the necessary measures to process complaints, including field visits, mediation, and interaction with the relevant authorities, whilst guiding plaintiffs in the procedures.
The Moroccan delegation’s participation in the 111th session of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) sheds light on the Kingdom’s multi-sectoral efforts and policies in the fight against all forms of racial discrimination. The delegation is led by the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, and includes Morocco’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative in Geneva, Omar Zniber, and Secretary General of the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights, Abdelkarim Boujradi.
