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FIDH Newsletter

Maroc >> 34th Congress

>> International Justice
Seminar
Playing the card for international justice

"THE CASABLANCA APPEAL"

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

MAROC
- What Transition?-

Maroc >> 34th Congress

The Casablanca Congress : a resounding success
The 34th Congress represented an intense, powerful and rewarding moment in the FIDH¹s life

There was therefore a real fear of the presence of FIDH members at the congress being seen as support for the authorities who would be quick to take advantage of this. In the event, this pitfall was avoided and, thanks largely to an uncompromising inaugural meeting, the concerns of human rights defenders and of actors in Moroccan civilian society were expressed and widely echoed. Immediate positive results were obtained - for example, authorisation was given for three banned weeklies to reappear.
This first wager was won with the effective and warm cooperation of numerous Moroccan friends, including of course activists in our two affiliated organisations, AMDH and OMDH. This is a wonderful illustration of the fruitful nature of the cooperation that exists between the FIDH and local member associations.

What is more, coming after various activities organised in the framework of the Euromediterranean partnership (the MEDA programme), and following a seminar on international justice held just a few days previously, holding the Congress in an Arab country enabled us to measure and further strengthen the quality of the links we have formed with human rights defence organisations in the region.

Likewise, the theme chosen for the Congress Forum, that is Globalisation and Exclusions, contributed to the interest shown by all the participants, and especially those who had come from countries concerned with Africa, Latin America and Asia. These committed activists were able to view their experiences and define some of the actions they could take to remedy some of the glaring inequalities connected with trade liberalisation, the power of multinationals, situations of poverty and conflict, issues surrounding migration and women and children¹s rights.

No one could be in any doubt by the end of the Congress, that the FIDH, the only large NGO which has had since its foundation a general mandate for the promotion and defence of human rights, has seen its credibility further strengthened, shown by the attention given to such an event by the media, especially in Morocco, in the Arab world, in France and in Africa. Equally, the FIDH¹s internationalisation was reaffirmed not only during the Congress¹s open debates, but also through internal operations thanks largely to the membership of new leagues and the new life given to the International Bureau.

The FIDH now comprises 114 member organisations from around 90 countries and, apart from the election of 15 vice presidents all of different nationalities, took a further step by electing at its head a President, Sidiki KABA, who is a Senegalese lawyer and has been an ardent and distinguished defender of human rights for many years.

While the organisation¹s head office is still in Paris, the unanimous and enthusiastic choice of a President who is not French is testimony to the FIDH¹s good health and solid foundations. The arrival of a new team promises new advances - with the necessary consolidation of achievements already made.

Of course, everyone knows there is still an immense amount of work to do, that it¹s all about the ambitions we attach to the protection of human rights defenders, to the fight against impunity or for economic and social rights. The desired utopia - so often tomorrow¹s reality - of human rights activists does not exclude their realism, and, through the daily hardships they face, they know the path is strewn with obstacles.

However, the FIDH Congress, while it revealed certain shortcomings which encouraged us to want to do even better the next time, above all enabled us to realise the power of such a gathering of men and women, from all over the world, guided by their shared belief in the dignity of the human being, of all human beings. This was an opportunity to draw new energy to say no to injustice and inequality, to war and death, to hatred and rejection.

Yes, with pride we can say that the FIDH Congress was a success, if only because it confirmed the need for and the effectiveness of a universal movement based on solidarity between human rights defenders.

Patrick Baudouin
Honorary President of the FIDH

>> International Justice
Seminar
Playing the card for international justice
Regional seminar, Casablanca 5-8 January 2001

While the battle against impunity is a priority for human rights defence organisations, the ability to carry it out depends on the organisations being able to work without the fundamental principles of freedom of expression and association being violated every day and, of course, without their life or those of their family members being in danger.

In fact, establishing the fundamental principles of international justice means above all that the independence of the judiciary is guaranteed, that complaints can be made without censure or intervention by the executive, that there exist means to protect witnesses and victims and, ideally, that there is some sign that governments are willing to lead a fight against the impunity of the perpetrators of the most serious crimes, - of all crimes. Now, this is not the case for many organisations present at the FIDH¹s regional seminar. It is difficult, if not impossible, for the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights, to take one example, to campaign for the ratification of the International Criminal Court when at the same time its members are being prosecuted and its offices have been closed.

However, we welcome the fact that this FIDH seminar is taking place because here we can see the signs of an evolution and a symbolic moment, a turning point in the opportunities being offered to NGOs to influence the course of injustice and by fighting together for an independent universal legal system which takes account of the grievances and suffering of the victims.

Everyone saw in the choice of Morocco a sign of new hope in the region. A few years ago it would not have been possible to organise such an event in Morocco. And yet Morocco is still a fragile society in transition, which before being able to face up to its future must first reconcile an often painful past. In particular they must agree to open up about the forced disappearances in Western Sahara, about the summary executions or even the detention conditions inside prisons.

International justice is at the heart of these problems in the quest for truth, for justice and the establishment of the facts. We have seen deep divisions in Moroccan civilian society, divisions which are found in numerous other countries in transition and which basically come down to two visions: one in which victims should receive reparation through a commission said to be "independent" without there being any real possibility of opening criminal procedures against those suspected of the crime. This vision seeks a peaceful civilian reconciliation rather than compete and comprehensive justice. The other demands justice at all costs and might even refuse compensation until an independent and sovereign judicial system is established. The same kinds of divergences exist or have existed in Chile, in Serbia or even in the Lebanon and elsewhere.

Experts came from South Africa, Chile and Cambodia as well as the United States and France to exchange ideas with the participants. They presented the history of international criminal justice, the functioning and shape of the future international criminal court as well as the current state of negotiations on the subject, the ins and outs of the mechanism of universal jurisdiction as well as the problems relating to amnesty, immunity from prosecution,truth commissions etc.

This seminar gave rise to a great deal of hope on the part of human rights activists. Hope in the opportunity represented by the principle of universal jurisdiction and that will be represented, when it comes into force, by the International Criminal Court. Hope again, when the speakers talked about Pinochet, Hissene Habre and Ely Ould Dah. From now on vigilance is the order of the day when recognised torturers decide to travel to countries where justice is more independent and the chances of applying the mechanism of universal competence greater.

This seminar is one of a series of five regional seminars on international justice. Like those in Dakar and Bogota, the seminar in Casablanca has taken place in an atmosphere of solidarity, friendship and above all a demonstrated desire to fight against impunity using all the existing mechanisms of national and international justice.

Jeanne Sulzer

The signatories of this Casablanca Appeal met from 5 to 8 January 2001 in Casablanca (Morocco) for the third regional workshop on international justice organized by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in cooperation with the Organisation Marocaine des Droits Humains (OMDH) and the Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH,)

The participants:

Considering that all persons who bear responsibility for impunity, of whatever type, should be prosecuted before the courts,

Aware of the close connection between the fight against impunity, the construction of a genuine democracy and the consolidation of a process of fair and lasting peace,

Ø Recall that the fight against the impunity of the perpetrators of the most serious crimes and the search for truth are two of the main priorities of NGOs devoted to defending human rights.

Considering the difficulty of operating in the countries of a region where freedom of action for human rights defenders is seriously impeded,

Ø Emphatically recall the principles set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Protection of Human Rights Defenders dated 9 December 1998 and require that states abide by them;

Ø Hereby express the hope that the Southern and Eastern Mediterranean States implement these recommendations.

I - ON GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL LAW AND THE TRANSPOSITION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW IN NATIONAL LAW

Reasserting the absolute need for the Judiciary to be independent of the Executive and of other stakeholders,

Reasserting the principle of the right to a fair trial and the safeguards required for due administration of justice such as the equality of all citizens before the law, including public officials,

Recalling and reasserting the principle of the direct applicability of international conventions once ratified and the primacy of international treaties over national law,

Ø Require that states guarantee the independence of the Judiciary in their countries and take all relevant and necessary measures to achieve that goal;

Ø Require that states ratify the international instruments on the protection of human rights, publish duly ratified international instruments and transpose these instruments into their national law;

Ø Require that states ratify the aforementioned instruments without reservations;

Ø Demand that states withdraw any reservations made when ratifying said instruments;

Ø Demand that states ensure conformity between their national law and these instruments.

II-ON THE RATIFICATION AND ENTRY INTO FORCE OF THE STATUTE OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

Welcoming on the adoption of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Statute, by 120 votes in favor, on 17 July 1998 in Rome, which establishes the first permanent and universal international criminal court to recognize individual criminal responsibility for the more serious crimes,

Recalling that the ICC will be the first international criminal jurisdiction to fully acknowledge the status of victims and to provide mechanisms for victims' participation, protection, representation, notification and, ultimately, right to reparation,

Recalling that the ICC Statute stipulates that the ICC composition shall be representative of all judicial systems and all the geographic regions of the world,

Recalling that ICC will only have jurisdiction for crimes committed after its entry into force,

Favorably acknowledging the signing of the ICC Statute as of 31 December 2000 by 139 states including 11 from the South and East Mediterranean Region,

Considering that the signature and ratification status of the ICC Statute is tantamount to a political, quasi universal commitment to this new instrument for fighting impunity,

Recalling that the Court will only enter in force when 60 states have ratified the Statute and that as of 8 January 2001, 27 states had completed the ratification process,

Ø Demand that all states that have not yet done so, accede to the Statute or ratify it without delay;

Ø Demand that the states, when ratifying the Statute, do not invoke Article 124 allowing them to refuse the jurisdiction of the ICC as regards war crimes for a period of seven years;

Ø Remind the states in the region that by subscribing to the ICC Statute and the Assembly of State Parties they will ensure that the composition of the Court genuinely represents the different legal systems of the world;

Ø Recommend the setting up of advocacy groups and national coalitions for the ratification of the Statute and the launching of awareness campaigns representing all of civil society and, in particular, human rights organizations, women's organizations, trade unions , professional and bar associations, etc.;

Ø Recommend that national groups draw on the experience of the International Coalition for an ICC and coordinate their efforts with the regional and international coalitions, in particular the Coalition of Arab NGOs for the ICC;

Ø Hereby decide to urge the Euro-Mediterranean partnership to give priority to the ratification of the ICC Statute;

Ø Launch, as the regional workshop on international justice comes to an end, the Casablanca appeal to the authorities of the region urging states to ratify the ICC Statute as soon as possible.

III - ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AND RESPECT FOR THE MECHANISM OF UNIVERSAL JURISDICTION

Recalling that the prosecution of the most serious crimes should, in principle, be under the jurisdiction of national courts and that it is the failures and shortcomings of national legal systems that has led to the creation of ad hoc international criminal tribunals,

Recalling the Nuremberg principles and the fact that the prosecution of the most serious international crimes is the responsibility of the international community as a whole,

Recalling that the future ICC will be governed by the principle of complementarity which gives primacy to national courts,

Reaffirming that in the fight against impunity, NGOs and victims' organizations should use all existing national and international legal mechanisms,

Recalling that many international conventions provide for and recommend the implementation of the universal jurisdiction principle for these crimes,

Ø Require that states take the necessary measures to ensure that their domestic legal systems are empowered to prosecute the most serious international crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes regardless of the nationality of the perpetrator or the territory on which the crime was committed;

Ø Call on States to ratify and implement the legal instruments providing for the exercise of universal jurisdiction such as the four Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhumane or Degrading Treatment or Punishment of 1984;

Ø Call on States to ratify and incorporate the Convention on the Non-Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity of 1968;

Ø Call upon the states to include the principle of universal jurisdiction for serious violations of human rights in their civil law;

Ø Recommend that States incorporate the universal jurisdiction mechanism in their criminal procedure codes;

Ø Recommend that States, when transposing the ICC Statute into their legislation, take the opportunity to recognize the universal jurisdiction mechanism for the crimes under the jurisdiction of the ICC (genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes);

IV - ON THE USE OF VICTIM'S TESTIMONIES IN THE CONTEXT OF THE FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY

Considering the importance of taking into account the psychological and judicial angles of victims' views and the use of their testimony in the fight against impunity,

Ø Recommend teaching NGOs how to gather victims' testimony, in particular for use in a judicial context;

Ø Recommend respect for gender balance when setting up teams to collect information and the adoption of a multidisciplinary approach (involving doctors, psychologists, lawyers, etc;);

Ø Recommend the setting up of support center to ensure that protection be provided for witnesses and victims, as well as uninterrupted contact with victims who have testified;

Ø Recommend that forums be held so that victims can speak up in the presence of selected administrative officials (from the police, detention centers, bar associations, magistracy, etc.);

V - ON THE SEARCH FOR JUSTICE AND TRUTH

Considering that there can be no genuine national reconciliation without prior truth, justice and reparation for victims;

Recalling that truth commissions must be considered as an important tool in fighting impunity and establishing the facts

Considering that States must respect the rights of victims to know the truth about the most serious crimes,

Asserting that the right to know is closely linked to the right to justice, reparation and the assurance that human rights violations shall not be repeated,

Ø Require that States set up the mechanisms needed to establish facts and the truth

Ø Require that these mechanisms document as completely as possible the circumstances in which these crimes were committed, the identity of the victims, and the responsibility of both the perpetrators and their accomplices

Ø Recommend that truth commissions be part of a broader process which includes safeguards for the victims' access to justice and reparation

VI - ON AMNESTY AND THE FIGHT AGAINST IMPUNITY

Recalling that governments have often used amnesty laws to secure the impunity of the perpetrators of serious crimes rather than to achieve genuine national reconciliation;

Recalling that, in principle, there can be no amnesty for most serious international crimes;

Considering that for amnesty to be legitimate, it must be the last recourse and must meet strict criteria that conform to the international law on human rights;

Recalling that amnesty only applies at the national level and therefore cannot obviate the obligation and duty of the international community to prosecute the perpetrators of human rights violations,

Ø Recommend that any national amnesty measure be taken up in a comprehensive, broad, open public debate.

VI - THE FIDH LEGAL ACTION GROUP

Considering that the FIDH has set up a Legal Action Group (GAJ),

Recommend that the GAJ takes account of the specific situation of victims who bear witness in courts of law to ensure their personal safety and the protection of the information they disclose,

Considering the priority given to the issues of impunity,
Ø Recommend that NGOs coordinate their efforts at the national, regional and international level in order to :

a) compile information on human rights violations regardless of perpetrators
b) receive victims of violations in order to record their testimonies
c) encourage states to sign and ratify all international conventions and in particular the Statute of the International Criminal Court
d) encourage the participation of NGOs in campaigns to consolidate and to obtain the ratification of the ICC Statute
e) strengthen coordination with specialized international organizations that have experience in this field in order to :
i) obtain a fuller understanding of legal safeguards related to the preparation of case files, documentation, witness protection etc;
ii) mobilize all the components of civil society (trade unions, professional associations, women's association and NGOs for the defense of human rights) in order to build up a capacity for making unified proposals to fight impunity;
f) encourage states to make national legislation in conformity with international instruments, and at the same time ensure the effectiveness of the mechanisms for implementation and follow up

Ø Hereby announce the expansion of the FIDH Legal Action Group (GAJ) to include lawyers, magistrates and legal experts from FIDH affiliated organizations attending the Casablanca seminar;

SIGNATORY ORGANIZATIONS OF " THE CASABLANCA APPEAL " - January 08 janvier 2001

REGIONAL ORGANISATIONS :

Ø Algéria / Collectif des familles de disparus en Algérie
Ø Bahrein / Committee for the Defense of Human Rights in Bahrain (CDHRB)
Ø Egypt / Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR)
Ø Iran / Ligue Iranienne des droits de l'Homme
Ø Israel / Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
Ø Lebanon / SOLIDA
Ø Libya / Ligue Libyenne des droits de l'Homme
Ø Morocco / Organisation Marocaine des droits humains (OMDH) / Association Marocaine des droits humains (AMDH) / ASAD / ATTAC / Collectif des rescapés sahraouis des disparitions / Comité de coordination des sahraouis victimes de la disparition forcée et la détention arbitraire / CDIFDH / Espace associatif / Forum Vérité et Justice / Transparency International Maroc
Ø Tunisia / Ligue Tunisienne des droits de l'Homme (LTDH)
Ø Turkey / IHD
Ø Yemen / Yemen Human Rights Center (YHRC) / Yemen Organization for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (YODHRF)

NON REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS :

Ø Cambodia / ADHOC
Ø Chad / Ligue Tchadienne des droits de l'Homme (LTDH)
Ø Chile / Comite de Defensa de los Derechos del Pueblo (CODEPU)
Ø Colombia / Colectivo de Abogados
Ø United Kingdom / Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP)
Ø Irland / Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
Ø Peru / Asociacion Pro Derechos Humanos (APRODEH)
Ø Rwanda / Réseau des citoyens
Ø Sénégal / Organisation Nationale des droits de l'Homme (ONDH)/ RADDHO
Ø United Kingdom / Kurdish Human Rights Project (KHRP)
Ø United States / Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)

REGIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND COALITIONS

Ø International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
Ø International Coalition for an ICC (CICC)
Ø Arab NGO Coalition for an ICC

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT:

MAROC - What Kind of Transition?-

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Three years after Dakar, we wanted to go along with the internationalisation of our movement worldwide and thus pay tribute to the thousands of activists who are fighting for right and justice in the countries crushed by the injustice of the world order.

While countless people raised their voices to combat the universality of rights in the name of a so-called religious particularity, our aim was to advocate for the concept of universal rights the way we perceive it, not a concept that is imperious and peremptory, but welcoming and open towards the diversity and the colours from all over the world, as long as this does not mean that we are departing from the rights that form the common property of mankind.

In a region that is marked by authoritarian regimes, despotic monarchies and militarised republics, we finally wanted to note a welcome transition after decades of steel and blood, but without being complacent. We were also keen to ensure that the Congress should be a space of freedom for Moroccan society to share its aspirations and make itself heard. And finally, as far as the authorities are concerned, we were hoping that it could serve as an opportunity, both in a concrete and symbolic sense, to announce new moves towards establishing a system that is genuinely based on the Rule of Law.

In a climate that was tense as a result of the crushing of demonstrations held on 10 December 2000 and the ban on three weekly papers, Moroccan civil society stated its principal demands and its thirst for truth and justice in particular. Ahmed Marzouki and all the former prisoners or victims of 'disappearances' who attended the Congress said a society which forgets could not be calm and confident about its future. The other important witnesses on their side that had been invited by the FIDH shared the other major challenges that still remain to be faced, and the goal of gender equality in particular.

The Moroccan authorities, which perhaps suddenly became aware of the injustice they had done, re-authorised the publication of the papers that had been banned under new titles. And, a few days later, Ahmed Marzouki was given a passport for which he had been waiting for years. These are very laudable developments. Yet, much more still remains to be done. Of course, one cannot expect a government to solve all the social and economic problems of a country like Morocco virtually overnight, but what we and the Moroccan people can expect is that the Chapter of Freedom will be dealt with better A Code of public freedoms, which governs the freedom of the press, the freedom of association and the freedom of demonstration, is now under discussion, though not yet satisfactory. There has been no progress on the reform of the status of the individual financial compensation for the victims of disappearances has been accepted, though it is nowhere near realistic and finally, the referendum in the Western Sahara is still in deadlock. All these are issues that we would like to monitor and follow up alongside Moroccan civil society.

Driss El Yazami
Secretary-General

Freedom of the Press
Press Code: New Draft, New Worries

The Press Law of 15 November 1958 guaranteed freedom of publishing, printing and distribution in more than one chapter. These principles went in the same direction as the Criminal Law that was adopted on 10 February 1959, which was to guarantee the protection of the accused, their defence and the right to a fair trial. However, since these laws were promulgated, there has been a clear regression.

Although some revisions of the Criminal Code had been repealed, those to the Press Act have been maintained. The question that arises today is whether the new draft amendments are aimed at abolishing all or part of these revisions or at yet more revisions.

Those revisions that were introduced earlier in the Press Act were already a precursor of the increasingly restrictive provisions of this law to date, a trend which seems to be confirmed by the new draft amendments.

Thus, according to Article 76 of the Penal Code of 1959, those who have committed an offence against the law on the freedom of expression could not be subject to committal orders until the final judgement. The first amendment extended this principle for offences against the Kings, Emirs and Princesses and the second amendment annulled this provision by introducing the possibility of a committal order as for all other offences.

This second amendment is implicitly confirmed by the new draft amendment, since it makes provision for a committal order even for offences against the law on the freedom of expression and, even worse, these draft amendments also make provision for maintaining the power of the Minister of the Interior to order the administrative seizure of any daily or periodical paper or magazine which upsets public order. Whilst this power was initially limited to acts that were seen as threatening the foundations of the political and religious order of the Kingdom, it has now been extended to encompass threats to the Muslim religion, to the Monarchy, to the flag and to national unity, without specifying the elements that constitute each of these offences (Art. 77 of the draft amendments). The amendments also make provision for maintaining the power of the Prime Minister to ban all dailies, weeklies or other regular papers or magazines, as stipulated in the 1973 amendment. This power is exercised under the same conditions as that of the Minister of the Interior, as far as ban or suspension are concerned. In addition, prison sentences for offences against the law on the freedom of the press, including the heaviest penalties (offence against the honour of the King, the Emirs and the Princesses) have not been abolished by these new draft amendments. These provisions have been maintained, although they do make provision for reducing other penalties and the period of prescription from 12 months to 6 months. Furthermore, these new draft amendments, not only have not abolished the most repressive aspects of the law on the press, which has been amended over the last thirty years, but have increased the number of offences which are liable to heavy penalties will also be increased. Thus, those offences covered by articles 3, 41bis and 41ter (see box in lefthand margin), were to be subject to heavy penalties. Other restrictive provisions have been maintained, such as the compulsory official authorisation for the distribution of regular papers or magazines and their display or exhibition or because they just happen to be there.... or Art. 76 of the law on the press which authorises the Public Prosecutor's department to suspend those papers or magazines which fail to pay compensation under a judgement against the Director of a publication or the author of the article, notwithstanding the avenues of appeal or opposition 1). In fact, the most notable change to this Article through these amendments is the change to Article 39 ff., which makes provision for conviction for instigating to racial discrimination, hatred or violence against one or several persons because of sex, origin, colour, race or religion. For these motives, Moroccan society largely disapproves of these new amendments which are overall negative. Meetings and conferences will be organised and articles will be written to demand its amendment.

ABDELRAHMAN BENAMEUR
Ex-President of Rabat Bar; President of AMDH

1) The only (partial or slight) change to this Article is that that the relevant period has been extended from 15 days to 1 month from the date when the judgement was pronounced and the guarantee of half the amount which suspends the decision of the Prosecutor.

Ban on Newspapers
'I was the Director of Publications of two papers...'

Interview with Aboubakr Jamai, Director of Publishing of the Journal and As Sahifa.

Can you tell us a few words about the ban on theJournal and As Sahifa?

I was the Director of Publications of two papers: an Arabic weekly called As SahifaI and Le Journal, which was the first French-language weekly in Morocco. They both got banned on 3rd December last year, under the pretext that the subjects we were publishing were threatening the country's stability. (acc. to Article 77 of the Moroccan Law on the Press, the Prime Minister is authorised to ban any publication which might threaten 'the country's political and religious foundations').We put in an appeal against this decision. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court claimed that this was not within its jurisdiction. So we decided to launch two new titles and followed the normal procedure, which is to put in a formal application with the Prosecutor for formal permission to launch the publication of these two papers. However, the Prosecutor was guilty of delaying tactics and he refused to give us permission for more than one month, for totally fallacious reasons.

When we realized that there was a political intention behind refusing to grant us publishing permission, which is required for us to carry out our profession, which is perfectly legitimate under Moroccan law, I decided to go on a hunger strike to call the government and public opinion to their responsibility.

Do you think you have achieved something through your hunger strike which may have helped to

bring your case further?

Well, you know, going on hunger strike in itself will not help at all, but with media support, which is what happened, it is possible to make an impact. I think the Moroccan authorities have been rather clever not to allow the situation to deteriorate. I had to hold out for about 50 hours - if my calculations are correct - before the Prosecutor decided to grant me permission. I then stopped my hunger strike. The presence of the FIDH helped tremendously, as it offered me a platform which allowed me to speak out and voice my opinion, and this, in turn, had an impact on the international press.

What do you think is the most important aspect as far as the freedom of the press in Morocco is concerned?

The most important point, I would say, is that we still have a long way to go to achieve true freedom of expression in Morocco. There are still people in senior positions who hold an important position and who do not really like the idea of genuine freedom of expression in the country. And whenever newspapers have editorial freedom, these papers will run into trouble with the authorities. So I do hope that this victory - as it really is one - will be the beginning of a real process of political re-orientation and that we will have far less difficulty to exercise our profession freely in the future.

Ahmed Marzouki:
'A CLEAR DISTINCTION: the victims of the torturers'

>> Mr. Marzouki, who spoke as a witness of Moroccan civil society during the opening session of the 34th Congress, talked about the causes of his 'disappearance' and on his conditions of imprisonment in Tazmamart.

I would like to thank the delegates of the FIDH for giving me the opportunity to speak about forced disappearance in our country.

My case, and that of my comrades, is a special case. We had disappeared after the trial. While we were sitting our sentences in the central prison in Kenitra, we were kidnapped by policemen and security forces in the night of 7th August 1973. They took us with them, our eyes bandaged, handcuffed and taken to an unknown place. We found out later that this was a detention place which was located near a barracks near a forest between Rich and Er-rachidia.

We were all talking about slavery, but the truth was that we had been forgotten.
We spent more than 18 months locked up in the dark, each of us in a narrow cell, 29 of them in two buildings. The food we were given by the guardsmen three times a day was insufficient to survive: we had five litres of water a day as drinking water, for washing ourselves and for flushing down the hole in the floor for our needs. Our hair, our beards and our nails were growing like those of wild animals. We were suffering terribly from the cold of the winter in these mountainous and landlocked areas and from the suffocating heat in the three summer months.

We never got out. We had no visitors, no doctor, no nurse, no family, no lawyers. Our penalties were never respected and we began to understand that we were not going to come out of this place until we died. We could talk to each other and hear each other die, one after the other, without being able to give each other the least bit of help. The dead were buried without any form of religious celebration whatsoever.

After more than 18 years, we were freed and made a little bit presentable, as we were out of shape, had shrunk by at least 20 centimetres, and were in a pitiable state.

'Justice for Tazmamart'. From 1994 until the end of 2000, after a long struggle, we were able to obtain social welfare benefits from the armed forces who gave us five thousand dirhams a month. The United Nations, through a small organisation called 'Justice for Tazmamart', made up of three people who are close to the FIDH, gave us a symbolic amount each year from their fund for victims of torture and we wanted to thank them for that. In October 2000, we obtained compensation; and we were able to bring to light our unimaginable suffering in Tazmamart where 31 of us were buried on the earth, covered with quick lime, , with the help of those who were supporting us.

What are we asking for today? A pension and health insurance cover, as the compensation will not allow us to live until the end of our days. We are all over 55 years old and all we have learnt in life is to be soldiers and to die all alone in the darkness. We are also asking for our passports which many of us have still not obtained (see box). And the families of those who died are asking for the remains of their beloved ones. But in our country today, other families are asking for news about their members who have 'disappeared': Abdelhak Rouissi, Houcine El Manouzi, Dr. Mohamed Islami and many others. They want to find them, or, if not, at least be able to mourn for them. Other victims of torture are also demanding compensation. This has to be said clearly and loudly. The Moroccan people cannot turn over the page of these sinister years of history unless the truth is revealed, is fully revealed, and until there is justice. We are not asking for the perpetrators to be killed, we are not even asking for their imprisonment under the same cruel conditions we had to suffer. We are asking for those who are responsible to be named, that they should at least be deprived of their civil rights and that there should be a clear distinction between the victims and their executioners. It is only then that Moroccan society can become reconciled and open a new page in its history.

Ahmed Marzouki
Member of a group of 58 officers and sub-officers involved in two coup d'Etats against King Hassan II in the early 1970s. He was imprisoned in Tazmamart from 1973 to 1991.

1. The mission of the FIDH is to guarantee the protection, promotion, universality and indivisibility of human rights.

2. Since the FIDH was founded and at its two Congresses in Madrid and Dakar in particular, it has been indefatigable in proclaiming that human rights belong to all mankind and that human rights are indivisible. To this end, the FIDH has always considered economic, social and cultural rights as being of the same value and as being on an equal footing with civil and political rights, which is laid down in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for the truth is that, although economic, social and cultural rights have been reaffirmed and developed in a large number of international institutions, they have always been largely ignored and not been applied.

3. The FIDH strongly reaffirms the absolute primacy of Human Rights which impose obligations on everyone, governments, international institutions and private actors alike. No Code of Conduct can substitute these obligations. Economic, social and cultural rights must be seen as effective, exigible, justiciable and sanctionable rights.

4. Globalisation, the way it is currently developing, is, above all, characterised by global production by large private enterprises, financial globalisation and the inter-dependency of economies.

5. Globalisation has a profound impact on governmental structures and the human rights situation and economic, social and cultural rights in particular. It has led to new forms of violence and aggravated others. The interdependency between democracy and development is measurable by its actual consequences. There has, for instance, been an increase in social, ethnic, religious, nationalist crises and armed conflicts. Globalisation generates social exclusion, which leads to the disruption of fundamental links of integration and, above all, badly affects the cultural identity of minorities.

6. Some countries have benefited from the dismantling of trade barriers while others have become increasingly marginalized. The growing imbalance in the terms of trade has long been a problem, but now it is getting even worse. Differences in global income levels throughout most of the world, which are illustrated by the growth of poverty and extreme poverty, have never been so marked, but none of the solutions that has been implemented has led to greater equality.

7. Unequal trade relations between rich and poor countries, the globalisation of trade has led to an even greater disintegration of the economies of the poorest countries. The world market is structured around the sole interests of the dominating countries, formerly distinctive cultures are 'levelled down' to become a uniform 'global' culture, with a strong danger of producing nationalist reactions of peoples who are trying to preserve their identities.

8. This situation is happening in a context where information technology and trade have seen considerable advances, but where access to this technology is still very unequal.

9. These revolutionary changes are not compensated and are far from being compensated by the advances that flow from the breath-taking perfections in science and technology. There are less and less restrictions to the free movement of capital and goods, but men and women, especially the poorest of them, are still confined to the household, or become victims of trafficking.

10. Also as a result of globalisation, the scope of action of governments, who are, by virtue of the obligations contained in the instruments they have signed, guarantors of the respect for human rights, has become smaller and smaller, in favour of bodies or organisations that are seldom accountable or subject to democratic control, such as the international financial institutions (World Bank, IMF), and multilateral organisations such as the World Trade Organisation, but even multinationals which, today, are as powerful as they have never been before.

11. It is not to the FIDH to endorse one economic system or another, but the FIDH does consider it its responsibility to point out that any economic system must be in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that 'free trade' should not be an end in itself and that it should, in any case, be geared towards the prospect of an equitable distribution of growth and towards sustainable development, with a view to eradicating poverty, above all.

12. The FIDH would like to stress that the current process of globalisation cannot escape from the respect for human rights, which is absolutely imperative and which cannot be substituted by any other charitable strategy.

13. Hence, the FIDH considers it to be crucial that:

13.1. All policies implemented by international institutions or states must comply with the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all other relevant Conventions.

13.2. International financial bodies and their policies must be transparent, subject to democratic control and they must be responsible for the consequences of their policies. These policies, whether they are conducted by regional or international institutions, require co-ordination to ensure sustainable development. In addition, these international financial institutions, beyond their being subject to democratic control, must take into account the proposals of an autonomous civil society at international level and for this purpose they must install effective and transparent consultation mechanisms. In this context, the genuine opening up of the possibility of a democratic debate for all citizens is a crucial requirement.

13.3. Multinationals, whose concentrated power is far greater than the level of their accountability, should be subjected to control, punishment and compensation mechanisms enabling the international community (governments, regional or world-wide inter-governmental organisations, associations or individuals) to commit their responsibility either before national or international courts that still need to be established.

13.3 bis: A permanent international evaluation observatory to monitor the respect for economic, social and cultural rights shall be created within the FIDH;

13.3 ter. As to follow a proposal expressed during the Congress of Dakar in 1998, a campaign for the establishment of an international organisation within the UN system should be launched in the near future; relevant NGOs would have consultative status vis-à-vis this organisation which would be in charge of monitoring the respect for international Human Rights Law in the agreements and treaties signed by governments, international organisations and multinationals for economic and social matters;

13.3 quater: A dialogue should be opened on the establishment of an international court for economic justice relevant to compensate for the damage caused by historically unequal trade relations, regulate the way in which those resources or territories that belong to all mankind are managed (oceans, space, Antarctica, etc.) and to monitor multinationals, especially by questioning their civil responsibility.

13.4 The dismantling of trade barriers must go hand in hand with the respect for the diversity of cultures and the rights of minorities and take into account the legitimate interest of each people and its sustainable development;

13.5 Technology and advances in science must be shared in such a way that all mankind, and the poorest countries in particular, can benefit from them;

13.6 international instruments for the protection of economic, social and cultural rights should establish rights that can be directly claimed by individuals, even if these rights do not form part of the legislation of the countries of which these individuals are nationals.

Hence, the FIDH urgently recommends:

14.1: the cancellation of Third World debt, though this cancellation should not question public development aid which is already insufficient ;

14.2. the promotion of international legislation which outlaws 'tax havens' and the implementation of a world-wide mechanism that allows to impose taxes on international capital transactions for speculative purposes;

14.3 the respect for the freedom of movement of individuals;

14.4 the ratification and integration of all the international instruments on economic, social and cultural rights by governments into their own national legislation.