HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINICS IN MOROCCO -- THE CASE

UNCLAS RABAT 000357

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

STATE NEA/MAG, DRL/PHD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINICS IN MOROCCO -- THE CASE
FOR CONTINUED FUNDING

REF: 05 RABAT 01766


1. (U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified. Please
treat accordingly.


2. (U) This is an action request. See paragraph 3. With
funding ending March 31, Post seeks an opportunity to express
support for the continuation of the American Bar Association
"Human Rights Clinical Legal Education" program in advance of
any Department deliberations on continued funding.


3. (SBU) Summary: The American Bar Association (ABA),a US
nongovernmental organization (NGO),has worked for the past
year with Hassan II University in Mohammedia to institute a
"Human Rights Clinical Legal Education" program. A
"memorandum of understanding" (MOU) was signed between ABA
and the university in June 2005. University president Rahma
Bourquia, Morocco's first and only female university
president, actively supports the project and signed the MOU
for the university. Classes began in the fall (October)
semester. The DRL/PHD-funded program has met with active and
effective support at the highest levels of the university,
including the president, deans, and the law faculty. Law
students eagerly participate in the training sessions, and
lawyers and human rights activists from throughout Morocco
have volunteered their time to teach in the program. The
university has developed plans to sustain the project after
approximately eighteen months, and it is interested in
increasing the number of students who participate in the
clinics. This program is a funding success story which is
acting as an effective change-agent within Morocco, and we
strongly encourage DRL's continued support for the project,
which we believe is necessary to ensure the program's
sustainability. End Summary.


4. (U) During the summer and prior to the beginning of the
fall semester, ABA distributed applications to students. Of
the 170 applications to participate, ABA chose fifty students
to be interviewed; thirty-one were chosen for the course.
Because of course scheduling, twenty-two students enrolled.
Some of these students reside in low-income areas of
Casablanca. (Note: During this initial year as facilities
in the law school were allocated and organized and the
program was devised, more than this number of students could
not be accommodated. End Note.)


5. (SBU) ABA structured the clinic curriculum to encompass
four subject areas: international human rights law sources
and philosophy; human rights protection mechanisms; specific
human rights, e.g., labor law, refugee issues, women's
rights, children's rights; and practical legal skills. To
date, twenty-three classes have been held in these areas,
and fourteen different lecturers, who are either lawyers or
human rights specialists, have taught the students using an
interactive pedagogical method. Among the lecturers have
been Abderahim Sabir (regional director for Human Rights
Education Associates and a spokesperson for the Arab
Commission for Human Rights),Khadija Farhi (law professor,
Hassan II University),Abdelaziz Nouaydi (law professor,
Mohammed V University, Sale; founder of Adala, a Moroccan NGO
advocating judicial independence),and Rabea Naciri (founder
of the Democratic Association of Women in Morocco; along with
Rahma Bourquia, implementing a major MEPI project on the
dissemination of "best practices" based on the Moroccan
Family Code changes).


6. (SBU) This second semester the clinics are concentrating
on labor-related human rights issues. To develop this aspect
of the training, ABA will be signing a MOU with the Center
for People's Rights in Fez. This center is a national human
rights organization which provides counseling services to
women workers in fifty-four listening centers throughout
Morocco. What is anticipated is that women workers in the
Mohammedia area will be referred to the clinic to receive
legal advice from students who will be working with lawyers.

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Comments
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7. (SBU) In a December 2005 meeting, Hassan II University
presented an initial action plan to ensure the sustainability
of the law clinics to DRLoff and Poloff. ABA volunteered at
that time to assist in working on the details of the action
plan. The involved parties also think that it will take one
year to eighteen months to enable the university to make the
program sustainable. Additional funding from the USG for

this period would specifically allow the enhancement of the
Hassan II University law clinic and the possibility of
establishing another clinic (reftel). As the only funding
source for this project, the Department can take pride in the
accomplishments to date. The program has met with great
success -- the university is supportive, the lecturers have
participated eagerly, and the students remain excited.


8. (SBU) Comment cont'd: In addition to the positive nature
of the students' and Hassan II University administration's
and faculty's broadly-based commitment to and involvement in
the "Human Rights Clinical Legal Education" program, this
program affords an opportunity to further USG policy goals
through the promotion of democratic practices in a hands-on
format. It is one of the only on-going programs the USG has
with a major Moroccan university, although we work closely
with several universities for speaker programs and thematic
programs; moreover, the clinic program is providing concrete
skills to Moroccan students in the area of rule of law. In
addition, while the clinic affords the opportunity for
students to understand the international context of human
rights, it allows the USG to have broader exposure to the
concerns and needs of Moroccan students. This exposure
enables the mission to understand the challenges in the area
of rule of law and judicial reform more fully and to ensure
that limited USG resources are effectively targeting goals
outlined in the Mission's reform strategy. End Comment.
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Riley