MOROCCO: STAFFDEL HOGREFE DIALOGUES WITH

C O N F I D E N T I A L RABAT 000785 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/MAG E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/14/2029 TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV OREP MO SUBJECT: MOROCCO: STAFFDEL HOGREFE DIALOGUES WITH GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY LEADERS ON HUMAN RIGHTS Classified By: Classified by CDA a.i. Elisabeth Millard ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a meeting with Staffdel Hogrefe, the head of the Government of Morocco's (GOM) Consultative Counsel for Human Rights (CCDH) said that work in accounting for and compensating the families of government human rights abuses during the reign of the late King Hassan II is almost complete. King Mohammed VI's recent Throne Day speech appears to have triggered implementation of several discrete reforms in the judicial sector, although full judicial independence does not appear to be in the cards at this point. He argued for further progress in promoting freedom of the press and separation of powers in Morocco. A senior Justice Ministry (MOJ) official argued that each country must decide on its degree of judicial independence, while deflecting questions about Palace influence. A senior Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) official stated that the GOM has made human rights a corner stone of Moroccan foreign policy, and welcomed the formal USG-GOM dialogue. A women's rights activist stated that, while Morocco's progressive family code (passed in 2004) is changing the psychology of Moroccans, legislation to criminalize violence against women appears stalled. End summary. ¶2. (SBU) During a September 3-5 visit to Rabat, and accompanied by Poloffs, Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission Democratic Commission Staff Director Hans Hogrefe led a House Congressional staff delegation (Staffdel) in meetings with officials from the government's CCDH, MOJ, and MFA, and a prominent women's advocacy group. -------------- Government Human Rights Body Work Largely Completed -------------- ¶3. (SBU) On September 4, Staffdel Hogrefe met with senior members of the CCDH--Morocco's official body responsible for investigating past human rights abuses--including CCDH President Ahmed Herzenni. During the meeting, Herzenni said "the era of gross violations of human rights in Morocco is over." Although six outstanding cases remain, the work of the CCDH in investigating approximately 800 forced disappearance cases and compensating families for past government human rights abuses, from 1956-1999, was largely completed. This work had included years of painstaking investigations to elucidate the truth about victims and to �A;compensate families through individual and community reparations, the creation of official memorials, and the extension of government-provided health care benefits to surviving family members. ¶4. (SBU) Herzenni said that the work of Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission (i.e., the forerunner organization to the CCDH) had been introspective and difficult, but necessary to help build a culture within the government and civil society that rejects all forms of political violence. Herzenni provided to the Staffdel and Poloffs copies of the Commission's "Final Report" in English (Note: this was the first time we had seen an English-language version of this report, first published in Arabic in 2006. End note.) -------------- CCDH Recommendations to the Palace( -------------- ¶5. (SBU) In addition to its investigative and compensatory work, CCDH in November 2004 had officially submitted recommendations to the Palace for human rights reform in two key domains: the judiciary and the security services. Herzenni told us that he discussed these recommendations in a follow-up meeting with King Mohammed VI on January 6, 2005. At the top of the list, CCDH had recommended that measures be taken to ensure an independent judiciary. Specifically, CCDH recommended that the High Counsel of Magistrates--which appoints and polices judges--be led by someone other than the King's official representative to the body, the Minister of Justice. CCDH Secretary General Mahjoub El-Haiba added that other recommendations included calls for greater "regionalization" of judicial affairs (i.e., more courts at the local level) to better serve the local community and to reduce judicial backlogs. CCDH had recommended reforms to the penal code to make past human rights abuses "unrepeatable," which included more transparent adjudication processes reflective of Morocco's societal evolution in human rights and more in line with international conventions. -------------- (Some of Which Appear to Have Been Adopted -------------- ¶6. (SBU) Herzenni said that he was heartened that many CCDH recommendations had been mentioned in King Mohammed VI's August 20 Throne Day speech. Herzenni, a former political prisoner himself, added that: "I believe Morocco is finally taking judicial reform seriously." (Note: On September 5th, Minister of Justice Abdelwahed Radi announced the first concrete steps toward initiating reforms in the judicial sector in the wake of the King's Throne Day speech. These included a near tripling the MOJ's budget*from 270 million Moroccan Dirham (circa 33 million USD) in 2009 to 749 million Dirham (93 million USD) in 2010; construction of 22 new courts and upgrading 20 others before 2012, adding 1000 new judicial-related positions; and introducing a bill requiring judges to declare their wealth and sources of income, in the same way that ministers are required to do. End Note.) ¶7. (SBU) Herzenni said that although nothing was mentioned in the King's speech about security sector reforms, he was hopeful that this might be taken up by the Palace as a priority issue sometime in the future, adding that the basic idea behind CCDH's recommendations in this sphere amounted to "bringing the security services under greater control." -------------- Press and Other Reforms Also Needed -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Herzenni said that CCDH considered press freedoms to be another area in need of significant reform in Morocco. However, the Palace has not indicated whether the CCDH, the MOJ, or some other entity will take the lead in making recommendations for changes to the press law. Herzenni opined that greater balance needs to be struck between freedom of the press and protection against defamation, adding that there is a need to establish a kind of self-policing entity, perhaps something akin to a trade union to encourage "responsible journalism." (Note: A Moroccan press union and two organizations representing publishers already exists. The GOM and press representatives agreed long ago on establishment of a self-policing National Press Commission as part of a revised press law, but talks have been stalled for roughly three years over the press' insistence on--and the government's refusal to--completely decriminalizing libel. End note.) ¶9. (SBU) Herzenni added that he personally believed that other changes were needed in Morocco to include greater separation of powers between the three branches of government, the strengthening of democratic processes (for which "friends" (USG) could help),and better distribution of wealth, but that "these were beyond the scope of CCDH's mandate." In closing, Herzenni praised the positive role the US played in Morocco's Human Rights dialogue and encouraged Embassy officers and Staffdels to visit areas of concern, especially the Western Sahara, to continue to help improve and raise Morocco's human rights standards. -------------- MOJ Equivocates on Judicial Independence -------------- ¶10. (C) In a follow-on meeting with Staffdel Hogrefe and Poloffs, Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Secretary General Lididi also noted the emphasis that King Mohammed VI had placed on judicial reform in his Throne Day speech. However, regarding judicial independence, Lididi equivocated, saying that each country must decide on the appropriate degree of judicial independence. He underscored the need to completely insulate the judiciary from governmental, legislative, and private influences. However, when asked about shielding the system from royal influence, Lididi deflected by saying that MOJ recommendations for change were made within the confines of Morocco's existing constitution. ¶11. (SBU) Regarding reform of the press law, Lididi largely underscored the need to strike a balance between free speech and protections against defamation. When Hogrefe asked Lididi about several recent high profile cases of libel against newspapers, Lididi countered by saying that of the 28 cases of libel brought before the courts in 2008 in Morocco, 24 of them had been launched by private citizens, adding that the four government-initiated cases paled in comparison to the thousands of cases of libel brought before courts in countries like the U.S. and France each year. -------------- Human Rights as Cornerstone of Moroccan Foreign Policy -------------- ¶12. (SBU) During consultations with the Staffdel, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation (MFA) Chief of Staff Nasser Bourita emphasized the importance of human rights to Morocco, describing the issue as "a cornerstone of Moroccan foreign policy." While admitting that the process of human rights dialogue, begun with the USG in 2006, had initially been tense, he said "Morocco was in a learning process" and increasingly viewed the dialogue as a positive and integral part of the Moroccan-U.S. relationship. Discussions, while sometimes difficult, now take place in an atmosphere of openness and mutual respect. ¶13. (SBU) At the international level, Bourita said that Morocco is seeking to raise the profile of human rights by calling for reform of the United Nations' (UN) 3rd Committee through the adoption of procedures that would facilitate greater discussion of human rights issues (with the notable exception of religious defamation, which Bourita said Morocco considers inappropriate for the 3rd Committee). While Morocco often votes with UN blocks to which it is party, such as the "Arab block" and the Non-Aligned Movement, Bourita said King Mohammed VI has made it clear that Morocco will not be bound by consensus groups in the UN on matters of human rights, adding that MFA is also trying to create a dialogue on human rights within these various blocks. ¶14. (SBU) When questioned about Morocco's lack of progress in adopting the UN Convention on Disabilities, Bourita said that Morocco was in the final stages of ratification but would not sign unless it could meet all of the responsibilities of the treaty. He said that Morocco was presently poorly equipped to carry out all of its obligations, even lacking the administrative capacity to do all of the treaty's required reports. -------------- First Meeting with Women's Rights Group -------------- ¶15. (SBU) Staffdel Hogrefe also met with Democratic Association of Women in Morocco (ADFM),one of Morocco's leading non-governmental organizations for women's rights advocacy. During the breakthrough meeting for the Embassy (ADFM officially boycotted the U.S. Embassy before the recent change in U.S. Administration),ADFM President Nabia Haddouche said the ADFM was pushing for the adoption of a law criminalizing violence against women, and had consulted with Minister of Social Development Nouza Skalli on a draft bill. She was not overly optimistic about the bill's prospects and less so for any specific provisions regarding spousal rape, given the chauvinistic attitude of most male parliamentarians. Her group was pleased, however, with the implementation of a 12 percent quota for the election of women during the June 12 municipal elections (although ADFM had pushed for 30 percent) and the USG's MEPI-funded training of women candidates for the elections. Haddouche said that while enforcement of the progressive family code, i.e., Moudawana, (passed in 2004) was inconsistent, it was changing the psychology of Moroccans for the better. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶16. (C) Although imperfect, the work of CCDH has allowed Morocco to emerge from a dark chapter in its history with vastly higher standards of human rights protection and social/governmental consciousness, for which it should be commended. While challenges will remain in enforcing increasingly higher standards of human rights in the country, it is difficult to imagine a systemic reversal of the progress Morocco has made in facing its dark past and rejecting political violence. While the significant increase in MOJ's budget is welcome and needed to help build new court houses (underpinning the "regional strategy"),other fundamental reforms, such as changes to the penal code and measures to ensure judicial independence remain unarticulated or inadequate. We interpret MOJ Secretary General Lididi's comments, i.e., that judicial independence reform will be made within the existing constitutional framework, to mean that the Palace will likely continue to exercise significant influence over the judiciary, as currently enshrined in the constitution. The Embassy is looking forward to expanding the groundbreaking engagement it has begun with ADMF on the full range of issues toward advancing women rights. ***************************************** Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; http://www.intelink.sgov.gov/wiki/Portal:Moro cco ***************************************** Millard