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.

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Government Human Rights Body Work Largely Completed
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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
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.)

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CCDH Recommendations to the Palace(
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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.

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(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."

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Press and Other Reforms Also Needed
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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.

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MOJ Equivocates on Judicial Independence
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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.

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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.

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First Meeting with Women's Rights Group
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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.

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Comment
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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.


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Millard