Background
Morocco is a racially and linguistically diverse country with a history of political upheaval rooted in early colonial occupation. Arabs and Imazighen (Berber) make up the largest percentage of the population, while other groups include descendants of Spanish refugees who fled the Reconquista and of Sub-Saharan African slaves. The country’s status as a French protectorate ended in 1956 due to public unrest, though Spain continued to control two coastal enclaves. Sultan Mohammed was king from 1957 until his death in 1961, at which point King Hassan II ascended to power. Under King Hassan II’s reign from 1961 to 1999, Morocco experienced several periods of political instability accompanied by a state policy of terror aimed at quelling all persons and factions that threatened the king’s regime. Human rights abuses included arbitrary detentions, extrajudicial executions, torture, and the enforced disappearances of thousands of people. This period of mass human rights violations perpetrated by the state security apparatuses became known as the “years of lead.”
Additionally, Morocco annexed Western Sahara during this period in 1975. It remains a bitter territorial dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which represents the indigenous Saharawi people of the area. Following the years of lead, Morocco saw a number of transitional justice initiatives. The most noteworthy are the establishment of the Human Rights Advisory Council in 1990, the Committee of 12 in 1994, the Independent Arbitration Panel in 1999, and the Equity and Reconciliation Commission in 2004. In 1999, King Hassan II was succeeded by his son, Mohammad VI.
Spain continues to hold its coastal enclaves in Morocco, which has resulted in tensions between the two countries. In April 2007, Morocco was hit by a wave of suspected extremist bombings, and many arrests in both Spain and Morocco followed. In February 2011, thousands of people rallied calling for political reform and a constitutional limit to the powers of the king. However, not much changed. Since then, Morocco has instigated a number of questionable socio-political maneuvers, like changing the penal code to allow rapists of underage girls to avoid prosecution by marrying their victims. Political unrest continues to mark Morocco, as the country grapples with terrorism and an economic downturn. Violations of human rights also continue under King Mohammad, as activists and journalists are prosecuted for their views, migrants are forcibly transferred, women face discrimination and gender-based violence, and same-sex sexual relations between consenting adults remain illegal.
Transitional Justice Mechanisms
During the final years of King Hassan II’s rule, various transitional justice measures were implemented by the state due in large part to international pressure. These measures have been continued by King Mohammad VI. Notably, in the wake of the 2011 Arab Spring protests in neighboring countries, Morocco was called upon to provide transitional justice expertise to the restructuring governments. However, its own transitional justice measures have been criticized internally by civil society and other actors.
In 1990, King Hassan II established a Human Rights Advisory Council to advise him on matters concerning human rights. The Council amended provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure dealing with detention periods, limited the terms of all police custody procedures, created a system for bail, and helped legislate the right to counsel. With regard to investigating pending cases of disappearances, the council identified 112 cases of missing persons, of whom 56 were declared dead, 12 were declared alive, and 44 had “unknown fates.” The royal pardon of 8 July 1994 made it possible for the council to study the files of political prisoners and request the release of nearly 450 detainees. Royal pardons were accompanied by state efforts to integrate former “enemies” of the state into the public administration. The most notable example was the appointment of long-exiled human rights defender Abderrahmane al-Youssoufi as Morocco’s prime minister in 1993.
In 1994, the Committee of 12 was formed by the Ministries of Interior, Justice and Human Rights and members of the Human Rights Advisory Council to review disappearances. The committee concluded that there were 112 cases of enforced disappearance and recommended the creation of a committee to examine those cases in greater depth. However, it was not until 1999, with the creation of the Independent Arbitration Panel, that the state attempted to make reparations for the harm inflicted on the victims.
In 1999, the Human Rights Advisory Council recommended that King Hassan II establish a body to compensate the victims of past human rights violations. The council’s request was approved by the king two weeks before his death in July 1999. Upon assuming the throne, King Mohammed VI appointed an Independent Arbitration Panel comprised of three Supreme Court justices, four council members, one Interior Ministry representative, and one Justice Ministry representative. The panel was tasked with determining the levels of compensation for victims of arbitrary detention and enforced disappearance between 1956 and 1999.
From 1999 to 2003, the Independent Arbitration Panel accepted 5,127 applications and rendered 5,488 judgments. Of these, 3,681 applications were successful, 889 were rejected because they were not cases of forced disappearance or arbitrary detention, 750 were remitted for future deliberation, and 133 were deemed to lack sufficient evidence. The panel awarded 100 million US dollars total to 7,700 victims and their heirs, with compensation packages ranging from 600 to 300,000 US dollars.
The panel has been criticized for failing to satisfy families’ requests for death certificates, focusing on a limited number of human rights violations, relying solely on compensation and excluding other forms of reparation, and failing to address gender concerns—making no reference to violence against women and using a compensation formula based on traditional Islamic jurisprudence, which often discriminates against women.
The Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER)—the first truth commission in the Arab world—was inaugurated on 7 January 2004 and approved on 10 April 2004 by way of a royal decree. The IER was mandated to establish “the truth about past violations, provide reparations to victims and families, and recommend measures aimed at preventing future abuses.” Its investigations were limited to violations committed between independence in 1956 and the inception date of the Independent Arbitration Panel in 1999. The IER had a much broader view of reparations than the panel, including “medical and psychological re-adaptation, social integration, settlement of administrative, legal and professional problems, and restitution of property” in its definition of reparations. However, there is no specific mention of the violations suffered directly by women or the impact of violations on women in IER founding documents. The IER was composed of 16 commissioners appointed by the king, only one of whom was a woman.
Since the release of its final report on 30 November 2005, there have been notable gains in compensation and community reparations. Programs providing health and social rehabilitation have been launched by the state. The IER’s recommendations on legal and institutional reforms, however, have yet to be implemented. Freedom of expression and association continue to be infringed upon by the government, which engages in arbitrary arrests, torture, and other ill-treatment of prisoners, as well as the forcible detention, transfer, and expulsion of migrants. The IER has been criticized by victims and their families for having failed in its mission of promoting national reconciliation, due in large part to the government’s continuing human rights violations.
Gender
Although men were the main targets of violations in Morocco, women were subjected to the same violations in smaller numbers. Moreover, women were also victims of gender-based violations, including rape, harassment, forced abortion, and separation from their children. The IER was the first official attempt to address the human rights violations suffered by women. However, the IER obtained information on the victims independent of their sex, thus ignoring the specific forms of violations experienced by women. Furthermore, the IER failed to include a single woman as a “major witness” in its private hearings and only 27 percent of the witnesses who participated in the public hearings were women.
Despite this, the IER’s investigative work led to an examination of sexual violence and detainment of women during the years of lead. The IER was also in favor of affirmative action with regard to compensating women victims, granting them an additional 10 to 20 percent in compensation in all categories. Morocco passed a law for the prevention of violence in 2018, but its effectiveness is limited as implementation mechanisms are weak. Gender-based violence and discrimination remain a problem, though they are under-reported due to distrust toward the authorities and a historical lack of accountability for perpetrators. Members of the LGBTQI+ community are also harassed and endangered. Attacks are almost entirely unreported, as consensual same-sex sexual relations between adults remains punishable by up to three years in prison in Morocco.
Justice
The greatest criticism of Morocco’s transitional justice process has been the government’s unwillingness to prosecute past human rights abuses and remove known perpetrators from public office. Despite its contributions with regard to truth and reparations, the IER failed to recommend prosecutions of perpetrators. The decision was an implicit agreement to focus on other methods of redress. However, even these goals were hindered by the lack of accountability, especially as victims were prohibited from naming perpetrators in their testimonies to the IER.
Additionally, despite the recommendations of the IER, the Polisario Front continues not to bring to justice those among them who committed human rights abuses in refugee and migrant camps.
Reparations
Despite the IER’s groundbreaking work on reparations, it has been criticized for making access to compensation by family members conditional on the direct victim being deceased, thus excluding family members of surviving victims. Also, the fact that the IER has not made public the units of calculation it used has led to speculation and accusations of clientelism among certain victims. In total, the IER provided financial compensation to 9,779 victims.
International Actors
Although a signatory to the Rome Statute, Morocco has not yet ratified the treaty. Thus, the International Criminal Court lacks the jurisdiction to investigate the human rights violations committed during the years of lead or to prosecute perpetrators.
The mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) was extended for another year in October 2019, but this mission still does not include a human rights component.
Morocco rejoined the African Union after an absence of more than 30 years, in January 2017. Members were apprehensive, given that the African Union recognizes Western Sahara as an independent member state, in direct opposition to Moroccan occupation of the area.
Sources
African Union Series, Peace, Justice, and Reconciliation in Africa: Opportunities and Challenges in the Fight against Impunity (2013), http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/ipi_e_pub_peacejusticeafrica.pdf (accessed 15 July 2020).
Amnesty International, “Morocco and Western Sahara 2019,” https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/morocco-and-western-sahara/morocco-and-western-sahara/ (accessed 15 July 2020).
Equity and Reconciliation Commission, “Final Report,” https://www.ccdh.org.ma/an/rubriques/documentation/publications/report-equity-and-reconciliation-commission-ier (accessed 14 July 2020).
International Center for Transitional Justice, “Morocco Still a Model for Justice in MENA, but Questions Remain,” 8 February 2016, https://www.ictj.org/news/morocco-still-model-justice-mena-questions-remain (accessed 15 July 2020).
International Center for Transitional Justice, Morocco: Gender and the Transitional Justice Process (2011).
Loudiy, Fadoua, Morocco: Comparative Study of Transitional Justice in Africa (Johannesburg: Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, 2018).
“Morocco Rejoins the African Union after 33 Years,” Al Jazeera, 31 January 2017, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/01/morocco-rejoins-african-union-33-years-170131084926023.html (accessed 15 July 2020).
Nadia, Guessous, Women and Political Violence during the Years of Lead in Morocco (Rabat: Conseil Consultatif des Droits de l’Homme and UNIFEM, 2009).
Stan, Lavinia, and Nadya Nedelsky, eds., Encyclopedia of Transitional Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013).
Unites States Institute of Peace, “Truth Commission: Morocco,” 1 December 2004, https://www.usip.org/publications/2004/12/truth-commission-morocco (accessed 18 July 2020).
