Video – Minister of Justice Ouahbi intervention in Geneva on human rights
On behalf of the Moroccan delegation, Mr. the Ambassador and all the delegations, I’d like to thank representatives of countries for their feelings towards the Moroccan delegation and I’d also like to thank them for their interventions and to tell them that let everybody be sure that their observations will be taken into consideration, and we will work efficiently to bring them into reality inside our country; as regard to human rights in our country, we consider that it’s the Moroccan people right to enjoy human rights in Morocco and it is our right to respect its dignity through implementing human rights principles.
I’d like to go back to the issue of death sentence and say that since 30 years, no death sentence has been executed, nobody has been executed in Morocco for 30 years; and in this context, we encourage people to ask for amnesty and rather to serve a prison sentence; then we issue a sentence to move death sentence to years’ imprisonment. Moreover, this issue is witnessing a big debate in our country, and right now there are strong debates about this issue and in the near future we will have a vision about this topic.
Concerning women issues, be sure that there will be changes in accordance with His Majesty King Mohammed VI’ instructions and there will be a reviewing of the family status code; and because of the Moroccan women strong participation in, and strong impact on Morocco’s civil society, all this bring us for reviewing family status code, as we will push for what we call “affirmative action” for the benefit of women and we will also proceed the handing of many issues related to Moroccan women.
Actually, there are some cases of violence against women but not at a larger level and we, in the government, believe that if we have only one case, we see it as a violation against women rights, that’s why we have mobilized scientific, technical and institutional means to confront the issue of women rights. We have also managed to resort to modern technology such as e-bracelet and other modern technical means. All these issues are subject to debate in our country and human rights issue is core issue for us.
As Minister of Justice, in charge of human rights issue, I am fully aware that Morocco’s future resides in the future of human rights and that the best venue is human rights and that the Moroccan people deserves to live in dignity and in a political system that does really respect human rights. It’s a commitments which we have declared and we reiterate today that we have considered human rights as a democratic choice in our constitution.
The last issue I’d like to tackle is our national cause and in this context, I feel really sorry that since 1975, when we regained the independence of our Southern provinces, we have spent more than $200 billion in those provinces which have become among the largest investments areas in Morocco. I feel really sorry for a part of our own people who are still taken as hostages in another country and exploited for creating an international political crisis that undermines world peace and security; and I feel sorry for that issue is used for human rights purposes. Who likes to raise human rights slogan, should first apply human rights principles at home and for its people when this one stages protests; and should respect conditions for fair trial and should respect the biggest oil funds means while its own people queue up hungry for a liter of oil in the streets. No one should give us lessons and as the proverb says “those who live in glass houses should not throw stones”
