Morocco supports the political process to resolve the issue of the Moroccan Sahara, reiterating its commitment to round table talks of all parties, under the exclusive auspices of the UN, according to Minister of Justice Abdellatif Ouahbi.
Speaking at the 52nd regular session of the Human Rights Council, Ouahbi said that this commitment to reach a "realistic, achievable, sustainable, and consensus-based" solution within the framework of national sovereignty and territorial integrity of Morocco, based on the autonomy initiative that the Security Council considered a serious and credible for the 19th time.
The head of the Moroccan delegation noted that it was a "serious and credible" initiative that received the broad support of 91 countries. Its dynamism had been reinforced by the opening of consulates in the Moroccan Sahara by several African, Arab, and South American countries.
He indicated that this "dynamism was consistent with international legitimacy, the latest of which was Security Council Resolution 2654, which reaffirmed the method of round tables as the only framework for negotiations and a political solution that is realistic, practical, sustainable, and consensus-based."
Ouahbi explained that while the southern provinces of the Kingdom are "witnessing a tremendous comprehensive economic and social development that allows the population to enjoy their rights and participate in the management of public affairs through representative institutions, the suffering of Moroccans detained in harsh conditions in the Tindouf camps in Algeria continues."
The minister indicated that their daily lives are affected by the siege, the confiscation of the right to assembly, and preventing movement.
They also suffer from "extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and all forms of torture, rape, human trafficking, and child recruitment, by militias that condition enjoyment of the most basic rights to subjugation and full political and ideological compliance," he said.
The minister recalled that 2022 was marked by royal attention to issues of equality and women, especially empowering them with their legal rights and adopting the option of revising the family code, and promoting constitutional institutions concerned with women's issues.
Morocco also engaged in a "comprehensive review of the criminal system for the sake of harmony and international standards, societal transformations, and modern developments, as well as the preparation for a draft criminal law and the code for criminal procedures, and a draft law on alternative penalties."
He also explained that internationally, there have been difficulties and challenges that severely affect human rights in light of the repercussions of the spread of the coronavirus, the devastating effects of armed conflicts, the risks of climate change, and the spread of violent extremism, terrorism, racism, and xenophobia.
Morocco continued its efforts to promote the values of dialogue, peace, tolerance, cooperation, and mutual respect between countries by hosting the work of the Ninth Global Forum of the Alliance of Civilizations, culminating in the Fez Declaration.
Marrakesh also hosted the first international seminar on National Mechanisms for Implementation, Reporting, and Follow-up in human rights, culminating in the adoption of the Marrakesh Declaration.
Ouahbi explained that the Marrakesh Declaration falls within the framework of international efforts to strengthen the roles of these mechanisms and develop partnerships, cooperation, and shared experiences.
The Minister of Justice stated that the Kingdom's accession to the first Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination against Women, constituted a "very important human rights event and an additional milestone in the great national march towards the supreme will of the state and enshrined in the constitution."
