Morocco: Letter from Pierre Sane on mission to Morocco

The mission was intended to achieve a number of objectives: we aimed to support our Moroccan members’ efforts to promote human rights awareness and enhance their position as a key player in Moroccan civil society, particularly in the context of the campaign for the 50th anniversary of the UDHR. [...] Of course our delegation included representatives of the Moroccan membership, and we were pleased to have the Secretary General Mohamed Sektaoui with us for most of our meetings with officials and representatives of civil society. [...] We called for the release of all remaining “disappeared” (including hundreds of Sahrawis) and prisoners of conscience; we urged that families be informed without further delay of the fate of their loved ones. [...] We said that the page cannot be turned unless Morocco comes to terms with and addresses the violations of the past, and puts an end to the climate of impunity. [...] We welcomed the government’s human rights proposals and concrete judicial reforms but we called for swift action now to go further in building a safer society, and to compensate for the human rights violations of the past.