Since ratifying the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Morocco has adopted numerous reforms to honor its commitments, including reforms to Morocco’s national laws to incorporate provisions of the convention, Attorney General and Head of the Public Prosecutor’s Office El Hassan Daki said on Monday in Marrakech.
At a training session on how to handle individual communications of human rights abuses under the Convention, Daki said that Morocco’s 2011 Constitution is one of those reforms. The Constitution provides that any international conventions ratified by Morocco “have priority over national legislation upon their publication, in accordance with the laws of the Kingdom and in line with the provisions of its fundamental law and national identity,” he said.
The official also stated that the fundamental law emphasizes the need to work towards harmonizing legislation with the requirements imposed by ratification of such conventions.
Daki highlighted the years-long commitment of the Public Prosecutor’s Office to national efforts to prevent and combat torture, through the adoption of numerous measures and initiatives, and recognizing that strengthening human rights guarantees in the Constitution, as well as Morocco’s involvement in the international human rights system, has fortified the responsibility of all parties concerned with preventing torture.
“The issue of human rights protection is of particular interest to the Public Prosecutor’s Presidency, as evidenced by the numerous initiatives and programs it leads, including the capacity-building program for judges in the field of human rights that started in December 2020,” he noted.
He went on to say that the training session on how to handle individual complaints is part of the Public Prosecutor’s efforts to support Morocco’s compliance with the international human rights system in general and to monitor its interaction with the United Nations mechanisms related to human rights in particular. The aim is to strengthen the implementation of international standards stemming from the nine fundamental UN conventions that Morocco has ratified and committed to implementing.
The official also pointed out that the training session is part of the ongoing implementation of the capacity-building program for judges in the field of human rights, to support Morocco’s admission to the UN Committee Against Torture with respect to its receipt and examination of individual claims of human rights violations, in accordance with Article 22 of the Convention.
The Public Prosecutor’s Office, in partnership with the Interministerial Delegation for Human Rights, and with the support of the Geneva Centre for the Governance of the Security Sector, sponsored the training, attended by judicial officers from judicial districts under the Courts of Appeal of Khouribga, Errachidia, El Jadida, Ouarzazate, Laâyoune, Agadir, Marrakech, Safi, Béni Mellal, and Guelmim.
Members of the judicial police (National Police and Royal Gendarmerie), as well as members of the Prison Administration (DGAPR) also participated.