Morocco’s new constitution defends the right to protest, activists remind Rabat
By Naoufel Cherkaoui in Rabat for Magharebia
![[Naoufel Cherkaoui] Rights campaigners gathered in Rabat to discuss the right to protest.](http://magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/images/2013/03/06/130306Feature4Photo1.jpg)
[Naoufel Cherkaoui] Rights campaigners gathered in Rabat to discuss the right to protest.
Moroccan activists are determined to preserve the people’s right to demonstrate.
Within the context of the Arab Spring street protests, Moroccan human rights activists met in Rabat on Saturday (March 2nd) to discuss the people’s right to demonstrate despite the sometimes forceful response from authorities.
“The phenomenon of protests in Morocco has witnessed a remarkable expansion in recent decades in terms of demands and the number of groups protesting,” Mohamed Nouhi, Chairman of the Moroccan Centre for Human Rights, said at the seminar organised for the Moroccan Human Rights Forum.
“Peaceful protests on behalf of civil society, the unemployed, diploma holders, as well as affected citizens in terms of rights and purchasing power, have become an almost daily scene in the streets of Morocco,” the activist added. “This has led to repercussions such as painful events, legal proceedings and accompanying complaints about violations of human rights.”
It has become urgent, Nouhi explained, to revise “the law on the organisation of public assembly in clear terms”.
Such a revision “will be in line with international human rights mechanisms ratified by Morocco”, he stated.
“Today we live in a period of significant progress due to the explosion of social demands associated with demographic growth and political openness and the continuing public deficit,” explained Hassan Tarek, professor of Law at the Rabat Law Faculty.
“We must make a contract in order to organise the public space, and launch a national dialogue about the organisation of the right to protest,” said Jaafar Hassoun on behalf of the ministry in charge of relations with parliament and civil society. “In addition, the presence of a mechanism of fair division of wealth will prevent components of society from resorting to demonstrations; also to be ensured is the right of civil society to contribute to legislation, as stipulated in the new Constitution.”
