Moroccan experience in transitional justice, new contract between state, people, MP

Tripoli, Libya, December 24, 2012 (MAP)

Morocco’s experience in the field of transitional justice is a form of a new contract between the state and the people and a guarantee against the repetition of past violations, said Monday in Tripoli, leader of the Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) group at the House of Representatives, Abdellatif Ouahbi.

Speaking at the first conference on “experiences of transitional justice in the countries of the Arab Spring” in Tripoli, Ouahbi focused on the reports of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) and  those on the 50 years of human development in Morocco, noting that these two texts are an important source for the reconstruction of the state in Morocco.

Transitional justice is a unanimous choice of all national forces “in order to transcend the past and avoid engaging in unnecessary political battles,” noted Ouahbi, stating that in the context of this experiment, the Moroccan government “agreed to take responsibility for its mistakes.”

The decisions of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) “have served as important tools for civil society to combat practices that are at odds with the recommendations of the IER” said Ouahbi, adding that some laws are being studied to address some dysfunctions and close loopholes that could promote impunity.”

This meeting, organized by the Libyan National Council in charge of Civil Liberties and Human Rights, aims to shed light on the different experiences in the Arab world in terms of Transitional Justice.