Mohammed V University Debates Challenges of Teaching Human Rights

Rabat – On the occasion of the 67th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, a study day was organized on Thursday, December 10 in Rabat by the Faculty of Law, Economics and Social sciences-Agdal, in collaboration with the German foundation Friedrich Ebert Stiftung under the theme “The challenges of teaching human rights at the Moroccan University.”

Professors, doctors of law, lawyers, and a large number of organizations and representatives of civil society took part in the event. The main objective was to examine the challenges of teaching human rights at the university according to some case-study examples.

During the event, the professor Abdelkader Mossaed, Human Rights MA coordinator at the Faculty of Law in Tangier, stressed the importance of thinking about the human rights issue from two perspectives: first at the university, and second as a state of research in universities.

For his part, Hassan Zardani has emphasized the need to improve the state of research in universities, using the example of Jerusalem University. “The educational system and the research status are two functions to improve today to better serve our society,” said the professor of the faculty of Marrakech (Cadi Ayyad).

A clinic of law was recently established at the faculty of Agdal to serve citizens, as the issue of human rights is a component of civilization. “This is a first in our universities. The objective is to serve Moroccan society. We are voluntarily helping Moroccan citizens who need advice in law through this clinic. We still want to expand its missions,” said Farid El Bacha, Head of Private Law department in the faculty. The academic contributions of the Moroccan university in this context are related to studies in the areas of governance, democracy and human rights, which can expand more students thinking.

Apart from its social aspect, the clinic has an educational objective. Its founders allow students to be accompanied by their professors to put their lectures in practical terms and excel in the professional field.

The integration of human rights into the space of the Moroccan university through scientific chairs (human rights, women’s rights, culture of peace, law clinics) or by teaching via the departments, research, and trainings is a basic point of support for the opening on the experiences of other states and for its transition from a simple policy to the public space interaction.

“We do not have specialists of human rights. Human rights are either part of the public law departments or the private law ones. Regarding theses about the issue of human rights, they are not many,” said Jawad Louhi of the Faculty of Agdal.

On the issue of specialization, the opinions were different. Some believe that only specialists of Human Rights can teach human rights, others believe that engineers and doctors who are “steeped” in the culture of human rights can give more in this field.

The organizing committee, including the professors Muhammad Zakaria Aboudahab and Ilham Bourchachen, ensured that the conference was centered on the current situation of human rights and the challenges that the Moroccan university is facing. Several speakers who discussed this situation believe that it is generally “reassuring,” calling for more organization and more research.