Rabat - Following its “misleading” report on human rights in Morocco, Minister of Justice Mustapha Ramid said the United States is “not entitled to assess human rights in Morocco” because it has itself "committed numerous violations of human rights."
Rabat – Following its “misleading” report on human rights in Morocco, Minister of Justice Mustapha Ramid said the United States is “not entitled to assess human rights in Morocco” because it has itself “committed numerous violations of human rights.”
Nevertheless, the Minister acknowledged that more efforts should be made to promote human rights in the kingdom.
The escalating tension between Morocco and the US was discussed in parliament during the session of oral questions held on May 24.
Ramid’s statement came as a reaction to a question by the parliamentary groups of the Justice and Development Party and the Istiqlal (Independence) Party on the publication of reports on the situation of human rights in Morocco, written by foreign NGOs and governments.
According to the two groups of the first parliamentary Chamber, some of these reports constitute a real “attack on the image of the country.”
Criticizing the bias of some NGOs like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Ramid said that these organizations should know that Morocco today is not like Morocco in the past.
He noted that these NGOs “believe that Morocco has not changed and act in this sense.” Ouahbi Abdellatif from the Party of Authenticity and Modernity (PAM) criticized the Minister and described him as “irresponsible” for claiming that the situation of human rights in Morocco is satisfying.
Ouahbi said that “the government cannot deny certain violations of human rights,” such as “the violence exercised against teacher trainees during some of their protests.”
Morocco has reacted strongly to the US State Department human rights report, describing it as” truly outrageous.”
” In recent years, the Moroccan government has continued to attract the attention of US authorities on the sloppy, biased and quirky character of the content of the State Department’s report on Human Rights,” the Moroccan Ministry of Interior said in a statement last week.
‘Often, exclusive sources are unreliable and politically hostile. Inserted information is approximate and appreciations are unfounded,” the ministry added.
