Rabat – At the request of Morocco, the 49th session of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council held a virtual debate on Friday 10 March, to address human rights violations and emergencies by exploring the creation of coordinated national measures to prevent torture worldwide.
The aim of this virtual event was “to allow an exchange between the different governmental and non-governmental actors on the best practices to be implemented, in order to advance the strategies of prevention against torture.”
Moderated by Morocco’s Permanent Representative in Geneva, Omar Zniber, the event included high-level panelists such as the President of the National Council for Human Rights (CNDH), Amina Bouayach; the chair of the Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT), Suzanne Jabbour; the head of the Secretariat of the Initiative Against Torture (CTI), Gayethri Pillay; and the secretary-general of the Association for the Prevention of Torture.
In his opening remarks, Zniber emphasized Morocco’s significant progress in terms of the adoption and ratification of all human rights legal instruments, including the majority of additional and optional protocols, notably the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.
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Illustrating Morocco’s dedication to human rights advances has been the country’s inclusion in the Human Rights Committee’s “A” category of nations that have implemented the Committee’s recommendations, notably in relation to the establishment of the National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture, Zniber noted.
For her part, Bouayach emphasized that the Moroccan National Mechanism has its own budget, administrative structures, and human resources in order to maintain the independence demanded by its mandate. She noted that the National Preventive Mechanism against Torture organizes training sessions for police, gendarmerie, and other law enforcement agencies in collaboration with the CNDH.
The panelists’ remarks were followed by a productive and fascinating discussion in the presence of representatives from the embassies of the United States, Australia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Denmark, as well as representatives from NGOs.
