Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s report on human rights in Morocco, entitled “They’ll Get You No Matter What: Morocco’s Playbook to Crush Dissent” is deliberately political, although on the surface, it deals with serious issues that have to do with free media and freedom of expression.
Making sure that due process is respected and that the conditions of fair trial have been available during all phases of trials is a legitimate role that should be played by a Human Rights (HR) Non-Governmental Organization (NGO); however, judging the intent of a government, like what HRW did with regard to the Government of Morocco (GoM)’s treatment of high-profile cases of journalists and activists prosecuted and tried for Penal Code (not journalism) alleged crimes is, to say the least, bizarre, if not politically motivated.
On the other hand, although HRW said that sexual assault (mostly on women) is a serious thing and should be taken seriously and prosecuted, it appears from the report that it only paid lip service to the matter, without dealing with the victims’ sufferings and travails.
Worse, HRW resorts to extreme leftwing rhetoric (also used by Algeria and Polisario’s anti-Morocco propaganda machines) of evoking an outdated notion of the Makhzen (monarchy-related power structure that revolves around the King and the Palace) to explain the tenuous thread linking an array of disparate events and to (desperately) tell a story of HR abuse. In the end, the whole thing turns out to be no more than an extreme-leftwing political vendetta against Moroccan institutions, especially the Monarchy.
Judging the Intent
HRW’s covering of mishaps taking place during pretrial and trial phases seem to be relevant and should be taken seriously by the GoM, through responding to HRW claims and making sure these mistakes do not happen in the future, should they turn out to be true.
Its recommendations to repeal article 490 of the penal code, which prohibits consensual sexual relationships between non-married adults and subjects them to prison penalties, article 491 of the Moroccan penal code, which prohibits adulterous relationships between adults married to other persons, and subjects them to prison penalties, and article 454 of the penal code which criminalizes “intentionally obtaining an abortion” are all constructive and could contribute the improvement of HR situation in Morocco.
Many conservatives will be opposed to such measures, but a wide array of people, from different sensibilities, would agree with HRW’s recommendations.
Yet, what mars HRW’s constructive recommendations, is that the US-based NGO seems not interested in promoting these sensible measures but in judging the intent of GoM in applying the law of the land which, until the Penal Code is reviewed and changed by Parliament, still has provisions with regards to adultery among married and non-married people and the practice of abortion.
What happened to various well-respected journalists and HR activists is sad and distressful, and the harassment they were subject to is,should it be proven to be in fact perpetrated by the police or the courts, is unacceptable. But for HRW to conclude, without any shred of evidence, except anecdotal evidence of pro-government media’s naming-and-shaming campaigns against those accused of penal code crimes and their families, is neither professional nor ethical.
It is not professional in the sense that any accusation should be based on evidence not on anecdotes, stories, events here and there; it is not ethical because it uses the suffering of journalists and activists and ignores the travails of their victims to make tacit and non-tacit political statements on the regime and the political system in Morocco.
The Hell with the Victims!
HRW said that sexual assault is a serious crime and should be duly prosecuted but it miserably fails to say how to do that. The victims were not interviewed, nor cited, not even mentioned. This deliberate omission shows that HRW is interested more in politics than in HR.
For the US-based NGO, the women (and one man) victims of sexual abuse and possible rape, are mere pawns, in a government-orchestrated play; they are actors and are therefore irrelevant to the narrative of the GoM design to silence critical voice by literally hitting its “foes” below the belt. Worse and ironically enough, the fact that HRW pays lip service to them in one sentence before moving on to discuss the Grand Conspiracy, shows that their HR problems are secondary to the Real Victims of the GoM’s Case-Fabrication Machine.
As George Orwell would say: “The Victims’ Rights are Equal to the Rights of the Journalists and Activists, but the Latter’s Rights are More Equal than the Women’s Rights.” So Orwellian; so dystopian. So unethical.
The Makhzen at Work
If you check the extreme Left rhetoric in Morocco or Algerian anti-Morocco propaganda machine these days, the one word that is frequently used is the “Makhzen.” For historians, the “Makhzen” is the system of government built over the centuries around the King (the Sultan) and the Palace and that symbolizes centralized power in its relation to the urban elite, the rural notables, the hinterland, the tribes, the brotherhoods, and the local lords (the caids).
It has a power of regulator, arbiter, but also of leader depending on the context and the political situation. For most Moroccans, the Makhzen symbolizes a central institution that has both effective and symbolic powers, that is a source of stability, continuity, and unity, but that could serve also as a model, a dynastic aura and culture that is a source of inspiration for both elites and plebes, notables and the populace. It is the fabric that represents the nexus of history, politics and culture in the psyche and the daily lives of Moroccans since the Almoravid time.
For the anti-monarchic left (helped by the Algerian propaganda machine), the Makhzen symbolizes a malevolent institution sitting behind closed doors and orchestrating plans, conspiracies, and campaigns to serve the agenda of a happy few benefitting from the wealth of the country while leaving the rest in abject poverty. It is an Orwellian Big Brother machine watching (from behind a big screen) society and conniving to hurt foes, destroy enemies, and scare friend into obsequious obedience.
For HRW, this is the institution that is behind the targeting of critical voices, the court trials, the surveillance and the character assassinations of dissident voices. What evidence does HRW have? Nothing, expect the anti-Makhzen rhetoric, the outdated notion of malevolent forces behind the high walls of the Palace, as if we were in front of a medieval Cinderella-like (un)fairy tale.
Evidence does not matter for HRW if the political statement is strong: the Makhzen stifles critical voices by using sexual abuse in a dramatic and sophisticated role-playing manner. It is the political system that is ultimately at fault, not the judicial system, or the police governance structure or the law itself. The verdict is unequivocally political.
Victims’ Lives Matter
What has happened to different journalists is distressing and calls for a review of the laws and policies to protect freedom of expression. But journalists are human beings that could make mistakes and commit crimes; they should answer for those accusations as HRW rightly pointed.
The fact that most of them are critical of the GoM raises concerns and should be dealt with by reinforcing protection measures and improving due process and prosecuting extra-judicial measures against those accused. But listening to the victims and hearing them out and upholding their rights is important too.
HRW treated them as if they were pawns and marionettes that do not deserve that their rights be discussed. That is totally unacceptable from an NGO that has built its reputation on protecting victims no matter who they are. Politics should not blind its judgement and its fair treatment of complex cases that involve journalists (sadly) accused of sexual misconduct and their victims crying for justice and fair trial.
