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Rabat – At this year’s International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL), the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) offers not only a program, but also a perspective. One that binds books, cultural heritage, and human dignity into a shared national conversation.
In their pavilion (A24), visitors find more than shelves and panels. They step into a space where children from across Morocco, rights defenders, artists, and writers meet to present and ponder on topics such as identity, expression, and the right to belong.
For CNDH Chairperson Amina Bouayach, this is precisely the point. “Culture is not a museum piece. It moves. It speaks. It connects generations,” she explains. “It holds our memory, but also allows us to write ourselves into the future.”
Over ten days, the CNDH’s pavilion becomes a meeting ground for over 100 Moroccan and international figures. They come to lecture and to share and express, each representing one of Morocco’s twelve regions, each carrying a story, a tradition, a local rhythm.
Five thematic spaces organize the experience: mornings devoted to children’s creativity, literary encounters around human rights, artistic sessions, panels with civil society voices, and a curated selection of books and publications. Every corner of the pavilion speaks of access, dignity, and plurality.
At the heart of this year’s vision lies a powerful idea: cultural expression is not decorative – it is foundational. The CNDH frames cultural rights as inseparable from social cohesion, the right to memory, and the protection of identity.
In Morocco, the bond between human rights activism and literature runs deep, a thread that weaves through generations of writers who used the written word as witness and weapon. From the sharp, clear voices of authors like Fatema Mernissi, who challenged patriarchal norms and reimagined the place of women in Muslim societies, to the novels of Tahar Ben Jelloun, who exposed the silences around torture, injustice, and exile, Moroccan literature has long served as a mirror held up to society.
These authors did not write for spectacle; they wrote to disturb comfort, to stir conscience, and to open space for dialogue. Literature here has never stood apart from life, it breathes with it, argues with it, and, at times, reshapes it. In many ways, books have preserved the stories others tried to erase and carried forward the hope that dignity, equality, and freedom remain possible.
Culture, our fingerprint
Moroccan Actor Kamal Kadimi, who participated in a panel on artistic expression in CNDH’s booth on Wednesday, April 23, shared his concerns and hopes with Morocco World News (MWN). “I see culture as our fingerprint,” he said. “No two are alike. If we lose it, we lose our name in the world.”
Kadimi, known for his dedication to youth outreach, called on young Moroccans to stay close to their cultural roots. “I tell the youth: wear your culture like your skin. It isn’t something to take off. It’s part of who you are.”
He sees platforms like the CNDH’s pavilion as not just a mere set of exhibitions. “This isn’t a booth,” he said. “This is a statement. That culture belongs to all of us. And that our traditions, our dialects, our music, they deserve the same protection as our civil rights.”
The message at this year’s SIEL is loud and clear. When rights are spoken in the language of culture, they resonate deeper. And when books, stories, and songs enter public life, they do not merely inform, they affirm.
By linking literature with human rights and culture with freedom, the CNDH has turned its presence at SIEL into something rare – a place where the human voice is heard and honored.
The Rabat Book Fair, held from April 18 to 27, gathers hundreds of exhibitors from around the globe, presenting a selection of over 100,000 works spanning literary, academic, and cultural fields.
