Freedom in the World 2001 - Morocco

2001 Scores

Status: Partly Free
Freedom Rating: 4.5
Civil Liberties: 4
Political Rights: 5

Overview

A year and a half after the accession of King Mohammad VI, Moroccans are still waiting for a better standard of living and institutional reforms to combat corruption and liberalize the political system. However, while economic initiatives to alleviate Morocco's high levels of unemployment, poverty, and illiteracy will require time to take effect, an increasingly confident Islamist opposition gains support among the poor. Moreover, the king's "new concept of authority," which has yet to materialize, gave way late in the year to renewed repression of human rights activists and journalists.

Morocco gained independence as a hereditary monarchy in 1956 after 44 years of French rule. Upon the death of his father, Mohammad V, in 1961, Hassan II assumed the throne and began a gradual and limited evolution of democratic institutions. Nevertheless, power remained highly centralized in the hands of the king, who appoints the prime minister and may dissolve the legislature at his discretion. Constitutional amendments passed in 1996 provide for a bicameral legislature with an upper house elected indirectly from various local government bodies and professional associations, and a 325-member, directly elected lower house, or house of representatives.

In March 1998, King Hassan responded to criticism of widespread fraud in the 1997 parliamentary elections by appointing a coalition government led by opposition socialist leader and former political prisoner Abderrahmane Youssoufi. Youssoufi leads a center-left government with broad support in the house of representatives. Pledging to transform Morocco's bleak human rights record, he has pursued a reformist program emphasizing social spending and respect for human rights. However, cabinet loyalists retained by the king restricted Youssoufi's ability to implement his agenda.

Upon Hassan's death in July 1999, Mohammad inherited a country with severe economic and social problems. Twenty percent of the population is unemployed, nearly half are illiterate, and a third live below the poverty line. The economy is heavily dependent on agriculture, and thus at the mercy of rainfall. A huge government debt threatens social spending, while some 50 percent of the budget pays for public sector salaries. Poverty has led to widespread grassroots support for Islamists, who traditionally step in with charity where the government fails to provide for its people. The king has attempted to co-opt this support by allocating funds for development projects in poverty-stricken areas and paying visits to rural communities to promote national reconciliation.

The government has sent mixed signals on economic and political reform, sparking speculation of disagreement among members of Morocco's power structure. With regard to the economy, the government has initiated the privatization of state-owned industries such as Royal Air Maroc and Maroc Telecom. A five-year economic plan covering 2000 to 2004 aims to improve infrastructure and create jobs, while a European Union association accord aims to achieve tariff-free trade with the EU by 2012. However, analysts and opposition figures stress the need to combat corruption and to streamline Morocco's bloated civil administration. Still, the government offered to create 17,000 new state jobs in May to avert a general strike.

The new king has also worked to promote civic freedom. Soon after taking power, he dismissed Driss Basri, the hardline interior minister apparently responsible for years of repression under Hassan. Thousands of prisoners have been freed, and exiled dissidents have returned. In April, Morocco inaugurated a center for human rights in Rabat to train prison wardens, judges, police officers, and teachers. A commission set up in 1999 to compensate victims of political repression began settling cases in April 2000. The government has also taken action against corruption; in August, 39 employees of Credit Agricole, which provides loans for agricultural projects, were arrested for mismanagement of public funds.

Yet political liberalization in Morocco has its limits. Labor, electoral, and press law reform, as well as constitutional reform that would clearly delineate executive authority, strengthen the legislature, and boost the independence of the judiciary, have not materialized. And the role of the king and the situation in Western Sahara continue to be subjects too sensitive for public debate. In late 2000, the government launched a crackdown on foreign and domestic independent media, closing newspapers and deporting several journalists. On UN Human Rights Day in December, as the king made a speech promising a constitutional democratic monarchy, riot police violently dispersed protesters, charging dozens of human rights activists with disturbing public order. This gap between government rhetoric and the reality on the streets has led to speculation that security forces are dictating policy, as they do in neighboring Algeria.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Moroccans' right to change their government democratically is limited. Although the house of representatives was elected in largely free balloting in 1997, its power is balanced by the 270-member upper house of parliament (Chamber of Advisors), and limited by the legal and de facto power of the royal palace. Mohammad continues to rule under a constitution that grants him vast executive power. Constitutional changes must be approved by the king, who rules through his ministers, and no reform appears imminent. According to analysts, corruption and political interference pervade civil institutions, rendering them unfit to take on the responsibilities of governance. Provincial and local officials are appointed, while less powerful municipal councils are elected. Transparency and accountability are largely nonexistent.

Arbitrary arrest and detention occur, and prosecutors may extend administrative detention for up to a year. The king regularly pardons hundreds of prisoners during national and religious holidays. Human rights groups continue to call for independent investigations of torture, disappearances, and other abuses against opposition activists in the 1970s. A commission set up in 1999 to compensate victims of abuse and the families of disappeared opposition activists began settling cases in April. The commission has received almost 6,000 cases.

The judiciary is subject to corruption, bureaucracy, and government interference. Although judicial reform has been identified as a high priority of the government, very few steps have been taken to this end. Judges have been referred to disciplinary panels for punishment as a result of investigations into alleged corruption and misconduct. In an unprecedented display of independence, the supreme court in June overturned a military court decision to sentence an air force captain to prison for libeling the army. However, in another case, the king pardoned two journalists convicted of libeling the foreign minister, undercutting the judicial process before the journalists could appeal.

The press code allows confiscation and censorship of publications for libel, offensive reporting, or national security violations. The law also prohibits criticism of the monarchy, Islam, and Moroccan claims to Western Sahara. Broadcast media are mostly government-controlled, and those that are not practice self-censorship. Foreign broadcasting is available via satellite. Violations against the press increased sharply in 2000. At least ten newspapers were banned or censored for coverage of Western Sahara and other controversial reporting. Three managers of 2M Television were sacked in April for broadcasting part of an interview with a Polisario official. In October, three France 3 journalists were placed under house arrest and reporters with Qatari Al-Jazeera television were banned from working. In November, authorities expelled the AFP bureau chief in Rabat. Three leading independent weeklies were closed in December for printing a letter allegedly implicating the prime minister in a plot to kill King Hassan. Although local and foreign media had their film confiscated while trying to cover clashes between police and human rights activists in December, Islamists posted video footage and photographs of the riots on the Internet. The government does not restrict Internet access, although the cost is prohibitive to most Moroccans.

The interior ministry requires permits for public gatherings, and quiet protests are usually tolerated. Protests in March for and against a draft law to grant women greater rights occurred without incident. However, police violently dispersed protesters in May demonstrating in support of a hunger-striking Tunisian journalist. About 30 people were arrested in Rabat following clashes between police and unemployed graduates protesting government policies in June, and the interior ministry banned demonstrations ahead of the 52nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in December. Dozens of human rights activists were beaten and arrested as they defied the ban. Thirty-six members of the Moroccan Association of Human rights will be tried in February 2001 for organizing the illegal demonstrations. Hundreds of people were charged in connection with protests against the political ban on the Islamist Justice and Charity group. Under Mohammad, Islamists have assumed a more prominent role, circulating literature, opening unlicensed mosques, and staging demonstrations. Authorities released Justice and Charity leader Abdessalam Yassine from more than ten years of house arrest in May.

Although many women pursue careers in professions or in government, they face restrictions in advancement. Women's personal status is governed by the moudouwana, a code based on Islamic law that discriminates against women in divorce and inheritance matters. A 2000 government draft law to ban polygamy, raise the legal age of marriage, and grant women greater protection in divorce was shelved after massive demonstrations by conservative Islamists. Domestic violence is reportedly common, though much of it goes unreported. A victim's family may offer her rapist the opportunity to marry her to protect her honor, and the law is relatively lenient toward a man who kills his wife for adultery.

Islam is Morocco's official religion, and some 99 percent of Moroccans are Sunni Muslims. The government closely monitors mosque activities. Christianity and Judaism are tolerated and generally practiced freely. Proselytizing by Christians is prohibited, Bahais may not practice or participate in communal activities.

Some 60 percent of Moroccans claim Berber heritage. Increasing tolerance by the government has resulted in the establishment of numerous Berber cultural associations. Such groups criticize government policies emphasizing the use of Arabic in all aspects of life and prohibiting the teaching of the Berber language, Amazigh, in schools.

Morocco's heavily unionized formal labor sector includes 17 umbrella federations, some of which are aligned with political parties and all of which are subject to political pressure. Workers may bargain collectively and strike. Child labor is a serious problem, with up to half a million children working instead of attending school, according to government estimates. The U.S. State Department estimates that more than 10,000 children work as prostitutes in Casablanca alone. The government announced plans to fine parents if their children skip school, but most observers are skeptical about authorities' ability to enforce the measure.