Country Report on Human Rights Practices for 1990
MOROCCO
* A separate section on the Western Sahara is appended to this
report
The Constitution of Morocco provides for a pluralistic
political system, a parliamentary form of government, and an
independent judiciary. In practice, however, ultimate
authority rests with King Hassan II, who under the
Constitution appoints and dismisses the Prime Minister and
cabinet members and may dissolve the Parliament (which has
very limited authority) and rule by decree. Past elections to
Parliament and municipal councils have not been totally free
of government manipulation. Though the Constitution provides
for an independent judiciary, the judiciary is generally
considered susceptible to political pressure. Constitutional
guarantees of due process are frequently ignored.
The security apparatus is composed of several overlapping
police and paramilitary organizations, operating within a
framework of written legal provisions designed to maintain
public order. The Surete Nationale, auxiliary forces, and
judicial police are under the supervision of the Minister of
the Interior, while the Gendarmerie Royale, though
paramilitary, reports directly to the Palace.
Private property and free enterprise drive the economy. The
country has been actively engaged in a program of economic
restructuring and reform since the early 1980 's. Urban growth
has been rapid; nearly half the population now lives in cities
and towns. Urban unemployment stands at about 16 percent of
the work force, and the creation of new jobs still lags behind
population growth. New entrants to the labor force number
more than 200,000 annually, and full-time employment is
difficult to find outside the unskilled, manual trades. Lack
of fulltime employment also remains a problem for skilled
workers and university graduates.
The most notable development affecting human rights in 1990
was the King's creation in May of a Royal Consultative Council
on Human Rights (CCDH) headed by the President of the Supreme
Court and including members of the Cabinet, representatives of
labor unions, professional associations, political parties,
human rights organizations, and academicians. The creation of
the Council came in the wake of international and domestic
criticism of Morocco's human rights performance. The King
instructed the Council to serve as a means of examining and
remedying human rights abuses; its first tasks were to respond
to Amnesty International's (AI) 1990 report on Morocco and to
review two well-publicized human rights cases. In late
December, the Council sent a report to the King recommending a
number of changes in judicial procedures, including prolonged
garde a vue (incommunicado pretrial detention), which had
concerned human rights groups. Also noteworthy was the
drafting of a national human rights charter by all three human
rights groups in collaboration with the Bar Association and
the Association of Judges.
However, serious human rights problems remained. There were
continuing credible reports of torture and police brutality
but few known efforts by the Government to punish the
perpetrators.
.
Other problems included illegal detention, inhumane prison
conditions, the lack of fair trial in political and security
cases, and restrictions on freedom of association and the
right of citizens to change their government. The conduct of
government security forces in the December riots in Fez and
other cities raised new human rights questions. The security
forces used gunfire in responding to violent rioters carrying
knives, chains, metal bars, and rocks. The incidents left
numerous dead and injured. Opposition groups claimed that the
Government's casualty figures were far too low and the use of
live fire unjustified. The Government and opposition later
agreed to form a special commission of inquiry to determine
the facts.
RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS
Section 1 Respect for the Integrity of the Person, Including Freedom from:
a. Political and Other Extrajudicial Killing
There were credible reports that three persons in police
custody died as a result of police brutality. There were no
known investigations into these cases by the end of the year.
In the December riots in Fez and other cities, the King
authorized security forces to use firearms to restore order
when he learned that violent rioters had killed at least one
policeman. The riots resulted in at least 5 killed and 127
wounded or injured. Two trade union federations and the
nonpartisan Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH)
charged that the number killed by the security forces far
exceeded the Government's figures. OMDH further charged that
the Government's use of force was unjustified. In late
December a commission of inquiry, led by the Secretary General
of the CCDH and composed of government and opposition figures,
was established to ascertain the facts and the causes of the
violence. No report had been issued by the end of the year.
(See Section 6 . a.
)
b. Disappearance
There have been few permanent disappearances in recent years,
and none was reported in 1990. Temporary "disappearances"
continue to result from the practice of holding persons in
pretrial incommunicado detention, without notifying families
or attorneys, for significantly longer than the legal limit of
4 days (8 days for state security offenses).
c. Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
The number of credible reports of torture and degrading
treatment remains relatively high and involves both detainees
suspected of politically related crimes and criminal
offenses. Torture and other forms of cruel treatment occur
most often during incommunicado detention following initial
arrest in order to extract confessions which are then used to
convict the suspect. Methods of torture include beatings,
sleep deprivation, keeping prisoners blindfolded and
handcuffed for weeks on end, and keeping prisoners naked and
alone in dark punishment cells. Harsh treatment continues
after conviction, when prisoners are subjected to random
violence by guards and deliberately deprived of family visits,
sleep, baths, blankets, and wholesome food. Political
prisoners issued several communiques in 1990 complaining that
they have been denied prescribed medicines or access to
doctors. Political prisoners in Safi staged recurring hunger
strikes demanding better prison conditions and transfer to
prisons closer to their families. As far as is known, their
demands were not met. One of four hunger strikers from
Kenitra Prison died in February. The Minister of Justice
later in the year stated that "so-called" political prisoners
in the Kenitra prison enjoy better conditions than criminal
prisoners, claiming that they have access to books,
television, fresh fruits and vegetables, and may send and
receive mail. For criminal offenders, mistreatment often
results from extreme overcrowding in decrepit prison
facilities, although criminal offenders also suffer many of
the hardships placed on political prisoners. In its 1990
report, AI stated that conditions in a number of Moroccan
prisons appeared to constitute cruel, inhuman, or degrading
treatment. The Minister of Justice reported that 80 percent
of his 1990 budget was dedicated to constructing new prisons
to alleviate overcrowding.
Again in 1990 there was increased press coverage of reports of
torture and abuses of authority. There was no known publicity
of investigation or corrective action in these cases, and no
evidence that the Government took disciplinary action.
Perpetrators of abuse are seldom disciplined. In one case a
low-level Ministry of Interior official and his brother were
sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment for torturing a detainee,
but it is unknown if these two are serving sentences. A
criminal case was also brought against an officer of the
Gendarmerie for alleged torture in 1990.
There are credible reports that alleged participants in the
1971 and 1972 coup attempts against King Hassan II continue to
receive the most severe treatment. Of 57 military personnel
convicted as coup plotters and detained in the remote military
fortress of Tazmamart, 29 are known to have died and many of
the 28 remaining prisoners are said to have serious health
problems from lack of hygiene, exercise, medical care, and
extremely poor nutrition. Throughout their detention most of
the prisoners have been unable to send or receive mail, and
the Government does not generally respond to inquiries by
family members. Some of these prisoners have not been
released even though they have completed their sentences.
Moroccan authorities have never acknowledged their detention
at Tazmamart.
d. Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, or Exile
The Government often ignores guarantees of procedural due
process. Moroccan law requires bringing a detainee before a
judge within 4 days of detention and informing the detainee of
the charges. With written justification from the prosecutor,
an extension of 4 days may be given by the court. For
political crimes a detainee can be held 8 days prior to being
charged, and the 8-day periods can be extended indefinitely.
Most torture and inhuman treatment is credibly reported to
occur during this incommunicado detention. According- to AI
,
incorrect arrest dates are given in police statements to cover
up the actual dates of detention. Despite the international
attention generated by a special AI report issued in February,
human rights activists have observed little improvement in the
treatment of suspects during pretrial detention or a
significant reduction in the incidence of illegally prolonged
detention. On December 27, however, the CCDH recommended a
number of changes in the garde a vue and preventive
detentionprocedures widely criticized by human rights groups,
including AI . The King had not acted on these recommendations
before the year ran out.
Arrests usually take place in public view, but police
sometimes refuse to identify themselves, and warrants are not
always used as required by law. Moroccan law permits a lawyer
to be present only after the detainee's first appearance in
court, but no such right exists prior to or during police
custody. Morocco does not have an extensive system of bail,
although defendants are sometimes released on their own
recognizance. Moroccan law does not provide for habeas corpus
or its equivalent. Under a separate code of military justice,
military personnel have been detained without warrants or
public trial. No such incidents were reported in 1990.
A well-known case of arbitrary detention involves the family
of General Oufkir (the purported leader of the 1972 coup
attempt), which has been kept under house arrest since 1972
and deprived of adequate nutrition and health care until 1988,
although none of the family members were ever charged with any
crimes and the Oufkir children were minors in 1972.
There are no known instances of Moroccans being sentenced to
exile. There are, nonetheless, a number of political
activists who remain abroad, mostly in France and Belgium,
rather than risk arrest on their return to Morocco.
e. Denial of Fair Public Trial
Morocco has a dual legal system: a secular system based in
part on French legal tradition; and a parallel Islamic system
which adjudicates family matters and inheritance law for
Moroccan Muslims. The secular system includes courts of
original jurisdiction, appellate courts, and a Supreme Court.
Those accused of political and security offenses often do not
enjoy the procedural safeguards needed to ensure a fair trial.
In general, cases are brought before an initial review
court—the Court of First Instance—which can call for a
hearing quickly to bring cases to trial. The detainee is
informed of charges and questioned by the judge to decide if
they have merit. If the infraction is minor, the judge may
release the detainee or impose a light sentence. If a lengthy
investigation is required, the judge may release detainees on
their own recognizance. In cases of political crimes,
detainees are often held for long periods before trial. There
are credible reports of detainees convicted on the basis of
forced confessions extracted under duress. The Moroccan
judicial system is generally considered susceptible to
political intervention and control when a case involves
challenges to royal authority or state policy. Human rights
groups often provide legal counsel for defendants in such
cases. In common law cases defendants often receive only
cursory hearings, and judges depend on police reports to
decide cases. Although the State provides an attorney at
public expense for serious crimes (when the alleged offense
carries a sentence of over 5 years), appointed attorneys often
provide inadequate representation. For lesser crimes, needy
defendants usually are not represented by counsel.
In December the OMDH charged that the Government's use of
group arrests and group trials against alleged participants in
the December riots violated legal codes against collective
responsibility and might not result in fair trials. Some
members of the CCDH publicly called on the Government to
suspend the trials pending the completion of an investigation
by the commission of inquiry, but the trials continued.
Human rights groups claim that there are between 200 and 300
political prisoners, but the Government denies having any
political prisoners. Since the Government defines several
categories of speech as criminal (see Section 2.a.), it
regards political prisoners as common criminals. All three
human rights groups have called for a general amnesty for
political prisoners.
f . Arbitrary Interference with Privacy, Family, Home, or Correspondence
The Constitution states that the home is inviolable and that
no search or investigation may take place without a search
warrant. This stipulation is not always observed, however,
and there are continued allegations of illegal searches of the
homes and offices of suspected political activists. The
Government's security services selectively monitor certain
persons and organizations, including their telephones and
mail. The university campuses are under close surveillance,
and an extensive informant system exists, especially on the
campuses and in the cities. The Government's razing of
several shantytowns in 1990 without providing compensation or
alternate housing led to violent clashes between police and
residents.
Section 2 Respect for Civil Liberties, Including:
a. Freedom of Speech and Press
The Constitution provides for freedom of expression. The
King, however, stated explicitly in a May 8 speech that there
are three forbidden topics: the monarchy, Morocco's claim to
the Western Sahara, and the sanctity of Islam. In addition,
many Moroccans censor themselves when criticizing government
policies, foreign and domestic, for fear of government
reprisal.
Press freedom is limited, though the limits are not clear. On
the one hand, the publishers of Al-Usbu'a As-Sahafi and
At-Tariq (weekly newspapers) were both tried for slander in
1990 for reporting alleged judicial corruption. Their cases
were dismissed by the Court of First Instance for procedural
defects, but the prosecutor refiled the charges and they were
convicted. Tariq's publisher had two appeals pending at the
end of the year, one from his 1990 conviction and one from a
conviction based on an article in his first weekly paper,
which was banned in 1989. Abdel Karim Ghallab, managing
editor of the Istiqlal's party's daily Al-Alam, was charged
with printing false information and undermining public order
after he published an article charging security forces in Fez
with responsibility for the violence surrounding the December
14 general strike and riots (See Section 6.a.). The trial was
postponed indefinitely at the end of the year. On the other
hand, the Government tolerates stinging and often satirical
editorials in the opposition parties' dailies. Both the above
mentioned weeklies continue to attack government policies.
The Government does not exercise prior restraint on
newspapers, although the Minister of Interior and Information
sometimes offers "guidance."
None of the news media are entirely independent of government
control, which is exercised through government subsidies as
well as directives from the Ministry of Interior and
Information. The Government owns the official press agency
Maghreb Arab Press, the Arabic daily Al Anbaa, the only
television station available nationwide, and one radio station.
The Moroccan public has access to a wide variety of foreign
newspapers and magazines, particularly from Europe and the
United States, which reflect a broad spectrum of opinion.
Occasionally, an issue will be banned when it has an article
about Morocco which authorities consider particularly
offensive. An issue of the Economist that contained an
article on the Islamic fundamentalist challenge to the King
was banned in May. Gilles Perrault's highly critical book
about King Hassan and Morocco, Notre Ami, le Roi, published in
France in October, is not available in Morocco. Censors also
prevented distribution of the September 6 edition of
L ' Evenement du Jeudi, which contained extracts of the book.
The Government stopped retransmitting TV-5 from France in
November after it broadcast an interview with Gilles Perrault,
and again in December after unsympathetic coverage of the
Government's response to the riots in Fez. The Government
also expelled a French television journalist who had attempted
to cover the riots, and confiscated all foreign newspapers
from airline passengers arriving from abroad the week
following the riots. However, an issue of Jeune Afrigue
featuring a story on growing international concern for human
rights abuses in Morocco was circulated freely.
There is a limited degree of academic freedom. Although there
are strictures against scholarly investigation of the monarchy
and Islam, there continues to be limited research and
publishing on Islam and Islamic fundamentalism. In September
the Government sponsored a conference on Islam which was
attended by a wide range of Muslim participants, including
Islamic fundamentalists.
b. Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association
There are constitutional guarantees of assembly and
association, but these rights are limited by two decrees
dating from 1935 and 1939 which permit the Government to
suppress even peaceful demonstrations and mass gatherings.
Groups planning a demonstration or large meeting must apply to
the Ministry of Interior for a permit. In June the
nonpartisan Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH) was
given a permit only 1 hour before the scheduled opening of a
conference on human rights in Casablanca. When the three
Moroccan human rights groups, the Bar Association, and the
Association of Judges applied in January for a permit to meet
to discuss their joint charter of human rights, they were also
kept in suspense until just before the scheduled opening
session. However, the Government permitted the five groups to
hold public sessions in Casablanca in October and in Rabat in
December.
The right to form an organization is also limited. Persons
wishing to create an organization must apply to the Ministry
of Interior and wait for approval before holding meetings.
The Islamist Justice and Charity Society ran afoul of the law
by holding meetings without permission to form a group. In
1990 the Government prosecuted 41 members of this organization
from 5 cities on charges including forming an unauthorized
organization, possessing banned literature, and disturbing the
faith of Muslims. Thirty-five were convicted, and 13
convictions were overturned on appeal. The largest
unauthorized demonstration in Rabat for years was held in May
by Justice and Charity Society members who came from all over
Morocco to show support for their colleagues on the day of
their appeal. Refused entry to the courtroom, several hundred
Islamists sat peacefully across the street from the courthouse
and were surrounded by police in riot gear. After several
hours, the police dispersed the demonstrators and the huge
crowd of onlookers with truncheons, injuring many. Several
hundred people were arrested but released after questioning.
c. Freedom of Religion
Islam is the official religion of Morocco, 99 percent of
Moroccans are Sunni Muslims, and the King bears the title
"Commander of the Faithful." The Moroccan Jewish community of
approximately 10,000 is permitted to practice its faith, as
are Christians. Although the Constitution provides for
freedom of worship, in keeping with Islamic law and tradition
only the practice of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism is
tolerated. In a speech in May, the King stated in accord with
Islamic doctrine that there are three revealed religions
(Islam, Christianity, and Judaism) and all other religions are
heresies. The Baha ' i community (150-200 people) has been
forbidden to meet or hold communal activities since 1983.
Attempting to convert a Moroccan to any faith other than Islam
is punishable by imprisonment.
The Government monitors the Friday sermons in the mosques and
the curriculum of the Koranic schools to insure that approved
doctrines are taught. As noted earlier, fundamentalist
Islamic activities are sometimes subjected to official
crackdown.
d. Freedom of Movement Within the Country, Foreign
Travel, Emigration and Repatriation
Freedom of movement within Morocco is unrestricted. In the
Western Sahara, which is administered by Morocco, movement is
restricted in militarily sensitive areas. There are frequent
allegations of corruption in the passport offices; applicants
are reportedly forced to pay gratuities to obtain the
application form and insure that th-e application is not lost
in the bureaucratic labyrinth.
Freedom to travel outside Morocco is controlled by the
Ministry of Interior through the passport issuance process.
That process was somewhat improved in 1990. Though delays are
not uncommon, most Moroccans receive passports within 1 month
of application. This is not true for certain political
activists, former political prisoners, or for Moroccan Baha' is,
Women must have permission from either their fathers or
husbands to obtain a passport. A divorced woman must have her
father's permission to obtain a passport, and, if she has
custody of children, she must have permission of the
children's father for passports to be issued to the children.
There were no reported instances of the Government depriving a
citizen of Moroccan nationality. Moroccan law considers any
person who acquires Moroccan nationality to be a citizen for
life. Moroccans cannot renounce their Moroccan citizenship,
though the King can revoke it—a little used practice. Tens
of thousands of Moroccans hold dual nationality and travel on
passports from two countries; while in Morocco they are
regarded as Moroccan citizens. As a result, the Government
has sometimes refused to recognize the right of foreign
embassies to act on behalf of dual nationals or even to
receive information concerning their arrest and imprisonment.
Moroccan law encourages voluntary repatriation for Moroccan
Jews who have emigrated; Moroccan Jewish emigres, including
those with Israeli citizenship, freely visit Morocco. It also
encourages the return of Saharans who have opposed Morocco in
the Western Sahara conflict. Returning former Polisario
members who are deemed no threat to security are integrated
into Moroccan life.
Section 3 Respect For Political Rights: The Right of Citizen
to Change Their Government
Moroccan citizens cannot change their Government; the King, as
Head of State, appoints the Prime Minister, who is head of
government, and the Parliament has little or no authority to
effect change in the system of government. Moreover, the
Constitution may not be amended without the approval of the
King, who would be unlikely to abolish or modify the
monarchy. Political reforms widely expected in the spring
failed to materialize by the end of the year.
For the first time since the early 1960 's, the Parliament was
permitted in May to hold a vote of censure of the Council of
Ministers. Although the motion failed, the televised debate
in the Parliament and the editorials in the opposition press
were unprecedented in Morocco. Two-thirds of the members of
Parliament are elected directly by universal adult suffrage,
while one-third is elected indirectly by various business,
labor, and agricultural organizations. Six representatives
are elected by overseas Moroccans. The Ministry of Interior
appoints provincial governors, though municipal councils are
elected.
Elections are not generally regarded as fully free of
Government manipulation. Opposition parties contend that the
Government rigged the outcome of the last parliamentary
elections in 1984 by interfering in the selection of
candidates and the tallying of ballots, although one-third of
the deputies elected were from opposition parties. In a
number of cases, challenges were upheld in court. National
elections were to have been held in 1990, but were postponed
for 2 years by a referendum initiated by the Palace. The
Government's stated reason for the delay was to allow time to
resolve the status of the Western Sahara by a UN-organized
referendum so that "all Moroccans" (i e., Saharans) could
participate in the next elections. The referendum was
approved by a vote of 98 percent, with a reported 100-percent
rate of participation.
Section 4 Governmental Attitude Regarding International and
Nongovernmental Investigation of Alleged Violations
of Human Rights
International investigation of violations of human rights is
not well tolerated in Morocco. In a televised interview in
December 1989, the King invited AI to come to Morocco to meet
with him and his ministers and discuss human rights. AI
accepted the invitation, and in February, after their
delegation's visit, published a report on torture of detainees
during pretrial detention. In March another delegation from
AI arrived on an unscheduled visit as tourists and were
expelled from the country. Two French doctors came to
Marrakech in May to treat former political prisoners and were
expelled. A journalist from the French weekly L ' Evenement du
Jeudi was expelled in September after meeting with a
journalist from the Parti pour Progres et Socialisme
(Communist) paper Al Bayane. Morocco's report to the United
Nations Human Rights Commission (UNHRC) was criticized by
Moroccan human rights activists for glossing over serious
rights abuses, for being submitted late, and' for not being
made public in Morocco. Inquiries about specific political
prisoners, transmitted by diplomatic missions to the
Government of Morocco, generally go unanswered.
In May, in response to criticism of Morocco's human rights
performance, the King created the Royal Consultative Council
on Human Rights. In a televised speech the King called for
perfecting the rule of law in Morocco, saying that Morocco did
not need foreigners criticizing its human rights performance
and that Morocco had all the means necessary to examine and
remedy abuses of human rights. The Council was charged with
responding to AI ' s February 1990 report on torture during
pretrial incommunicado detention as well as with reviewing the
cases of the Oufkir family and Abraham Serfaty, who was
imprisoned for criticizing Morocco's claim to the Western
Sahara. At year's end, the Council had not yet completed all
these tasks or issued a report, though in late December it did
recommend to the King several changes regarding detention.
The King also authorized the Minister of Justice to institute
within 3 years a nationwide system of administrative law
courts in which people could seek redress of abuses of
authority by public servants, and Parliament approved the
budget for these courts.
Investigations by Moroccan human rights groups are conducted
with neither government hindrance nor cooperation. There are
three human rights groups in Morocco: two are affiliated with
opposition political parties, while the third is nonpartisan.
The Moroccan League for Human Rights (Istiqlal Party) and the
Moroccan Association for the Defense of Human Rights
(Socialist) have formed a coordinating committee and generally
issue joint communiques. The League, however, chose to
participate in the Royal Consultative Council, while the
Association did not. The nonpartisan OMDH also chose to
participate in the Council. All three groups joined forces
with the Bar Association and the Association of Judges to
write a national charter of human rights which was issued in
final form during a plenary session in December. The charter
defines common goals for human rights activists in Morocco and
commits the signatory groups to work to bring about government
compliance with these goals.
Section 5 Discrimination Based on Race, Sex, Religion,
Language, or Social Status
The Constitution affirms the legal equality of all Moroccans,
and the Government does not discriminate based on ethnicity.
Though there is no systematic discrimination, Moroccan blacks
generally occupy the lower social strata, and few hold any
high government positions. However, some Moroccan descendants
of sub-Saharan African slaves suffer various forms of social
discrimination arising out of racist attitudes of some Arabs
and Berbers, the two major ethnic groups in Morocco.
Under the criminal code, Moroccan women are accorded the same
treatment as men. Women are not accorded equal treatment
under Moroccan family and estate law, which is based on the
Malikite school of Islamic law. In marriage, for example, a
husband may repudiate his wife, but the wife cannot repudiate
her husband. The situations under which a woman may sue for
divorce are far fewer than those permitted to men. Women
inherit only half as much as their male siblings.
Well-educated Moroccan women often succeed professionally,
particularly in the areas of law, medicine, education, and
government service. There are, however, very few women in the
top echelons of their professions, and there are no women
ministers or Members of Parliament. Women compose
approximately 24 percent of the work force, with the majority
of them in the industrial, service, and teaching sectors.
Women enjoy the right to vote and to run for office, and some
women have been elected to municipal councils. There are no
women on the Royal Consultative Council on Human Rights. It
is in the rural setting where women suffer most from
inequality. Women perform most hard physical labor; the rate
of literacy in the countryside is much lower for women than
men; and girls are much less likely to go to school than
boys. Women who earn their secondary school diploma have
equal access to university training.
Moroccan law and social practices governing violence against
women reflect Morocco's Islamic culture and the importance
placed on the honor of the family. The criminal code includes
severe punishment for men who are convicted of raping or
violating a woman or girl, and the defendant bears the burden
of proving his innocence. However, sexual assaults often go
unreported because of the stigma attached to not being a
virgin. Rapists are sometimes offered the opportunity to
marry their victims (even against the girl's will) in order to
preserve honor.
While there are no statistics on its extent, wife beating
occurs in some Moroccan homes, and some Moroccans believe wife
beating is sanctioned by Islamic tradition. Although a woman
has the right to complain to the police, as a practical matter
she would not generally do so unless she were prepared to file
for divorce and leave her husband's home. Moroccan law
excuses the murder or injury of a wife who is caught in the
act of committing adultery. A woman would not be excused
after committing violence against her husband under the same
circumstances.
The official language of Morocco is Arabic, and the languages
of instruction and the news media are Arabic and French.
There are some Berber spokesmen who believe that the Berber
identity is not adequately maintained because Berber languages
are not taught in schools and there are no Berber
publications, though a few state-owned radio stations
broadcast several hours daily in Berber languages. Berbers
are well represented in the Government and the officer corps
of the military, and constitute approximately half of
Morocco's population. Berbers mostly reside in rural areas,
while urban populations are largely Arab. Berber identity is
rapidly losing significance in Morocco, and the Government's
policy of Arabization is likely to accelerate this process.
Section 6 Worker Rights
a. The Right of Association
The Constitution provides for the right to organize trade
unions. Workers are free to form and join unions throughout
the country. The right is exercised widely but not
universally. On occasion, the selection of union officers and
their ability to carry out their duties is subject to
government pressure. Some 1 million of Morocco's 7.5 million
workers belong to unions, including substantial numbers of
workers in the public sector. Three of the 13 existing trade
union federations dominate the labor scene; all are
independent of the Government. They are the Union Marocain du
Travail (UMT), the Confederation Democratique de Travail
(CDT), and the Union Generale des Travailleurs Marocains
(UGTM) . Each has a democratically elected leadership. The
UMT has no political affiliation, the CDT is linked to the
Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) , and the UGTM to the
Istiqlal Party. Both the USFP and Istiqlal are currently
opposition parties.
Workers have the right to strike and do so occasionally. Most
of the work stoppages are intended to advertise grievances and
last 24 hours or less; however, strikes can be prolonged and
arise not only from economic demands or those related to
working conditions but also from union rivalry. There was
only one major strike in 1990: in December the CDT and the
UGTM led a general strike to highlight social and economic
issues. Though the unions urged people to mark the event
peacefully, violence erupted in Fez and other cities when
crowds of rioters, mostly disaffected youths carrying knives,
chains, bars, and rocks, attacked and burned buildings and
vehicles (see Section l.a.).
At least four union officials were arrested in the immediate
aftermath of the disturbances that accompanied the general
strike. Three were released without being charged. The UGTM
regional secretary for the Fez area was charged and prosecuted
for sedition and incitement to riot but acquitted of all
charges in late December.
Unions belong to regional labor organizations and maintain
ties with international trade secretariats. After a long
absence, the UMT reaffiliated with the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions in 1990.
b. The Right to Organize and Bargain Collectively
The Constitution provides for the right to organize and
bargain collectively. The multiplicity of trade union
federations creates competition to organize workers. Any
group of eight workers can organize, and it is easy for a
worker to change trade union affiliation. Thus a single
factory may contain several independent locals or locals
affiliated with more than one labor federation.
In both the process of organizing and during collective
bargaining, labor laws are honored most often in the
industrial sector of the economy, where ad hoc government
mediation and arbitration procedures to promote
worker-employer negotiations are more easily applied. These
procedures do not in practice infringe on the unions' freedom
to bargain and to strike. In the informal and underground
economies, especially the growing textile sector, and in the
artisanal field (handicrafts), labor laws and regulations are
less carefully observed and often ignored. Small employers,
especially in the agricultural sector, are often ignorant of
labor laws and regulations. To some degree, the labor-surplus
economy hinders protection of the organizing and collective
bargaining process. Because of constitutional guarantees of
the right to organize and bargain collectively, the principle
of collective bargaining is implicit rather than explicit in
the labor codes themselves. The wages of most unionized
workers are established through practices that include
discussions between employer and worker representatives.
Wages for the vast majority of workers are set unilaterally by
the employer.
Collective bargaining agreements are often invoked in legal
disputes when a worker claims to have been reprimanded or
dismissed for trade union activity. Employers usually cite
work-related reasons for the dismissals. An employer
intending to fire workers without replacing them must apply in
advance to the provincial governor through the labor
inspector's office. In the more usual cases where employers
plan to replace fired workers, the labor inspector provides
replacements and mediates the cases of workers who protest
their dismissal. Any worker fired for a serious infraction,
such as sabotage, is entitled by law to a court hearing which,
despite the admitted government influence on the judiciary,
generally provides greater satisfaction to worker
complainants. An employer found to have dismissed a worker
unjustly is liable for fines or even imprisonment. Moroccan
labor law applies equally to the small Tangier Export Zone.
The proportion of unionized workers there is about the same as
in Morocco as a whole.
Despite constitutional protection, unions complain regularly
that employers suspend or dismiss their members for trade
union activity without penalty. Under the law. Ministry of
Labor inspectors serve as investigator, judge, and jury; they
are often not very effective, however, because they are few in
number, carry heavy workloads, and do not have the resources
to investigate all possible cases of labor law violations.
Workers have thus turned increasingly to the courts for the
resolution of complaints.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor
Morocco has ratified both ILO conventions against forced
labor. The ILO's Committee of Experts (COE) in its report for
1990 noted that there is no Moroccan legal or constitutional
prohibition against forced or compulsory labor. If adopted as
now drafted, the new labor code would prohibit forced or
compulsory labor and provide penal sanctions. As far as is
known, forced or compulsory labor is not practiced in Morocco.
d. Minimum Age for Employment of Children
Children cannot be legally employed or apprenticed before age
12. Special regulations govern the employment of children
between the ages of 12 and 16. In artisanal work, however,
children are often apprenticed before age 12; the argument is
made that they need to acquire skills, such as weaving or
rug-making, at an earlier age. Five years of primary
education is compulsory, starting at age 7, but enforcement in
the countryside and poorer urban areas is lax.
Safety and health conditions as well as salaries in
enterprises employing children are often substandard. The
rug-making and tanning industries have been cited as areas
where the use of minors is common. Children are also employed
informally as domestics and usually receive little or no
wages. Abuses of the child labor laws often go undetected
because many of them occur in the countryside or in private
homes
.
e. Acceptable Conditions of Work
The minimum industrial wage was raised in May 1990 by 10
percent to about 63 cents an hour. Agricultural workers also
received a 10 percent increase to about 41 cents per hour.
Despite subsidies, a family cannot maintain a decent standard
of living on the minimum wage of a single worker. In many
cases, several members, some of them working in the informal
economy, combine their income to support their family.
The informal sector provides a safety net for those who would
otherwise be unemployed or underemployed. Most industrial
workers in the modern sector of the economy earn more than the
minimum wage. Moreover, workers are customarily paid between
13 and 16 months' salary for every 12-month year.
Moroccan law provides a 48-hour maximum workweek (with not
more than 10 hours for any single day), premium pay for
overtime, paid public and annual holidays, and minimum
conditions for health and safety, including the prohibition of
night work for women and minors. As with other regulations
and laws, these are observed unevenly and have little meaning
in the informal sector. Labor inspectors endeavor to monitor
working conditions, accidents, and labor disputes, but lack
sufficient resources and authority to investigate many
complaints and assure compliance with the law.
