Speaking at the High Level Segment of the 49th session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), Ouahbi noted that in the context of the fight against the pandemic, the Kingdom has adopted, at the instigation of HM the King, an inclusive approach to address the consequences of this health crisis at all levels, based on maintaining and preserving rights and intensifying efforts to protect the right to life and health, given their position in the hierarchy of rights.

The Kingdom, he added, has worked to ensure free vaccination against the virus for the benefit of all Moroccans and foreigners residing in Morocco, in addition to launching an ambitious national project to manufacture the anti-Covid 19 vaccine and other vaccines, so as to secure in the near future the vaccine sovereignty for the Kingdom and for the entire African continent.

He also cited the Kingdom’s humanitarian initiatives of solidarity with the peoples of the continent in the fight against the pandemic.

Furthermore, the Minister noted that the human rights dimension of the democratic process in Morocco has made the Kingdom clearly committed to the right to political choice and the guarantee of periodic elections.

Indeed, despite the conditions related to the pandemic, the Kingdom organized in September 2021 legislative, regional and local elections, during which Moroccan women played a central role and ensured a large presence, both by their participation or by the results obtained, he recalled.

“These elections have resulted in a new government formation, which may differ in its vision from the previous government, but which is part of a process stemming from the Constitution and a democracy open to all political parties. These elections were also an opportunity to consolidate many reforms and rights,” he said.

In addition, Ouahbi noted that the Kingdom remains open to a constructive dialogue with all international mechanisms concerned with the issue of human rights, in accordance with its international obligations in this area. In this regard, Morocco is preparing to present and discuss the national report on the 4th cycle of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism during the current year.

The Kingdom is also preparing to discuss the periodic reports submitted over the past two years to the relevant treaty bodies.

Regarding the artificial dispute over the historical and legitimate rights of Morocco on its Sahara, the Minister said the Kingdom reaffirms its commitment to the political process under the exclusive auspices of the United Nations, in order to achieve a realistic, pragmatic, sustainable and mutually acceptable political solution, in accordance with the resolutions of the Security Council, in particular 2602 adopted on 29 October 2021.

He highlighted, in this sense, the relevance of the autonomy initiative proposed by Morocco and described by the Security Council as serious and credible in its last 18 resolutions.

The Minister stressed the commitment of the population of the Moroccan Sahara to the autonomy initiative, as evidenced, he said, by the large participation of the southern provinces in recent elections, noting that this region of the Kingdom leads in terms of participation, far exceeding the national average of 50.35%.

These elections, described as transparent and honest, allowed the inhabitants of the Moroccan Sahara to manage the affairs of their territorial communities and their locally elected institutions and to elect representatives of the inhabitants to national constitutional institutions such as the House of Representatives and the House of Advisors, he noted.

The Minister also drew the attention of the Human Rights Council to the ordeal endured by the populations held against their will in the camps of Tindouf in Algeria. He pointed in this regard “the refusal of the other party (Algeria) to conduct a census of the population in the camps of Tindouf since 2011, when the Security Council had adopted the resolution that stipulated the separation between the humanitarian dimension and the political dimension in the treatment of the humanitarian conditions of the populations in these camps”.

“This country is responsible for the inhumane conditions suffered by this population, especially with regard to corruption, manipulation and systematic diversion of humanitarian aid intended for the detainees in these camps,” he stressed.

In this regard, he strongly condemned the recruitment of children in the camps, in clear violation of the relevant international norms, which consider the military recruitment of children as a war crime and a crime against humanity.

Morocco, with its permanent presence in international human rights institutions, and its serious and responsible steps, renews its call to the international community to intervene to protect these children and all citizens held against their will in the camps of Tindouf, and makes the other party bear full responsibility for violations of human rights and infringements of fundamental freedoms and economic and social rights of these people, said the minister.

Source: Agency Morocaine De Presse