Guilty. That was the judgment handed down in December in the trial of seven Moroccan human rights activists convicted on charges of inciting violent protest activities. All seven are high-profile proponents of independence for Western Sahara, disputed territory that was annexed by Morocco in 1975 and lies just across the border from Algeria. The UN is working to reach a settlement to determine the future of the region, which has been the scene of violent conflicts between the separatist Polisario Front and Moroccan government forces. So far, though, neither side has shown much willingness to bend to the other's demands.
The Western Sahara is an extremely sensitive issue for Morocco - it is also the black hole into which the country's aspirations for justice have disappeared. The country's young king, Mohammed VI, has repeatedly stressed that Morocco has turned a page when it comes to human rights. Last year, he released the text of a draft law outlawing torture and has moved to increase political participation and stamp out corruption.
Deeds, however, speak louder than words. Morocco remains riven by corruption, which drains the country's already struggling economy and drives foreign investors to neighboring countries like Tunisia and Algeria. Democracy remains a promise rather than a reality. And torture still takes place on the country's soil, sometimes on behalf of the United States, Morocco's increasingly close ally.
Immediately after the sentences of between six months and three years were announced in the trial of the Western Sahara activists, Amnesty International denounced the trial, which lasted just a few hours, as "a serious setback for human rights in Western Sahara." The defendants' lawyers were not allowed to call any witnesses. As well, according to the defense, all of the accused refused to sign the confessions that were used as the main evidence against them. Ultimately, the defense lawyers withdrew from the courtroom in protest.
While the seven activists were standing trial in Laayoune, the government was busy unearthing a mass grave in Casablanca. While ostensibly part of the state's drive to uncover past human rights abuses, local observers said the remains were simply exhumed and then reburied in separate graves on a nearby lot. Buried in the Casablanca graveyard were up to 100 Moroccans killed by state forces during anti-government demonstrations that took place nearly a quarter century ago. Overall, roughly 1,000 Moroccans were killed in the city on the night of that June 21, 1981, demonstration.
The Casablanca exhumation was the work of Mohammed VI's Equity and Reconciliation Commission, set up last year to investigate human rights abuses that took place under Hassan II, the late father of the current king. Protesters at the site, however, questioned whether the goal of the exhumations was to uncover the past - or simply to bury it for good. Since neither families nor journalists were allowed to observe exactly what took place, no one can answer that question, at least for now.
Impoverished, corrupt and increasingly radicalized, Morocco is a country on the brink. Unemployment is said to stand at roughly 20 percent, though it is clearly much higher in cities like Casablanca and especially among urban youth. The national economy is forecast to show total growth of just two percent for the year that just ended, down from an average of five to six percent in the last few years. Worryingly, consumer prices are rising inversely to the economy: for ordinary Moroccans, life is becoming more expensive as the country as a whole becomes poorer.
Morocco's public debt represents a staggering 70 percent of GDP. The country's import imbalance is in the billions - and likely to get worse as light manufacturing continues to flee the country for cheaper, more stable and less corrupt markets, especially China.
Today, Morocco stands at a crossroads. Based on recent government actions, however, it appears that the country may well choose neither of the two paths that lie before it. Rather than moving forward, Morocco seems to be in the midst of a U-turn, setting a course that will take the country back to its old authoritarian ways.By Nol Lezon
© Arabies Trends 2006
