“The credit garnered over several decades by Morocco in terms of promotion and protection of human rights at the national level and within multilateral bodies, coupled with active diplomacy within the UN, particularly at within the HRC, justifies the confidence of the African family and more broadly of the international community regarding the Moroccan presidency of this 18th cycle for 2024”, underlined Mr. Zniber in a speech recorded during a conference organized by the National Council of Human Rights (CNDH) around the theme: “The Moroccan presidency of the HRC: Morocco’s interaction with the UN”, as part of the 29th edition of the International Publishing and Book Fair (SIEL) .
The Moroccan presidency of the HRC “works to strengthen the links between the Council and its UN and international ecosystem”, he said, noting that this is achieved through meetings held regularly with “the heads of UN agencies specialists, the various international and regional organizations, as well as international financial institutions and civil society.
The HRC, supported by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, examines annually around a hundred resolutions relating to economic, social, civil and political rights, whether they are thematic or whether they concern country situations specific to their initiative or on the initiative of other States, Mr. Zniber further noted.
And to emphasize that certain mechanisms such as the universal periodic review or point 10 of the Council’s agenda relating to technical cooperation and capacity building constitute the real strength of the Council in that they enable the States concerned to speak out voluntarily and take action regarding the shortcomings that persist at the national level.
It is for this reason that one of the priorities of the Moroccan presidency is to limit the impact of geopolitical tensions on the work of the Council by allowing exchanges focused on substance, far from the excessive polarization that certain debates entail, noted the president of the HRC, affirming that as part of the balance between economic, social and cultural, civil and political rights, it will be a question of giving more importance to thematic issues such as the impact of climate change on security food and health, artificial intelligence and new technologies which must be promoted to the forefront of short-term interests.
All of these objectives cannot be achieved without a global position taken by member states and other stakeholders, including national human rights institutions, in order to preserve the place incumbent on the HRC and strengthen his action which is highly respected and appreciated, maintained Mr. Zniber.
“It must also be emphasized that the HRC is a subsidiary body, but its contribution within the UN architecture is fundamental,” he also noted.
Further evoking the experience of the Equity and Reconciliation Authority, Mr. Zniber noted that it constitutes “one of the best practices in terms of transitional justice which has inspired many countries and paved the way for several initiatives, notably within the Human Rights Council with a historic resolution which created a specific mandate on this subject with the assistance of Morocco.
For his part, the Director of Cooperation and International Relations at the CNDH, Khalid Ramli, noted that this conference is an opportunity to mainly emphasize that the election of Morocco at the head of the Human Rights Council of the The UN for the year 2024 constitutes recognition of the efforts made by the Kingdom in various areas, both at the constitutional, legislative and institutional levels and at the level of practices.
In a statement to MAP, Ramli added that this meeting was also an opportunity to emphasize, in particular, the need to accelerate the establishment of a set of institutions provided for by the Constitution, in with a view to strengthening the process of protecting human rights in the Kingdom.
For his part, the president of the Independent Human Rights Authority in Morocco, Moulay Lahcen Naji, affirmed that the election of Morocco as president of the HRC for 2024 is only the consecration of the progress of rights of Man completed in the Kingdom through several stages, notably the creation of the Equity and Reconciliation Authority (IER) and the Human Rights Advisory Council, which became the National Human Rights Council, as well as the Morocco’s interaction with international human rights mechanisms.
In a similar statement, Mr. Naji noted the importance of the participation of civil society and the strengthening of its capacities in terms of interaction with international human rights mechanisms, in particular through the drafting of reports, monitoring and documentation.
He also underlined the role of the CNDH in consolidating the capacities of the Moroccan civil associative fabric so that it can effectively fulfill its role in this area.
The 29th edition of SIEL coincides this year with the commemoration by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) of the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Equity and Reconciliation Authority.
Through a stand set up at the Salon, the CNDH presents to the public the distinguished Moroccan experience in terms of transitional justice, the most important legislative and constitutional reforms having led to several achievements, and intends to stimulate a debate and provoke reflection between writers, society civilian, students and children.