The “Mediator for Democracy and Human Rights” presents its proposals for the forthcoming government programme

In keeping with its practice at the start of each government term, the Mediator for Democracy and Human Rights, in its capacity as an independent civil society body, has taken the initiative of preparing a memorandum addressed to Ms Fatima Ezzahra El Mansouri, Head of Government, containing a set of proposals aimed at strengthening human rights as an overarching policy that structures the various public policies.

The Mediator explained that, while aware that the government is only invested with authority once it has obtained the confidence of Parliament, it is putting forward its proposals at this stage, ahead of the government programme, in the hope that they will be reflected in it. It noted positively the proper application of the provisions of Article 47 of the Constitution, through the appointment of the Head of Government by His Majesty the King, and the approval and praise that accompanied it. In this regard, the Mediator expressed its hope that this moment would be accompanied by measures likely to inspire confidence and hope and to revive the spirit that guided the experience of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission, by easing the climate through the release of the remaining detainees held in connection with social protests, as well as bloggers and content creators.

After recalling the importance of the moment at which the government programme is drawn up, and of the orientations it contains for the preparation of public policies, the Mediator pointed out that its memorandum draws on the findings of the report prepared by Mr Youssef Ghouirgate, commissioned by the Mediator, on “The Assessment of the Government’s Record in the Field of Human Rights during the 2021–2026 Term”. The report assessed the programme commitments relating to human rights, spread across 17 areas during the previous government term, and concluded that the pace of the government’s achievements ranged between fulfilment and non-fulfilment, and between partial and incomplete fulfilment; achievements were identified in relation to laws, institutions, the provision of resources and programmes, without this translating, to the extent required, into effective and equitable access to benefits or into a tangible and lasting improvement in the quality of services and outcomes.

On the basis of the cross-cutting shortcomings noted, the Mediator for Democracy and Human Rights stressed in its memorandum that what is required is to speed up the shift from accumulating laws, institutions, programmes and resources to guaranteeing effective access to rights and measuring the impact of policies on people’s lives. The existence of a right in the text, the creation of an institution, the allocation of funding or the launch of a programme are necessary entry points and essential prerequisites, but the challenge that remains concerns the question of effectiveness and people’s ability to exercise their rights and to gain smooth access to the related services with equity, quality and sustainability. This calls for identifying the five cross-cutting gaps that must be borne in mind and whose consequences must be remedied.

In this context, the Mediator’s memorandum identified the five gaps, beginning with the gap between framework and implementation, where the implementation of certain programmes or the opening of certain facilities is delayed, or the conditions needed for their continuity are not met; then the gap between registration and access to benefits, where registration in a scheme or programme does not guarantee access to rights or regular enjoyment of them as provided for; and the gap between resources and quality of services, where increased appropriations and expanded infrastructure do not necessarily overcome the shortage of human resources, their poor distribution and the difficulties in accessing and improving services.

To these are added the gap arising from social and territorial disparities, where an improvement in the national average does not mean that vulnerable groups and regions have benefited from services to the same extent, and the gap resulting from weak convergence and limited data, where responsibility is spread across sectors and territorial levels while data on results, quality, access to benefits and impact remain limited.

Accordingly, the Mediator for Democracy and Human Rights affirms that shifting the focus of monitoring from the recognition of rights as programmes, measures and figures under a quantitative approach to the qualitative measurement of their realisation is the challenge that frames citizens’ expectations of this government, in order to overcome the gaps in access and remedy the shortfalls in six areas. These include social protection, by measuring the transition from registration to the activation of entitlements, and from their activation to regular and adequate access to benefits, and by identifying those who remain outside coverage or support and the reasons why support is not obtained or is interrupted.

They also include health, regarding which the Mediator stressed the need to link the upgrading of facilities to the availability of staff, equipment, maintenance and treatment appointments, and to measure access, quality, continuity and the costs borne by users, while directing resources to the areas with the greatest shortages.

With regard to education and training, the Mediator also stressed the need to measure retention, learning, quality and equity, alongside institutions, places and measures, and to address overcrowding, insufficient supervision and territorial disparities. With regard to the rights of persons with disabilities, it stressed the need to make accessibility, transport and inclusive services a requirement in education, employment, health, administration and culture, while monitoring territorial coverage and the possibility of effectively accessing these services.

As for employment and occupational rights, the Mediator defined the measurement indicators in relation to levels of stability, quality of work, social protection and access to job opportunities, so that measurement covers the number of beneficiaries of training or employment programmes and their compliance with decent work standards. In addition, at the level of administrative and digital services, measurement covers verification of the quality of services, their completion and ease of access to them, data protection, and the provision of assistance and non-digital channels for those who need them.

On the basis of the foregoing considerations, the Mediator put forward proposals that reflect its concerns and convey its vision of ensuring coherence and alignment between public policies and human rights. These consist of integrating human rights impact assessment into the decision-making process, so that the effects of legislation and major programmes are examined on the basis of equality, non-discrimination, access to services and protection of the groups concerned, and auditing results after implementation on that same basis, alongside linking the budget and data to the principle of equity and publishing comparable data disaggregated by region, area of residence, sex, age, disability and social status.

Where there is no baseline or measurement is not possible, the Mediator urged the government to announce this promptly and to set a deadline for filling the gap, with a view to achieving a human rights-responsive budget with measurable indicators, while anticipating social, economic, environmental and digital changes and strengthening forward-looking thinking, including on water, the environment, territorial disparities and data protection, and ensuring that technical or economic solutions do not lead to the exclusion of groups or regions or restrict access to services. It also stressed the need for a regular pace in honouring the human rights commitments arising from Morocco’s treaty practice, through clear scheduling of the follow-up to the recommendations of the United Nations human rights mechanisms, and for work to complete the harmonisation of national legislation.

The memorandum also contains other proposals concerning the completion of the institutional framework in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution, in order to overcome the irregular situation of certain existing institutions; speeding up the establishment of institutions that have not yet been put in place; and the adoption of a national plan for democracy and human rights, in line with the standards set out in the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action (adopted at the 1993 United Nations World Conference on Human Rights), which sets out priorities, results, responsible bodies, resources and deadlines, links constitutional commitments to sectoral and territorial policies, and serves as a tool for coordination, implementation and accountability. They further concern the establishment of a legislative framework for public consultation, defining the rights and obligations of public authorities, civil society organisations and stakeholders and drawing on best practices in this field, as well as the review of the legislative and legal provisions relating to public freedoms (associations, public gatherings, the press), with a view to abolishing custodial sentences, enshrining the declaratory system for establishing the legal capacity of associations and putting an end to all abuses affecting these rights, and speeding up the pace at which the official status of the Amazigh language and culture is enshrined and strengthened.

The Mediator also called for the Family Code to be issued without delay, in a manner consistent with social and societal changes and that achieves justice, equality and equity; for criminal legislation to be revised in line with the relevant international conventions and the recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission; and for an inclusive policy for vulnerable groups and those most exposed to violations and discrimination, including children, persons with disabilities, older persons, migrants and refugees. It further called for greater attention to the new generations of human rights, in particular environmental rights, climate justice, digital rights and biomedical ethics, while ensuring that issues of corruption, bribery and monopoly are addressed from a human rights perspective, as complex violations which, just as they infringe the rights of citizens, also undermine the processes of building democracy and the rule of law.

At the close of its memorandum, the Mediator expressed its hope that the government would bring about a change in its relations with the constitutional institutions, keep the constitutional objectives in mind and work to give effect to them, in a way that achieves balance, cooperation and positive engagement with the recommendations issued by those institutions, and work towards the optimal implementation of the provisions of Article 160 of the Constitution.

It should be noted that the Mediator for Democracy and Human Rights attached to its memorandum to the Head of Government-designate a detailed report prepared on the Mediator’s behalf by the researcher and expert Youssef Ghouirgate. The report examines the achievements of the previous government during its term (2021–2026) in relation to its commitments and programmes relating to human rights, offering meaningful indicators of its human rights record on the basis of an innovative scientific methodology.

The report also contains numerous recommendations and proposals which the Mediator for Democracy and Human Rights considers likely to be useful to the new government, as regards linking public action to the human rights framework, whether in legislation or in public and sectoral policies. In addition, the report identifies measures that can begin to be implemented within the first hundred (100) days of the new government, which the Mediator has announced it will follow, monitor and evaluate with a view to issuing a report on them.