Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

‘Change within continuity:’ the equity and reconciliation commission and political reform in Morocco

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 16; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/13629380903326825

1743-9345

Rachel Linn,

South African History and Culture

Abstract The Instance Equité et Réconciliation (IER) was created by royal decree in Morocco in 2004 and is the first truth commission held in an Arab-Islamic country. In the article, I explore the reasons for the commission's emergence and offer an explanation for why it took the form it did. I argue the royal initiative for a truth commission fits within a pattern of controlled reform in Morocco, and represents an attempt by the palace to co-opt a critical public discourse on past abuses into a state-managed forum. However, the activists who formed the IER believed that by striking a pragmatic compromise they could initiate a dialogue on democratic reform towards resolving the country's social and political crisis. These divergent objectives have an impact on implementation of the report recommendations, as the actors who stand to lose the most with proposed reforms retain full control of the political process at present. The approach to transitional justice chosen, however, arguably responded to the demands of a majority of victims, who primarily sought a forum for the airing of grievances and restoration of social justice – priorities explained by values embedded in Moroccan civic culture and the socio-religious role of the monarchy. I argue the IER represents a new type amongst transitional justice measures, and discuss its significance for analogous measures in the Middle East and North Africa. Keywords: Moroccotruth commissionreform Notes The Western Sahara is a former Moroccan province annexed by Spain in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, and inhabited predominantly by the Sahrawi population. Although a UN mission sent to determine sovereignty over the territory once Spain withdrew in 1975 reported in favour of the Polisario liberation movement, Hassan II declared it part of Moroccan territory and initiated a 'Green March' in November 1975 in which 524,000 Moroccans peacefully crossed the border to claim the territory for Morocco. The action was a rallying point for opposition parties alongside the palace, as it created a common, national objective of unifying Morocco as a country and territory (Pennell 2000 Pennell, C. R. 2000. Morocco since 1830: a history, London: Hurst & Company. [Google Scholar], p. 340; Maghraoui 2002 Maghraoui, A. M. 2002. Depoliticization in Morocco. Journal of Democracy, 13(4): 24–32. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], pp. 28–29). Controversy over the legality of this act and Morocco's continued occupation of the territory has been an issue in Morocco's relations with the west, and arguably a factor in explaining the state's desire to promote a human rights-friendly image to its western peers. For a discussion of these strategies, see Sater 2007 Sater, J. N. 2007. Civil society and political change in Morocco, London: Routledge. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], pp. 122–123. Despite this symbolic move, many alleged perpetrators retained positions in the state. In November 2000, the AMDH published a list 'of 44 names [of alleged torturers], including a number of senior officers of the Royal Armed Forces still in place at the top of the security apparatus. Since then accusations have been supported by the publication of personal testimony and historical accounts' of the Hassanian period in the independent press (Alami and Amar 2005 Alami, Y. and Amar, A. 2005. Morocco: to tell the truth. Le Monde Diplomatique, April [online]. Available from: http://mondediplo.com/2005/04/06morocco [Accessed 4 July 2008] [Google Scholar]). See, for example, Grotti and Goldstein 2005 Grotti, L. and Goldstein, E., 2005. Morocco's truth commission: honoring past victims during an uncertain present [online]. Human Rights Watch. Available from: http://www.hrw.org/en/reports/2005/11/27/moroccos-truth-commission [Accessed 19 January 2011]. [Google Scholar]. The majority of the population is illiterate and more than 20% are malnourished (see Hazan 2006 Hazan, P. 2006. Morocco: betting on a truth and reconciliation commission USIP Special Report, Washington, D.C., United States Institute for Peace [Google Scholar], p. 4). Morocco has poorly maintained state archives; a large critique of final IER report was that 'the Commission often had to grapple with the deplorable state of the archives and a non-regulated legal framework to control these sources and to impose sanctions in case of damage incurred or destruction.' Hence, very little existed by way of official documentation of abuse (ICTJ 2005a). For example, that the accused be given the right of reply required in international law and evidence standards to be higher (see Hayner 2002 Hayner, P. B. 2002. Unspeakable truths: facing the challenge of truth commissions, London: Routledge. [Crossref] , [Google Scholar], p. 107). The IER canceled a public hearing scheduled to be held in El-Ayoun in the Western Sahara in May 2005 due to protests and rioting surrounding the transfer of a Sahrawi detainee that prompted harsh state reprisal. A hearing in the Western Sahara was never re-scheduled, which is unfortunate given that the region was one of the worst affected by forced disappearances: a full 23.6% of all claims for compensation received by the IER came from the three areas of the Western Sahara (Vairel 2008 Vairel, F. 2008. Morocco: from mobilizations to reconciliation?. Mediterranean politics, 13(2): 229–241. [Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], pp. 237, 240). According to a study conducted by the IER, 82% of the participants in public hearings were more than 45 years of age (Moroccan American Center for Policy 2007a). Many former commissioners and victims took up positions within the CCDH or prominent business roles in Morocco as a result of their involvement in the commission. The PJD is the largest, legalised Islamist political party in Morocco, and has participated in parliament and coalition governance since the mid-1990s.