As soon as it was set up by HM King Mohammed VI on January 7, 2004, the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) became operational with an agenda full of activities. From data collection related to the past human rights violations to thematic hearings and finally public hearings, The IER has been engaged in the path of the restoring of truth and reconciliation of Morocco with itself. A national commission for the truth, equity and reconciliation, the IER does not have judicial competence in terms investigation, evaluation and refereeing on the issues concerning the violation of human rights since the independence until 1999. The competences and the functioning rules of the IER are specified in royal decree approving the creation of this commission.

According to the missions devolved to it, the IER is in charge of establishing the truth on the past human rights violations and particularly where the state is politically responsible of these violations. It is called to determine the degree of gravity of the damages inflicted to victims in order to rehabilitate them both materially and morally and pursue the investigations to cast light on the obscure cases of disappearance.  Contribute to the enrichment of the culture of dialogue and human rights and lay down the bases of the reconciliation with a view to strengthening the State of law, is another mission devolved to the IER.

At the end of its mandate, the IER has to elaborate a report containing the conclusions of the investigations carried out and recommendations and proposals likely to preserve the memory and guarantee the end of the practices of the past and hence strengthen the confidence in the State of law.

Action of the IER

Collection of data, thematic hearings and public hearings are the three focal points of the IER’s activity.

 Data collection

Since December 2004, the IER launched into operations of data collection related to the past violations of human rights. Two operations were respectively led from 13 to 19 December in the regions of Beni Mellal and Azilal and from 4 to 13 February 2005 in the regions of Essmara, Assa Zag, Boujdour, Tata and Goulmim. 

 Public hearings

Organized in order to rehabilitate the victims of the past human rights violations and allow them to exorcise their pain by making the whole nation share it with them, the hearings, broadcast by the national television and the radio, are the great moments of the action carried out by the IER. An unprecedented initiative in the Arab world. The victims or their relatives, who underwent the past human rights violations, delivered, in standard and dialectal Arabic or in tamazight, poignant testimonies which shed light on painful episodes of the history of Morocco.

Five hearings have already taken place in Rabat (December 21 and 22, 2004), Figuig (January 29, 2005), Errachidia (February 2, 2005), Khenifra (February 6, 2005), Marrakesh (March 16, 2005) and Al Houceima (May, 2005). These hearings did not only aim to rehabilitate persons, but also regions having undergone collective punishments.

According to a study carried out by the IER, the profile of the persons having taken part in the hearings is as follows: 73 % of the participants are men, 82 % have more than 45 years old, 85 % are direct victims of the committed abuse. Besides, 73 % of the committed damages put forward by the victims are related to arbitrary detention. The remaining cases vary between forced disappearance, forced exile, death during the violation and collective damage.

Thematic hearings

The IER organized public and thematic hearings at the same time.

The objective was to make national and international experts and actors of the civil and political society participate in thinking about the past human rights violations and elaborating proposals likely to encourage the consecration of the state of law and public liberties. Thematic hearings, on the other hand, began on February 15 and finished on March 22, 2005. The issues tackled are: “the problem of democratic transition ", " violence as a means of management of politics ", " Reforms at the economic and social levels ", " Educational and cultural reforms " and " Reforms at the legislative, executive and legal levels”. The IER intends to carry out other tasks among which the clarification of the fate of the missing persons, the localization of the places of burial, the repair of the undergone individual and collective damages and the reconversion of the former places of detention into spaces used for lofty ends.  

For further information: www.ier.ma