News
Thursday 19 May 2016

Statments on the False Contents of the Report of the State Department on Human Rights Situation in Morocco

Vocal synthesis
Statments on the False Contents of the Report of the State Department on the Situation of Human Rights in Morocco

Human Rights: Former US Official Says US Report Plays Fast and Loose with Facts

Former US Deputy Undersecretary of Defense Dov Zakheim said, on Friday in an article by the "Foreign Policy" magazine on the latest US department of state report on human rights, that "Washington is playing fast and loose with the facts, and is hypocritical to boot", adding that "the worst human rights violators pay little attention to the State Department reports".

Zakheim noted that the report "devotes more pages to Moroccan violations than Iranian ones, and Morocco gets a third more pages than Cuba does. Moreover, the document generally cites sources other than the U.S. government's own findings. No wonder the Moroccans are furious."

"Morocco’s alleged violations stand in stark contrast to the crimes perpetrated by Iran, Syria, and other manifestly brutal regimes," said Zkheim who served also as a comptroller of the Pentagon.

The authors should have carefully examined the evidence that friendly states were willing to provide to support their cases, rather than blindly relying on assertions by non-governmental organizations that may well have their own axes to grind, he asserted.
MAP 21 May 2016

Morocco's Human Rights Record Should Be 'Very Much Applauded', Says Edward Gabriel
 
Morocco's achievements in terms of reforms and human rights "should be very much applauded", former US ambassador to Rabat, Edward Gabriel, said Thursday.
 “Morocco's achievements in terms of human rights should be very much applauded”, Edward Gabriel told MAP when asked to comment on the latest report of the State Department on the situation of human rights in Morocco.
 
 Morocco's human rights record “has been fantastic”, he underlined.
 
 Wednesday, US Ambassador in Rabat Dwight Bush was summoned by Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita in the presence of Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, head of Intelligence Agency (DGED).
 
 During this meeting, three cases confirming "the proven manipulation and blatant factual errors that taint the State Department's report" were exposed.
MAP 19 May 2016

Morocco's Human Rights Record Should Be 'Very Much Applauded'

Morocco's achievements in terms of reforms and human rights "should be very much applauded", former US ambassador to Rabat, Edward Gabriel, said Thursday.

“Morocco's achievements in terms of human rights should be very much applauded”, Edward Gabriel told MAP when asked to comment on the latest report of the State Department on the situation of human rights in Morocco.

Morocco's human rights record “has been fantastic”, he underlined.

Wednesday, US Ambassador in Rabat Dwight Bush was summoned by Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita in the presence of Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, head of Intelligence Agency (DGED).

During this meeting, three cases confirming "the proven manipulation and blatant factual errors that taint the State Department's report" were exposed.

MAP 19 May 2016

Morocco Summons US Ambassador over US State Department Report on Human Rights

Morocco on Wednesday summoned US ambassador in Rabat after Washington rejected the statements of the Moroccan government about the deceptive content of the US State department's report on human rights.

US Ambassador in Rabat Dwight Bush was summoned by Minister Delegate for Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita in the presence of Mohamed Yassine Mansouri, head of Intelligence Agency (DGED).

 During the meeting, three cases confirming "the proven manipulation and blatant factual errors that taint the State Department's report" were exposed, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation said in a statement.

 The first case concerns Ouafae Charaf. The spokesman said the report of the State Department claims that Ms. Ouafae Sharaf was sentenced to two years in prison for "making false allegations of torture" and "reporting crimes that she was aware of their inexistence".

 "The judicial investigation and legal phone tapping conducted by the public prosecution in this context have confirmed, categorically, that this women has invented the script of her alleged abduction, and encouraged members of her own family to make false statements to corroborate her thesis'', the source added, explaining that "this is the reason for which she was sentenced to prison under the provisions of Moroccan law, for "making false accusations", "presenting false evidence about an imaginary crime" and "insulting judiciary police and an official in the performance of their duties".

 The second case is that of Osama Housn. ''The report of the US State Department claims that Osama Housn was sentenced to 3 years in prison for "making false allegations of torture" and "reporting crimes that he was aware of their inexistence".

 According to the statement, ''the judicial investigation established, categorically, the falsehood of his allegations, since his friend denied his claims and said he was with her at the time he claims to be kidnapped. Available video recordings confirm these facts".'

  The third case concerns Hamid Mahdaoui. According to the report of the US State Department, "on June 29, a Casablanca court sentenced Mahdaoui Hamid, news editor of BADIL website, to suspended four-months sentence for defamation of head of National Police (DGSN) Abdellatif Hammouchi", the same source said.

 

   "The facts cited in the report have not been checked, demonstrating the negligence or bad faith of the editors", the statement pointed out, adding that Hammouchi was not in charge of National Police at the time of the alleged facts reported against him. In fact, DGSN, whose head at that time was Bouchaib Rmil, filed on June 5, 2014, a complaint against Mahdaoui for "insulting for reporting an inexistent crime" and "slanderous denunciation", the same source said.

 
 "The Moroccan government thinks and hopes that these specific cases cannot be denied by the US State Department. Morocco, sure of its claims, has other evidence of other cases and is ready to demonstrate their fallacy", the spokesman said.

  ''Morocco is a state of institutions. It has national structures whose credibility and reliability are widely recognized. These include institutions in charge of the promotion and protection of Human Rights (National Human Rights Council, Inter-Ministerial delegation for human rights, the Ombudsman...), regulation and governance (High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, Competition Council, National Authority for Probity and the Fight against Corruption, Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture..), the spokesperson added, noting that these institutions are the first concerned by the evolution of the situation of human rights in the Kingdom.

 
 ''Serious allegations such as those contained in the report of the State Department give the impression that these institutions do not fulfill their tasks. They are an insult to their active commitment and dedication of their members", the spokesman said.

 
  ''The reaction of the US spokesman confirms Morocco's doubt as to the sincerity of the State Department and its readiness to cooperate "with the Moroccan government to restore truth and denounce manipulation and lies as requested by the statement of the Ministry of Interior published yesterday", the source said.

 
 “Similarly, the obstinacy of the report drafters, who even distorted facts, pushes the government of Morocco to question the true objectives and motivations of this exercise", the statement stressed.

 ''Morocco is ready to go all the way and bring the issue before the highest authorities at the various American national institutions", the spokesman concluded.

MAP 18 May 2016