Moroccan Human Rights Coalition lists demands for Benkiraine

Abdelilah Benkirane Rabat – Rachid Bougha The Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights Organizations called on prime minister Abdelilah Benkirane to improve the human rights situation in Morocco, by putting an end to all practices that are considered “grave violations of human rights”.
The coalition which includes 19 human rights organizations issued a memorandum, copied to ‘Arabstoday’, sent to the Moroccan Premier, calling for developing a schedule to implement all recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Committee, which include the release of all February 20 detainees, all detainees from different protesting movements, human rights activists, journalists who were “arbitrarily detained”, as well as all political prisoners and victims of unjust trials.
In addition, the memorandum stressed on the importance of investigating the death of some cases inside public hospitals and keeping patients in inhumane conditions, due to negligence and lack of proper health service and assistance.
The coalition called on Benkirane to reopen the investigation in the case of the five young men in Hoceima, north Morocco, whose burnt bodies were found in one of the bank agencies, February 20 2011. They also called for respecting the international criteria with regard to treating prisoners, and conducting an investigation on the “significant deterioration” of prisoners’ conditions.  
The organizations signing the memorandum, which was titled “Urgent Demands”, stressed on the need to implement international human rights resolutions, particularly the resolutions issued by the UN Commission on torture, in addition to opening the investigation on files of looting public money and poor administration of public institution.
It is noted that the Moroccan Coalition of Human Rights Organizations includes the Association of Moroccan Lawyers, the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights, the Moroccan League for the Defense of Human Rights, the Moroccan Forum for Truth and Justice, Amnesty International – Morocco branch, The Moroccan Observatory for Public Freedoms, Moroccan Anti-Bribe Association, Adala organization, Karama Forum for Human Rights, Freedom of Media and Expression Organization, The Moroccan Commission for Human Rights, the Moroccan Observatory for Prisons, the National Association for Protection of Public Money, the Moroccan Organization for Judiciary Independence, the Citizens Forum, the Justice Observatory, the Moroccan Center for Human Rights, and the Moroccan Association of Citizenship and Human Rights.
In a separate context, Abdel Rahim al-Jamai, Attorneys Association Chairman, called for the abolition of the death penalty through an open statement in Moroccan media, Tuesday, saying “we are using the culture of legalized killing as an outlet for our idiocy and weakness, following an approach in our society that would lead us to ruin.”
Al-Jamai’s statement followed the issuance of a death sentence on a Moroccan convict last Thursday, which he condemns in his statement, advocating the sanctity of life and saying that human beings should not have the right to decide on such matters.