World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Morocco
| Publisher | Minority Rights Group International |
| Publication Date | 2007 |
| Cite as | Minority Rights Group International, World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples - Morocco, 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4954ce4cc.html [accessed 18 May 2023] |
| Comments | In October 2015, MRG revised its World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples. For the most part, overview texts were not themselves updated, but the previous 'Current state of minorities and indigenous peoples' rubric was replaced throughout with links to the relevant minority-specific reports, and a 'Resources' section was added. Refworld entries have been updated accordingly. |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Environment
The Kingdom of Morocco is located in northwest Africa. Bounded by water on two sides, it fronts the Atlantic Ocean, the Mediterranean Sea, Algeria and Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. Western Sahara is rich in phosphates and fisheries, and is suspected to have large offshore oil reserves.
History
Morocco became Muslim in the seventh century, as the Arab conquests pushed the indigenous Berbers into the mountains. Between the eleventh and thirteenth centuries, a Moroccan dynasty ruled north-west Africa and Spain. It never came under the Ottoman Empire and was a French and Spanish protectorate between 1912 and 1956. The country regained independence on 2 March 1956 and restored a traditional monarchy the following year, when Sultan Mohammed became king. Upon his death in 1961, his son took power as King Hassan II.
Peoples
Main languages: Arabic, Berber (Tamazight), French
Main religions: Sunni Islam
Main minority groups: Berbers (Amazigh) 13.3-20 million (40-60%) Estimated: Cambridge Encyclopaedia of North Africa and Middle East, Saharawis, est 90,000 (various sources); Jews 4,000 (0.01%), US State Department International Religious Freedom Report, Shia (unknown)
Morocco has the world's highest proportion of Berber-speakers. Black Africans also live in Morocco. They were originally introduced into the Maghreb as slaves and concubines. Arabs and Berbers seldom intermarried with black people.
Around 4,000 Jews live in Casablanca, Fez, Marrakech, Meknes and Tangier. The most important influx of Jews to Morocco came in the wake of expulsions from Spain in 1516-17, when several thousands settled in the northern towns of Tangier, Fez and Rabat. Most were traders and skilled artisans, and some were highly educated. By 1948 there were some 270,000 Jews in Morocco. This number had fallen to 162,420 in 1960 and 53,000 in 1967, as many fled fearing the implications of independence.
Accompanying the declaration of the state of Israel, numerous attacks took place on Jewish premises and individuals. After Moroccan independence their situation improved as Jews were granted full suffrage and near-complete freedom of movement. While Jewish emigration was made illegal, many continued to leave for Israel. Morocco is currently the only Arab country where Jews enjoy rights and privileges equal to the rest of the community, including government-funded Jewish schools.
According to Moroccan census data, the country is 99% Sunni Muslim. While the government acknowledges the existence of a Shia minority, little is known about the size of this group.
Governance
King Hassan ruled from 1961 to 1999, leading a repressive regime for most of that period before opening the door to some reforms in the late 1990s. In the early 1970s, following two assassination attempts, he crushed efforts involving elements of the military to establish a republic. Opponents of the monarchy faced arbitrary detention, torture, and 'disappearance'.
King Hassan ordered a civilian occupation of the Spanish Sahara in 1975, followed by a military occupation as Spain withdrew at the end of the year. From 1976, the Moroccan military engaged in war with the Polisario Front, the resistance force of the indigenous Saharawis. The war had ramifications beyond the border of Western Sahara. It strained relations with Algeria while compounding Morocco's economic difficulties and so undermining the stability of King Hassan II's pro-Western monarchy. The active conflict ended in 1991, with the introduction of UN peacekeepers and the expectation that there would be a referendum on self-determination. That has not happened, and amid the diplomatic impasse, around 160,000 Saharawis remain encamped in southern Algeria.
When King Mohammed VI succeeded his father upon his death in 1999, he accelerated economic and political reform that had slowly begun towards the end of his father's reign, which included establishment of a bicameral parliament in 1997. In 2003 Mohammed VI established the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) to investigate nearly 10,000 human rights abuses committed by his father's regime, including disappearances, and to compensate the victims. Economic liberalization has increased foreign investment, but the benefits have yet to be experienced by most impoverished Moroccans. 2002 parliamentary elections were the freest in Moroccan history, and led to greater representation by women and gains by Islamists. In 2003 the government began introducing instruction in the Berber (Tamazight) language to first-year pupils in 317 primary schools, and announced that Berber classes would be taught at all level in all schools within ten years.
Despite their growing platform in parliament, some of the government's reforms have created tension with Islamists, who during the rule of King Hassan II had gained broader support in correlation to chronic Moroccan poverty and had suffered severe state repression. In 2004 the government liberalized laws regarding the rights of women, including a rise in the minimum age for marriage to 18, and enhanced women's rights in case of divorce. The continuation of Morocco's pro-western foreign policy has also angered Islamists, particularly in the wake of the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003. Suicide bomb attacks in Casablanca in May 2003 killed 41 and injured many more. The terrorist attack sparked a government crackdown and the arrests of thousands.
Morocco's press is relatively free, but journalists who criticize the monarchy, raise official corruption issues, and are critical toward policy on Western Sahara still face government harassment, censorship and arbitrary detention. Although elections to parliament in 2002 were relatively free, Morocco cannot be said to be a democracy, as the king retains all final political authority.
The IER released its summary findings on rights abuses under King Hassan in December 2005. The truth commission determined that between independence in 1956 and 1999, the state had killed 592 individuals, either by shooting or through treatment in arbitrary detention. It concluded that 9,280 victims of abuse should receive compensation. The Moroccan Association for Human Rights criticized the IER for under-reporting the extent of the killings and abuse, and for failing to release the names of perpetrators, some of whom it claimed still served in government positions. Internationally, the report of the IER was criticised for failing to propose meaningful political reforms related to the powerful grip of the monarchy.
Minorities
Resources
Minority based and advocacy organisations
General
Espace Associatif
Tel: +212-37-774-341-37
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: espace.cjb.net
Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH)
Tel: +212-37-73-09-61
E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website: www.amdh.org.ma
Organization Marocaine des Droits Humains
Tel: +212-37-77-40-60
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.omdh.org
Berber
Réseau Amazigh pour la Citoyenneté
Tel: +21-237200211
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.reseauamazigh.org
Saharawis
The Sahrawi Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State (ASVDH)
Website: http://asvdh.net
Sources and further reading
General
Amnesty International, Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders Under Attack, November 2005.
US State Department, Country Report On Human Right Practices 2006, March 2007.
Hodges, T., The Western Saharans, London, MRG report, 1984, 1991.
Hoffman, K., We Share Walls: Language, Land, and Gender in Berber Morocco (Blackwell Studies in Discourse & Culture), forthcoming (October 2007)
Human Rights Watch, Morocco: Prosecution of Independent Newsweeklies, May 2006.
Human Rights Watch, Morocco's Truth Commission: Honoring Past Victims during an Uncertain Present, November 2005.
Human Rights Watch, Morocco: Human Rights at a Crossroads, October 2004.
Shelley, T., End Game in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa's Last Colony?, Zed Books, 2004.
Berber
Hoffman, K., We Share Walls: Language, Land, and Gender in Berber Morocco (Blackwell Studies in Discourse & Culture), forthcoming (October 2007)
Saharawis
Amnesty International, Sahrawi Human Rights Defenders Under Attack, November 2005.
Shelley, T., End Game in the Western Sahara: What Future for Africa's Last Colony?, Zed Books, 2004.
