The National Human Rights Council (CNDH) took part in an online Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment on Monday 8 March 2021, as part of its participation in the 46th Regular Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), which is taking place from 22 February to 23 March 2021.
Mr. Mohamed Benajiba, CNDH member and Coordinator of the Moroccan National Mechanism for the Prevention of Torture (NPM), stated, at this event, that the Moroccan NPM respected the pluralist principle adopted in the appointment of its members in September 2019. He also indicated that the Mechanism conducted 16 visits to places of deprivation of liberty since April 2020.
These visits aim to end practices that directly or indirectly cause torture or ill-treatment and to ensure compliance with the recommended Covid-19 prevention measures. The annual program of these visits ensured respect for gender approach and the geographical distribution in choosing places of deprivation of liberty, added Mr. Benajiba.
These visits were conducted in Moroccan places of deprivation of liberty: prisons in Tetouan, Tangier, Dakhla, Bouizakarn and Laâyoune; Child Protection Center in Casablanca; police stations in Rabat, Casablanca, Dakhla and Laâyoune; Royal Gendarmerie in Dakhla and Guelmim; and Elderly Social Center in Settat.
Adding to that, the CNDH welcomed the Royal pardon granted to 5,654 people in the context of the COVID-19.
To be noted, the CNDH/ Moroccan NPM and the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) organized, on Friday 5 March 2021, a regional webinar on "African NPMs, opportunities and challenges during and after the Covid-19 pandemic”. At this webinar, the CNDH called for the establishment of an African NPMs network to strengthen cooperation in Africa in the context of the pandemic.
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