Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

Seventy-seventh session

Geneva, 2–27 August 2010

Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

List of themes to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the seventeenth and eighteenth periodic reports of Morocco (CERD/C/MAR/17-18)

The following list of themes was identified by the Country Rapporteur in connection with the consideration of the seventeenth and eighteenth periodic reports of Morocco. The list is meant to guide the dialogue between the State party and the Committee and does not require written replies. This is not an exhaustive list as other issues will be raised in the course of the dialogue with the State party.

1.Situation of the Amazigh population (arts. 5 and 7)

(a)Measures taken by the State party to ensure the unrestricted entering of Amazigh first names in the civil register when parents so wish to name their children;

(b)Measures taken to recognize the Amazigh language in the Constitution as one of the State party’s official languages;

(c)Measures taken to increase the financial and human resources of the Royal Institute of Amazigh Culture (CERD/C/MAR/17-18, para. 87);

(d)Measures taken to ensure that members of the Amazigh group are not discriminated against in practice and enjoy equal opportunities and equal treatment in employment and profession, in accordance with articles 9 and 478 of the Labour Code (CERD/C/MAR/17-18, para. 30);

(e)Measures taken to increase the number of teachers, textbooks and teaching aids in the Amazigh language and to expedite the introduction of the teaching of that language in most schools.

2.Situation of non-citizens (art. 5)

Non-citizens with legal status

(a)Measures taken to guarantee the transfer of Moroccan citizenship from a Moroccan woman to her foreign husband.

Non-citizens with illegal status

(b)Measures taken to put in place a national organization responsible for the asylum procedure;

(c)Detention conditions of irregular immigrants, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa: information on their rights, safety guarantees, conditions of refoulement, and de facto respect of the principle of non-refoulement as set forth in the law;

(d)Living conditions of irregular immigrants, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa: access to health care, food and housing;

(e)Measures taken by the State to protect irregular immigrants, especially those from sub-Saharan Africa, against racism, xenophobia, exploitation and certain forms of violence.

3.Refugees, asylum-seekers and displaced persons (art. 5)

(a)Measures taken to protect refugees against discrimination in terms of access to employment, health care, social services and education;

(b)Detention and conditions of detention of asylum-seekers, as well as guaranteed access to justice for asylum-seekers with regard to racial discrimination;

(c)Protection of the rights of the displaced peoples of Western Sahara, in particular regarding housing and living conditions;

(d)Measures taken to effectively guarantee access by refugees and displaced persons, without discrimination, to the State party’s courts with regard to racial discrimination.