Address of Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Rachid Talbi El Alami, at Inauguration of the Colloquium on “Human Rights in Morocco and the Challenges of Emerging Issues”

The House of Representatives organized on Wednesday, December 18, 2024, at the Seat of the House in Rabat, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the National Human Rights Council, and the Inter-Ministerial Delegation for Human Rights, a colloquium on “Human Rights in Morocco and the Challenges of Emerging Issues.”

On this occasion, the First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Mohamed Sabbari, gave the following address on behalf of the Speaker of the House:

“In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Compassionate, and Prayer and Peace be upon the Messenger of Allah and His kith and kin

Esteemed Minister of Justice, 

Esteemed President of the National Human Rights Council, 

Esteemed Chairperson of the Justice, Legislation, Human Rights, and Liberties Committee,

Ladies and gentlemen,

I am delighted and honored to open this colloquium dedicated to human rights, scientific and intellectual reflection around a new theme in human rights culture, both in Morocco and worldwide; a theme that raises new challenges and responsibilities for the human rights and law community in our country. I am referring here to the theme of this event, which we are organizing at the House of Representatives, as part of the activities and concerns of the Justice, Legislation, Human Rights, and Liberties Committee, in cooperation with the Ministry of Justice, the National Human Rights Council, and the Inter-Ministerial Delegation for Human Rights, that is “Human Rights in Morocco and the Challenges of Emerging Issues.”

In fact, the question of human rights as a whole is the fruit of contemporary human reflection, at least since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on December 10, 1948. This text has been, since then, considered a fundamental historical document, not only in the history of human rights, but also in the renewal of universal human reflection on the position, value, and dignity of Man in our world. 

This is why, right from the start, the United Nations mobilized a group of experts and specialists from the legal, intellectual, and cultural spheres to draw up a constitutive text on human rights. To this day, this text remains a reference point and a common standard around which nations and peoples rally in the conviction that Man is a central value that must be protected, both nationally and internationally. This Universal Declaration also continues to serve as a foundation for all humanity, uniting its members into a single family endowed with equal and inalienable rights, whose depth and essence are freedom, justice, equity, and peace.

In the same perspective, the international community, whether within the framework of the United Nations or within international human rights councils and organizations, has continued to provide the appropriate and necessary frameworks for the preservation of human rights, the enrichment of their culture and the construction of an arsenal of new concepts linked to these rights. This is what we describe today as the generations of human rights, in particular the two first generations, to which His Majesty King Mohammed VI, may God Assist Him, referred in His Message addressed to the World Human Rights Forum, held in Marrakech on November 27, 2014.  In this message, His Majesty stated, “While the first two generations of rights still retain a place of predilection, we are forced to note the emergence of new themes, such as the protection of the rights of the elderly, human rights in the digital age, business and human rights, the legal empowerment of the poor, and the justiciability of economic and social rights.” (End of the citation from His Majesty’s speech). 

Indeed, the international human rights community, including the national human rights community in our country, has not neglected any area of human rights without bringing in more legislation and international agreements binding on all. However, the evolution of philosophical, ethical, and intellectual currents of thought, as well as changes in the current global context, raise a series of new challenges and emerging issues in relation to human rights. This requires new knowledge and expertise from the human rights community, as well as the development of innovative concepts. It also calls for more research and dialogue, in particular communication with our country's scientific, academic, and intellectual communities, in order to identify the full range of new mutations and define the adapted approaches they require.

We are sincerely proud to note that our country - thanks to God - and thanks to the will of our beloved Sovereign, may Allah protect him, and to his commitment with the components of the human rights community and the institutions concerned with this field - has been able to creatively and proactively meet these challenges, evolutions, and transformations in the field of human rights on a global scale, notably in the Arab world and our African continent. Morocco has thus become a model and even a continental and regional locomotive, worthy of attention and interest, and arousing admiration and inspiration.

We have all seen how our country is committed to addressing emerging issues in the field of human rights, be they the impacts of digital transformations, their risks and effects on the rights of individuals and communities, the consequences of artificial intelligence, or the repercussions of climate change on the enjoyment of human rights. The latter leads to forced migrations that threaten stability and serenity, undermines human dignity, and generates vulnerabilities in living conditions as well as in social and economic situations. Today, the world is also detecting abuses in the fields of medical ethics, industrial ethics and inventions, which affect the integrity of the human being, his existence and durability on Earth, as well as the links between commercial and economic activities and human rights.

This means that the commitment to observing and accompanying these emerging human rights issues reflects a powerful dynamic within the human rights system. This dynamic enables human rights concepts, ideas, approaches and terminologies to constantly develop, renew themselves, correct their weaknesses and fill their gaps, in line with societal developments and the progress of scientific ideas and research, both in the exact and applied sciences and in humanities.

In this way, our country has succeeded in forging solid links between human rights, democratic orientation and institutional construction, which have become an exemplary model on a regional and continental scale, earning respect and admiration in international human rights fora. 

I would therefore like to thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your presence and your contribution, and wish you every success for this colloquium. 

Thank you for your keen listening