Testing the Red Lines: On the Liberalization of Speech in Morocco

This article reports on the contradictions, ambiguities, and paradoxes associated with the liberalization of speech in Morocco. It includes analyses of interviews with human rights activists, journalists, and government officials; an overview of media and civil society; and an argument against equivocations of speech with conduct. The authors argue that the constitutional sanctification of the Moroccan monarch and his utterances fosters a magical conception of speech that militates against substantive and enduring democratic reforms. Public discourse that brings monarchical sanctity and legitimacy into question is illegal, but such discourse is essential if democratization is to be finally achieved. * Andrew R. Smith is a Professor in the Department of Speech and Communication Studies at Edinboro University, where he heads the Master of Arts in Communication Studies Program. During 1998–1999 he served as Senior Fulbright Scholar in communication and culture at the Faculty of Letters, University Mohammed V in Rabat, Morocco. He is co-editor of and contributor to Recovering Pragmatism’s Voice: The Classical Tradition, Rorty and the Philosophy of Communication (SUNY Press) and the author of many articles on the conduct of critical analysis across cultures. The author may be reached at arsmith@edinboro.edu. ** Fadoua Loudiy is a doctoral student in the Department of Rhetoric and Communication Studies at Duquesne University, where she is also an adjunct professor. She received her M.A. from the Graduate School for Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. In addition to free speech issues, her research interests include problems of reconciliation and memory in transitions from authoritarian to democratic states. She is currently at work on a biography of Saida Menebhi. The author may be reached at loudiy@duq.edu. Research for this article was funded by grants from the American Institute of Maghreb Studies, the Edinboro University Senate, and the Faculty Professional Development Council of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The authors would like to thank Abdelhamid Akkar, Amina Belafrej, Ahmed Herzenni, Michael Huspek, Abdelaziz Loudiy, and Khadija Menebhi for their helpful suggestions on earlier drafts of this paper. Vol. 27 1070 HUMAN RIGHTS QUARTERLY Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference, and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. —Article 19, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights1 (1) The King . . . shall be the Supreme Representative of the Nation and the Symbol of the unity thereof. He shall be the guarantor of the perpetuation and the continuity of the State. As Defender of the Faith, He shall ensure the respect for the Constitution. He shall be the Protector of the rights and liberties of the citizens, social groups, and organisations. (2) The King shall be guarantor of the independence of the Nation and the territorial integrity of the Kingdom within all its rightful boundaries. —Article 19, The Constitution of the Kingdom of Morocco2