Human rights in Morocco

In Morocco, there has been a greater degree of modernisation. More rights have been given to the people, especially women and children.

## History

Under the reign of Hassan II, Morocco had one of the worse human rights records in Africa and the world.

### Political repression

It was worse during the time period of the Years of Lead. This lasted from the early 1960s until the late 1980s. It was a time period in the country's history that was known for political repression. This involved the arrests, detention, imprisonment, and even killings of political opponents.

### Today

Today, Morocco faces at least some human rights problems. They have:
- poor prison conditions
- mistreatment of women
- torture by police

Despite major improvements made under the leadership of King Mohamed VI, political repression is still commonplace in Morocco.

## Freedom of religion

Freedom of religion is generally observed, with some limitations. According to the spokesman for the Moroccan government, "the Kingdom does guarantee not only freedom of worship, but also the building of places of worship for Christians and Jews as well as performing their rituals freely and respectfully.".

### Bans

It is illegal to proselytize for religions other than Islam (article 220 of the Penal Code, 15 years' imprisonment).

### Jews

There still exists a Moroccan Jewish community. Although most Jews moved in the years following the creation of Israel in 1948.

## Government LGBT polices

None of the political parties have made public statements about LGBT-rights. No LGBT rights legislation has been enacted. Government attitudes towards homosexuality tend to protect the tradition of the country; in keeping with the culture's traditional gender roles and religious mores.

In April 2020, the transgender influencer Sofia Taloni of Moroccan nationality but living in Turkey, followed by more than 600,000 people on Instagram, launched a denunciation campaign to outrage Moroccan homosexuals, throwing to them: "You will burn in hell ". It invites its subscribers to create false accounts on gay dating applications and to reveal the identity of those who are there on social networks. The act questions, insofar as Sofia Talouni is herself from the LGBT community. The sociologist Khalid Mouna explains that she “tries to make her group undergo the same family rupture by adopting the discourse and the codes of her own detractors. This individual, obviously mentally unstable, wishes to isolate young Moroccan homosexuals by breaking up their family unit”. The journalist Hicham Tahir indicates that he has received “a hundred testimonies from people who were victims or direct witnesses of this campaign”. Some landlords ejected their tenants, while one person allegedly committed suicide. Moroccan LGBT associations denounce this homophobic campaign. “Outing or not, the law is against us”, deplores a Moroccan, however, recalling article 489 of the Penal Code which punishes “obscene or unnatural acts between people of the same sex”. The Moroccan police finally launched a preliminary investigation for "incitement to hatred and discrimination". On May 13, Sofia Taloni ends up apologizing in a video. Instagram nevertheless suspends its account