Clinton denies Moroccan press censorship
Hillary R. Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State was in Marrakech, Morocco this week for the sixth Forum for the Future between the countries in the Broader Middle East and North Africa (BMENA), and the G8.
The forum discussed a host of issues including the global economic crisis, human development, freedoms, democracy, as well as the role of civil society in development, rights of women and children in BMENA.
During a joint press conference with Mr. Taeïb Fassi-Fihri, moroccan Minister of Foreign Affairs Hillary Clinton was asked by a journalist “what is your assessment of the Moroccan experience in the area of democracy, human rights, and in governance?”
Secretary Clinton responded saying “I think that Morocco has made significant progress in those three areas. I believe that there is more work to be done, but that is a challenge that faces many countries. But what is significant about Morocco and about the King’s leadership is the commitment that has been shown to the improvement of the lives of the Moroccan people.”
“I think that over the last 10 years, there has been a number of very important measurements of progress, and I discussed with His Majesty his hopes and his commitments to continuing the progress, to building on it; our bilateral relationship, which is very meaningful to both of our countries; how we can deepen and broaden our work together, which we are committed to doing, and the foreign minister and I have discussed our intention to do that. We spoke about some of the regional and international issues that are of concern to both of our nations.”
Hillary Clinton knows that her statement was untrue because prior to her visit to Morocco the international press watchdog, Reporters Without Borders, wrote to alert her to the “disturbing deterioration” in press freedom in Morocco.
Reporters Without Borders informed Hillary Clinton of the restrictions faced by the independent press and the many cases of journalists being imprisoned and fined under the rule of King Mohammed VI, they urged Clinton to raise the matter with the Moroccan Government because the situation has got much worse in recent months.
Reporters Without Borders raised the following examples of journalists and publications being prosecuted for discussing members of the royal family or issues which were against government policy
A Rabat court sentenced Driss Chahtane of the newspaper Al-Michaal on 15 October to a year in prison over an article about the king’s health.Two other journalists, Rachid Mahamid and Mustapha Hayrane, were given three-month jail terms in connection with the same article and all three were ordered to pay several thousand dirhams in damages.
As a result of a supreme court ruling on 30 September, Le Journal Hebdomadaire, one of Morocco’s few independent newspapers, was ordered to pay 250,000 euros in damages on 18 October in connection with a libel suit brought in 2006 by a think-tank based abroad over an article about Western Sahara. If the weekly is forced to pay, its survival will be in doubt.
On 26 October, a court in Rabat gave Ali Anouzla, the editor of the daily Al-Jarida Al-Oula, a one-year suspended jail sentenced and fined him 10,000 dirhams (885 euros) on a charge of publishing false information and “mendacious allegations and facts with the intention of causing harm” in a 27 August article that contradicted a bulletin about King Mohammed’s health. Bouchra Eddou, a journalist charged with complicity in the same case, got a three-month suspended sentenced and a fine of 5,000 dirhams.
Taoufiq Bouachrine, the publisher of the Casablanca-based newspaper Akhbar al-Youm, and cartoonist Khalid Gueddar will be the targets of two parallel lawsuits on 30 October in connection with a cartoon of Moulay Ismaïl, a cousin of the king, that appeared in its 26-27 September issue. One of the actions, brought by the interior ministry, accuses them of “attacking an emblem of the kingdom.” The other, brought by Ismaïl himself, is demanding 266,000 euros in damages for “failing to accord due respect to a member of the royal family.” The newspaper’s headquarters have meanwhile been closed and are being guarded by police.
The Moroccan authorities also confiscated copies of the French newspaper Le Monde over a cartoon protesting the sentence of a Moroccan cartoonist accused of anti-Semitism.
The cartoon by French cartoonist Plantu, which appeared in the Oct. 22 issue of Le Monde, shows a hand reaching out of the Moroccan national flag, drawing a person with his tongue out and a clown’s nose. The caption reads, “Trial in Morocco against the caricaturist Khalid Gueddar who dares to draw the Moroccan royal family.”
Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about the six-month prison sentence and fine of 5,000 dirham (463 euros) which a court in the northern city of Tétouan passed on journalist and blogger Hassan Barhoum on 6 March for circulating a petition accusing a local prosecutor of corruption. He was found guilty of disseminating false information.
“Barhoum is a very active blogger and, by imposing this sentence on him, the authorities are trying to intimidate all of Morocco’s bloggers and restrict the right to free expression that is recognised by the Moroccan constitution,” Reporters Without Borders said. “We call for his immediate release.”
Barhoum was arrested on 26 February and charged under article 263 of the criminal code with defaming a judicial official in his petition about corruption in the Tétouan region, which was signed by 60 journalists and human rights activists.
Saïd Benjebli, the coordinator of the Association of Moroccan Bloggers, told Reporters Without Borders the petition accused Mohamed Smouki, the prosecutor general at the Tétouan court of appeals, of “using his influence to facilitate the escape of an imprisoned relative, local drug baron Mohamed Chaff, from the Tétouan public hospital.” The petition called Smouki a “dangerous criminal” who had “broken the sacred trust of the people and state institutions.”
Under article 263 of the Moroccan criminal code, defaming a judical official is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Reporters Without Borders is alarmed to learn that the publisher and editor of the Arabic-language newspaper Al-Ayam were arrested and questioned for wanting to do a report about the king’s mother, a subject regarded as off-limits in Morocco.
“Police measures of this kind result in abuses that we find very disturbing,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Political and judicial harassment of the Moroccan news media is growing steadily in intensity. We hope the authorities do not take the case against Al-Ayam any further.”
These are just a few examples of the many cases of press censorship in Morocco, for example copies of the journals Telquel and Nichane have been seized from the presses and the newstands because they have published articles considered critical of Mohammed VI and Editor Ahmed Réda Benchemsi has been prosecuted for “disrespect to the king.” In 2005 Benchemsi and Karim Boukhari were condemned following an article in TelQuel on a Moroccan MP, Benchemsi and Boukhari were given a two month suspended sentence and condemned to pay a 2,500 Dirham fine as well as 1 million Dirham in compensation.
In 2008 blogger Mohamed Erraji was sentenced to two years imprisonment and a fine of 5,000 dirhams by the Court of First Instance in Agadir, for “disrespect to the king.” as a result of an article published on the independent Moroccan website Hespress under the title “The King encourages the nation (to rely) on handouts”.
Reporters Without Borders and the Paris-based news website Bakchich recently organised a demonstration outside the Moroccan embassy in Paris in a show of support for Moroccan journalists who have been targeted by a wave of legal actions and severe sanctions in recent weeks. Disproportionate sentences and damages awards are threatening media diversity in Morocco.
Reporters Without Borders said “This protest was called in response to the wave of trials and disproportionate sentences affecting privately-owned publications,”. “Media freedom is being threatened by stricter enforcement of the ‘red lines’ that the government imposes on news coverage. In recent weeks, publications have been shut down and journalists have been jailed or ordered to pay fines running to several hundred thousand euros.”
Reporters Without Borders added: “This harassment, which is clearly being orchestrated from the Royal Palace, must stop. If Le Journal Hebdomadaire, Akhbar Al-Youm or Al-Michaal had to stop publishing as a result of exorbitant fines imposed by the courts, it would represent a serious step backwards for Morocco.”
“Despite the tension, Reporters Without Borders is ready to propose solutions for a reform of the press law with the help of a legal committee which our organisation recently created. We will also mobilise our network of our lawyers in France, Europe and elsewhere to attend the trials and defend the journalists who are being tried and convicted.”
Reporters Without Borders also announced that they intended “to formally refer the difficulties and lack of media diversity to US secretary of state Hillary Clinton before her first official visit to Morocco for the Forum of the Future being held in Marrakesh on 2-3 November.”
When Hillary Clinton falsely stated that Morocco has made progress in the area of democracy and human rights, it is not that she does not know the truth about the lack of press freedom and civil liberties in the Kingdom of Morocco, it is that she will not recognise that truth and will not speak that truth because it could harm the bilateral relationship between the US and Morocco.