By IPS Correspondents
PARIS, Jan 5 2001 (IPS)

An international human rights congress set to take place in Casablanca next week, the first of its kind in an Arab country, is likely to open with a bang as rights campaigners take on their host country for its recent crackdown on freedom of expression.

“We intend to raise the points where Morocco is failing to meet human rights standards in the opening ceremony,” International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), Patrick Baudouin, told journalists in Paris ahead of the organisation’s 34th congress in Casablanca, from January 10-14.

“We are not going to Morocco to give the authorities our seal of approval for their recent acts. We are going to show our support for efforts to improve human rights in all the Arab countries,” the FIDH president said.

After steady progress over the past two years on the human rights front, in December 2000, the Moroccan government turned tough, banning the weeklies — Le Journal, As-Sahifa, and Demain – for posing a “threat to national security” after they published a story implicating the political left in a bid to kill the late King Hassan II.

The chief correspondent for the French news agency, Agence France Presse (AFP), was also given 24 hours to leave the country – without explanation.

Also when protesters paraded in front of the parliament building on the 52nd anniversary of the universal convention on human rights, there were ugly scenes of police crackdowns on the crowd.

The choice of location for the FIDH congress was meant to be a gesture of support for Morocco’s opening up and “softening up” since the young King Mohammed VI took the throne after the death of his father, Hassan II, in 1998.

“We chose the location months ago, when we felt optimistic about Morocco’s progress. But now we are less optimistic,” he said.

“We are going ahead with the congress to show our solidarity with all the human rights movements which have been formed over the past decade in Arab countries, so many of which are run by dictatorial regimes,” he added.

The congress brings together representatives of over 100 human rights groups from over 80 countries, including Libya, Yemen, Tunisia and Israel.

The FIDH has chosen the vast and complex theme of “globalisation and exclusion,” for the Casablanca talks, with workshops discussing multinational companies, migration, the effect of globalisation on women and minority groups, and the role of non-governmental organisations in helping those who suffer from the effects of globalisation.

Human rights groups had expressed hopes of greater freedom in Morocco when the young King Mohammed VI came to power and, as FIDH secretary general, Driss el Yazami, said, the debate has begun to open up on questions of women’s rights, the role of Islamic groups and citizens’ freedom over the past two years.

“We recognise this evolution, but we are waiting for more signs from the authorities,” el Yazami said.

Morocco’s Prime Minister, Abderrahmane Youssoufi, will join Baudouin and leaders of Morocco’s main human rights groups to open the congress, and is likely to face a barrage of questions on the country’s sudden change of tune on press freedom.

But Morocco’s Media Trust and Media One companies, which publish the banned magazines, have expressed concern that the FIDH may now find itself in the hands of the Moroccan propaganda machine.

“Certainly, we can understand that the FIDH cannot adjourn (the congress) given the practical constraints it faces, but we hope that its presence will not be used … as a seal of approval for activities harking back to a time we had thought over,” the companies said in a statement.

“We know the Moroccan authorities are going to want to benefit from the congress. But there is no question that we are there to give credit to the state. We hope the congress will not be manipulated,” Baudouin said.

Officials at the Moroccan embassy in Paris were not available for comment.

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