July 1999 – December 1999

Mandate:  Established by King Mohammed VI, as a special committee within the CCDH, to provide financial reparations for victims of past abuses (illegal detentions and relatives of disappeared persons), and provided amnesty [HRW]

Results:

The Commission resolved 4677 cases, in which 3657 claimants were awarded $ 94.5 million (945 million DH). The Commission rejected 885 cases because they did not involve disappearances or arbitrary detention and 133 cases because the claimants did not respond to a summons to appear before the Commission or did not supply documentation.

Two cases were suspended, and a further 450 were considered to be duplicates.

The Arbitration Commission did not review a further 6500 requests for compensation because they were received after the December 31, 1999 application deadline. [US State Dept]

October 2007: Both the reports and the process of reparations have been criticised by human rights activists and victims as having been limited in their delivery of truth or accountability.  One key criticism is the recognition of only 112 cases of disappearances. Civil Society established a Moroccan Forum for Truth and Equity (Forum Marocain pour la Veritª et l'Equitª, or al-Muntada al-Maghribi min ajl al-Haqiqa wa al-Insaf) in October 1999, which advocates for a more public process and undertakes various public programmes.

More information at:
http://www.merip.org/mer/mer218/218_slymovics.html

In October 2003, the CCDH recommended that the King establish a Justice and Reconciliation Committee that would definitively settle serious violations of human rights that occurred prior to his accession to the in 1999. The CCDH recommended that the Committee make a final accounting of the fate of the abducted, hand over to victims' families the remains of the dead, pay compensation, and issue an official acknowledgment and apology for past violations of human rights. [US State Dept]