CRC/C/MAR/CO/3-4
Below is a short summary of some of the key issues from the Committee on the Rights of the Child's 67th session concluding observations for Morocco’s third and forth periodic reports to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
You can find other documents related to the Committee's 67th session (including alternative reports submitted by NGOs and the Committee's concluding observations for other States reviewed in this session) on the Committee’s session page.
Legislation: The Committee recommends that the State party continue and strengthen its efforts to bring all its legislation, especially its Family Code in conformity with the Convention and to promptly repeal all provisions that discriminate against girls and women and negatively impact on all children, such as those related to inheritance and polygamy.
Children’s rights and the business sector: The Committee is concerned that, while tourism constitutes one of the main pillars of the State party’s economy, the State party has not yet adopted measures to protect children from violations of their rights arising from tourism activities.
Non-discrimination: The Committee is however concerned about de jure and de facto discrimination against girls and children born out of wedlock, including in areas relating to personal status (e.g. family name, inheritance and urges the State party to expedite the amendment without delay of article 16 al 7 of Law No. 37-99 and remove from identity documents any mention that leads to the identification of children as born out of wedlock; Repeal all legal provisions especially those contained in the Family Code that discriminate against girls and children born out of wedlock.
Best interests of the child: The Committee regrets that the practice of early and forced child marriages, the placement of children in residential institutions as well as the recourse to custodial measures for children in conflict with the law still contradict the best interests of many children.
Right to know and be cared for by parents: The Committee urges the State party to allow by law women and children to initiate action to establish paternity on the basis of DNA testing (para.33).
Torture and other cruel or degrading treatment or punishment: The Committee expresses deep concern that many children are still reported to suffer ill treatment in police stations, especially children in street situations and reiterates its recommendation (CRC/C/15/Add.211 para 43 f) that the State party investigate and prosecute cases of ill-treatment, ensuring that the abused child is not victimized in legal proceedings and that his/her privacy is protected.
Corporal punishment: The Committee urges the State party to unequivocally prohibit corporal punishment in all settings.
Violence: The Committee expresses particular concern that the State party has not adopted a legislation criminalizing all forms of domestic violence, including marital rape although violence against women and girls in the home is pervasive in the State party.
Harmful practices: The Committee draws the attention of the State party to the many negative consequences resulting from early marriages and urges it to refrain from lowering the minimum age of marriage to 16 years and to take active measures to put an end to the practice of early and forced marriages.
Alternative care: The Committee is particularly concerned that the number of children deprived of a family environment is growing as evident from the number of institutions which is reported to have doubled since 2005; Two thirds of children are placed in institutions on the sole basis of poverty; Financial resources provided by the National Mutual to the social protection establishments do not even cover the basic needs of the beneficiaries, and two thirds of abandoned children are being taken care of by associations; The insufficient number of well trained personnel and the absence of monitoring in these institutions lead to limited supervision of the situation of children who are increasingly subjected to violence and abuse; Children are moved from one centre to another every three to four years as those institutions are organized by age groups, exposing them to reliving the break repeatedly, aggravating attachment disorders and separating them from their siblings; and some abandoned children live in hospitals in extremely precarious situations
Children with disabilities: The Committee urges the State party to urgently remove children with disabilities who had been placed in the “Centres de sauvegarde”; Take immediate measures to ensure that children with disabilities have access to health care including early detection and intervention programmes; Train and assign specialized teachers and professionals in integrated classes providing individual support and all due attention to children with learning difficulties; and undertake awareness-raising campaigns aiming at the government, public and families to combat stigmatization and prejudice against children with disabilities and promote a positive image of children and adults with disabilities.
Standard of living: The Committee recommends that the State party take all necessary measures, including affirmative action policies to address the economic disparities affecting rural regions and urban suburbs and leading children to unequal enjoyment of their rights.
Migrant, asylum-seeking and refugee children: The Committee recommends that the State party accelerate the adoption of legal and institutional framework, which ensures that the rights of non-accompanied migrants children and asylum-seekers are respected at all times in accordance with international refugee and human rights law. The State party should ensure that refugee and asylum seeking children are not arrested, arbitrarily detained and deported back in breach of the law.
Child labour: The Committee urges the State party to take immediate and firm measure to remove girls working as domestic workers from abusive labour conditions, provide them with education, including vocational training and provide extensive information on these measures and their outcome in its next periodic report.
Trafficking: The Committee is concerned that the State party remains a source, destination, and transit country for children primarily from sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia who are subjected to forced labour, including as domestic workers, sex trafficking and forced begging, two thirds of victims of trafficking being children. The Committee is also concerned that insufficient measures have been taken to investigate, prosecute, convict, and adequately punish child trafficking offenders
Children of Western Sahara: The Committee urges the State party to respect and protect the rights of all children living in Western Sahara and to take all necessary measures to prevent the violations of their rights. The State party should provide detailed information in this respect in its next periodic report (para.73).
Juvenile justice: The Committee urges the State party to ensure that detention, including pre-trial detention, is used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest possible period of time, even in case of very severe crimes and that it is reviewed on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing it; Ensure that children in conflict with the law are provided with qualified and independent legal aid at an early stage of the procedure and throughout the legal proceedings, including in the case of flagrant offences; Promote alternative measures to detention, such as diversion, probation, mediation, counselling, or community service, wherever possible; Ensure capacity-building and specialization of all the justice actors, including judges, prison officers and lawyers, on the provisions of the Convention.
