HRW urges Morocco to adopt CNDH’s recommendations on individual freedoms

International NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Moroccan parliament, Wednesday, to implement the proposals submitted by a government-appointed human rights council to «enshrine individual freedoms».

In a recent statement, the New York-based NGO referred to the recommendations, it called «groundbreaking», published in a memorandum in October 28 by the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) on «decriminalizing consensual sex between unmarried adults and granting more religious freedoms».   

«Morocco’s parliament should take the State out of people’s bedrooms and let them pursue their consensual private lives without fear of trials and prison time», wrote Middle East and North Africa communications director at Human Rights Watch Ahmed Benchemsi.

Human Rights Watch recalls that CNDH’s recent memorandum «identified provisions of the penal code that violate or undermine individual freedoms, including articles 489, 490, and 491, which provide prison terms for same-sex relations, nonmarital sexual relations, and adultery, respectively».

«These provisions violate the right to privacy, as guaranteed under article 24 of Morocco’s constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Morocco has ratified», wrote the international NGO.