UN report supports Moroccan Amazigh objectives

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By Imrane Binoual for Magharebia in Casablanca â€" 14/09/10

[Imrane Binoual] World Amazigh Congress Vice President Khalid Zerrari (left), Conseil Fédéral-Maroc member Tijani Saadani (centre), and World Amazigh Congress President Belkacem Lounes (right) defend Amazigh Rights in Geneva.

Morocco's Amazigh community is reacting positively to recent report from the UNHCR's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

On August 17th and 18th, Morocco presented its report in Geneva on the efforts made to eliminate racial discrimination. Similarly, several Amazigh associations, including the World Amazigh Congress and the Amazigh Network for Citizenship (AZETTA), drew up their own alternative reports, which they submitted to the same committee.

The main recommendations made by CERD back up the Amazigh cause. In fact, "the Committee recommends that Morocco should step up its efforts to promote the Amazigh language and culture, particularly through teaching, and to take the steps necessary to ensure that Amazighs are not victim to any kind of racial discrimination, particularly in accessing employment and health services".

Additionally, the committee recommended that Morocco "consider including Amazigh in the constitution as an official language and also ensure that Amazighs are made literate in this language".

"Amazigh activists are now calling more than ever for the constitutionalisation of the Amazigh language," said Khalid Zerrari, vice-president of the World Amazigh Congress.

He added that the measure has been central to Amazigh demands since the Agadir Charter in 1991. The call now, he said, is for official recognition of the language.

The official delegation, which included representatives from the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Interior, was led by Morocco's permanent representative to the United Nations in Geneva, Omar Hilal.

Hilal stated that the Amazigh language was fundamental to Moroccan culture and identity. Steps had been taken by IRCAM to introduce the language into the public arena, and particularly into teaching programmes and the media. He told the committee that

'Discussion concerning the possible inclusion of the Amazigh language in the constitution is ongoing," he added.

The Amazigh language is currently recognized in Morocco, and has been introduced into education. Through the creation of IRCAM, the Amazigh movement is working for it to appear in the constitution.

"International bodies have recommended to Morocco in 2006 and 2010 that the country write the Amazigh language into its constitution as an official language," explained Zerrari.

He added that Morocco, as a signatory to the international pact on socio-economic and cultural rights and the convention on the elimination of racial segregation, should honour its undertakings and resolve the Amazigh issue once and for all.


"This will lead indirectly to the institutionalisation of the Amazigh language and culture."

The delegation stated in its report that "the view that the Amazigh question is an ethnic or racial issue relating to an indigenous people in our country is an erroneous one, because this is a culture which belongs to all Moroccans without exception".

"The constitutionalisation of the Amazigh language is fundamental to the Amazigh movement," commented Ahmed Arrehmouch, a member of the executive body of the Amazigh Network for Citizenship. "This is the main way in which Amazigh culture can be exalted to its rightful place."

"Until it is recognised at constitutional level in the same way as Arabic, then there is no way forward," Arrehmouch added. "You only have to look at the budget and privileges accorded to the Arabic language at all levels to understand the need for the Amazigh language to appear in the constitution so that it can achieve the same status."
http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2010/09/14/feature-02

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