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Amina Bouayach

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Amina Bouayach
a picture of Amina Bouayach, seated behind a microphone
President of the National Human Rights Council
Incumbent
Assumed office
6 December 2018
Preceded byDriss el-Yazami
Personal details
Born (1957-12-10) 10 December 1957 (age 66)
Tétouan, Morocco
OccupationHuman rights activist, diplomat

Amina Bouayach (born 10 December 1957) is a Moroccan human rights activist. Since December 2018, Bouayach has served as the president of the Moroccan National Human Rights Council.[1] In this role, she affirmed in 2019 that there are no "political prisoners in Morocco."[2]

In 2006, she became the first woman elected as president of a major NGO in Morocco.[3]

As president of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (OMDH),[4] Bouayach worked on major human rights issues in her native country such as torture, refugees' and migrants' rights, women's rights, human trafficking, individual rights, and the abolition of the death penalty.[5] During the Arab Spring she traveled on official missions to Tunisia and Libya.[6]

Bouayach was elected vice-president, then secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights in 2010 and 2013 respectively.[7] Then, in 2016, Bouayach served as the Moroccan Ambassador to Sweden and Latvia.[8]

Career

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Bouayach was born in Tetouan on 10 December 1957[3] to a well-known Riffian family from Bni Bouayach. Her family came from the Ait Ouriaghel tribe who were driven out of the Rif mountains by the Spanish occupation.[9] Her father, Hammadi Bouayach, was a lawyer, a political activist, thinker and a law professor at the University of Rabat, of which he became dean. He was one of the very few selected to be part of a mission to study abroad in Cairo and Paris by Mohamed El-Mekki Naciri. Her grandfather was considered Abdelkrim el-Khattabi's right hand and most loyal general during the Rif War.[10]

She has a master's degree in economics from Mohammed V University in Rabat.[4]

Bouayach's work as an activist began in the 1980s, inspired by movements against the death penalty in South America.[11] Many years later, she told a journalist in an interview that her advocacy for political prisoners began when her ex-husband, a Marxist–Leninist activist who she had married at a very young age, was arrested in 1976.[10]

Bouayach started defending Moroccan political prisoners during the "Years of Lead," a period of political oppression and state violence in the 1970s and 1980s under King Hassan II.[12] She was a founding member in 1998 of the Moroccan Organisation for Human Rights (OMDH),[13] which in 1993 criticized the execution of a high-ranking security official. In 1994 the OMDH declared the death penalty a serious violation of human rights, and in that year, a royal decree of amnesty spared all death row inmates in Morocco.[11]

Bouayach spent two years working with renowned sociologist Fatema Mernissi to improve women's rights, especially for Muslim Women;[4] and has published numerous articles on the subject in Arabic, French, English and Spanish.[citation needed]

Professionally, she has held many political positions, most notably as a member in the cabinet of former Prime minister Abderrahmane Youssoufi from 1998 to 2002,[3] and as a member of the Consultative Commission on Constitutional Reform, appointed by King Mohammed VI in 2011 during the Arab Spring. For her notable contributions to the Moroccan Constitution, she was awarded the Order of the Throne by King Mohammed VI.[4]

She has worked closely with the United Nations, the African Union and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network. In 2006 she became head of the Moroccan Organization of Human Rights (OMDH), a major NGO.[4][5]

She was one of the first human rights figures to visit Tunisia after the abdication of former Tunisian president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, and to Libya after the disappearance of former Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi. She was and remains very active in the regional group for the reform of the Arab States League.[14]

Amina Bouayach was a member of the Arab Organization for Human Rights and the group of experts in strategic studies in the region of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.[6]

In 2014, she held the position of principal coordinator of African NGOs during the African Summit in Addis Ababa.[14]

On 13 October 2016, she became Ambassador of Morocco to Sweden[15] and Latvia. She said farewell to Latvia on February 15, 2019 to take her new appointment at the CNDH.[16]

On 6 December 2018, Amina Bouayach was appointed by King Mohammed VI of Morocco as president of the National Council for Human Rights in Morocco.[17]

For World Women's Day 2019, she launched a national campaign for the abolition of underage marriage in Morocco.[18] She has since launched several campaigns in defense of victims of sexual violence and harassment.[19]

Distinctions

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Criticism

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CNDH and its president Amina Bouayach received heavy criticism in 2019 after her statement that the Hirak Rif prisoners were not political detainees, specifically that there are no "political prisoners in Morocco", but rather "prisoners who have been arrested for their participation in demonstrations or violence produced during demonstrations." The Hirak Rif (popular movement) began in 2016 after Mohcine Fikri, a local fishmonger, was crushed to death in a garbage truck while attempting to retrieve his confiscated goods.[25][2]

Later on, in a 400-page report created by CNDH and presented by Bouayach, the conclusions concurred with the judiciary charges against the prominent leader of the protests, Nasser Zefzafi, who was sentenced to 20 years of prison. Zefzafi was arrested after insulting a local imam at a sermon and condemned by the judiciary for inciting protests that had turned to "severe violence", including the arson of a residence sheltering Al Hoceima police. This position by CNDH and Bouayach was criticized by several Moroccan rights groups and activists.[25]

References

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  1. ^ "King Mohammed VI appoints Amina Bouayach chairwoman of CNDH". Yabiladi.com. 7 December 2018. Archived from the original on 11 March 2021. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  2. ^ a b Kasraoui, Safaa (24 July 2019). "CNDH President: There Are No Political Detainees in Morocco". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 25 July 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Biography Archived 2015-03-01 at the Wayback Machine, FIDH.org, Retrieved 17 March 2016
  4. ^ a b c d e Bazza, Tarek (6 December 2018). "King Mohammed VI Appoints Amina Bouayach as Head of Morocco's Human Rights Council". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 5 May 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  5. ^ a b c "Human Rights Activist Amina Bouayach at the Helm of CNDH, Chaouki Benayoub, Interministerial Delegate for Human Rights | The North Africa Post". northafricapost.com. 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  6. ^ a b Tripathi, Salil (12 March 2020). "Amina Bouayach on Business and Human Rights in Morocco". Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) (Podcast). Institute for Human Rights and Business Ltd. Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  7. ^ Staff Writer (9 December 2014). "Morocco's Amina Bouayach, Amina Lotfi Awarded French Legion Of Honor". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b "Amina Bouayach, Chairperson | Conseil National des Droits de l'Homme". www.cndh.org.ma. Archived from the original on 21 March 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  9. ^ Fleming, Shannon (5 December 2019). "Rif War". Britannica.com. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  10. ^ a b Michbal, Mehdi (8 December 2018). "Amina Bouayach, les droits de l'Homme dans la peau". Medias24. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  11. ^ a b "Uniting activists' forces is Amina Bouayach's obsession". World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. 25 February 2010. Archived from the original on 9 February 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  12. ^ El Kaidi, Youssef (17 February 2013). "Are the Years of Lead Back in Morocco?". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 31 January 2022. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  13. ^ "Organisation Marocaine des Droits Humains". World Coalition Against the Death Penalty. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Biographie de Mme Amina Bouayach, nouvel ambassadeur du Maroc en Suède et Lettonie". Maroc Diplomatique. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  15. ^ "King of Sweden Receives Amina Bouayach at End of her Mission as Moroccan Ambasador in Stockholm". Article19.ma. 13 February 2019. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  16. ^ "The Political Director of the Foreign Ministry welcomes a farewell visit from the Ambassador of Morocco". www.mfa.gov.lv. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA. 15 February 2019. Archived from the original on 10 January 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  17. ^ "Qui est Amina Bouayach, nouvelle présidente du CNDH ?" [Who is Amina Bouayach, new president of the CNDH?]. Le Matin (in French). Casablanca, Morocco. 6 December 2018. Archived from the original on 6 December 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  18. ^ Ismaili, Ghita (8 March 2019). "Mariage des mineurs: Amina Bouayach plaide pour l'abolition de "l'exception"" [Marriage of minors: Amina Bouayach pleads for the abolition of the "exception"]. Telquel (in French). Morocco: TelQuel Media group. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  19. ^ "The CNDH encourages the denunciation of sexual blackmail in universities - Archyde". Archyde. 6 January 2022. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  20. ^ "Amina Bouayach" (PDF). schoolofpolitics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 15 March 2021.
  21. ^ "Ms. Amina BOUAYACH". Kingdom of Morocco Supreme Council of the Judicial Power. Retrieved 15 April 2023.
  22. ^ H24info (9 December 2014). "La Légion d'honneur française décernée à Amina Bouayach et Amina Lotfi". H24info (in French). Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 7 December 2018.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  23. ^ "International Women's Day: Five women human rights leaders demand a more equal post-pandemic world". www.ohchr.org. Retrieved 9 February 2022.
  24. ^ "Élection du CNDH à la vice-présidence de l'Alliance mondiale des institutions nationales des droits de l'Homme GANHRI". 10 March 2022.
  25. ^ a b Hatim, Yahia (9 March 2020). "Hirak Rif: CNDH Report Slams Violence, Delayed Intervention". Morocco World News. Archived from the original on 10 March 2020. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
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