Casablanca Conference Report

The Future of Democracy and Human Rights in the Arab World

CSID organized a conference in Casablanca, Morocco entitled "The Future of Democracy and Human Rights in the Arab World" on Oct. 22-23, 2010 in partnership with the Centre MADA. The choice of the theme proved both important and timely. In recent years, many observers have come to believe that promoting democracy is no longer a priority for the U.S. administration. Others believe that the movement for democracy is part of an external agenda, that lacks depth and support inside the countries of the MENA region. This initiative is tangible proof of the degree of mobilization among the democratic forces, and it demonstrates that the struggle for democracy is ever present, regardless of the political situation.

The strength of the Casablanca conference rested in that it could bring together enough diverse profiles of academics, civil society activists, politicians - women and men secular and moderate Islamists - all rallied to the cause of democracy. The mere fact of bringing these people, who accept each other in their diversity testifies to the enormous work accumulated by the democrats and the progress registered in the mentality. Indeed, a decade ago; gathering similar profiles was much closer to dreams than to reality.

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Another aspect of the strength of this conference was that it was held just weeks before parliamentary elections in two Arab countries engaged in the process of reforms,:Egypt and Jordan. Both countries had experienced some reforms in the last decade. Unfortunately, in recent years, these initiatives have been slowing down, and there was even some significant rolling back, particularly in the realms of human rights and freedom of the press. In Egypt, a few weeks before the election, prosecutions and arrests continued among opposition activists, and in Jordan, the electoral law and the distribution of electoral districts were revised in ways that severely undermined the principles of transparency and neutrality.

Almost all Arab countries have experienced setbacks during the last four years, including serious violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms, unjustified arrests, systematic torture, lack of respect for the independence of the judiciary, and tighter media controls.

This challenges us as democrats, as we are confronted with our responsibilities. We need a lot of vigilance to safeguard the democratic gains and ensure the continued mobilization among the driving forces for these country to avoid tensions and to ensure stability and welfare in their societies.

Conference activities

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