More than 40,000 visitors, 140 actors/actresses and 87 events at the CNDH pavilion at SIEL 2020

Over ten days, more than 40,000 people visited and participated in events organized at the National Human Rights Council (CNDH) pavilion, at the International Editing and Book Fair “known in French as the Salon International de l'Edition et du Livre” (SIEL), which was held from 06 to 16 February 2020 in Casablanca, Morocco.

Under the theme “1990-2020: An Ongoing Process to the Effectiveness of Rights”, the CNDH organized 87 events (60 events organized by the CNDH and 27 self-organized by NGOs). The focus of these events was put on the effectiveness of rights through debates and discussions on criminal policy and human rights, promoting equality and the role of media, transitional justice, young people and their participation to development, cultural diversity and multilingualism, school, education, citizenship and human rights, the right to development, bioethics and human rights, migration, the rights of persons with disabilities, etc.

Around 140 regional, national, and international civil society representatives, writers, researchers and experts discussed, shared and interacted on issues related to human rights in all its aspects.

Fabián Salvioli, Special Rapporteur on the promotion of truth, justice, reparation and guarantees of non-recurrence, Ali Benmakhlouf, Professor, philosopher, writer and CNDH member, Aminata Pagni, writer and former CNDH staff expert in migration, Ahmad Abadi, Secretary-General of the Rabita Mohammadia des Oulémas, Aicha Belarbi, poet, writer and sociologist and others took part in its events.

Within the same context, the CNDH paid tribute to several personalities known for their input in human rights field such as Professor Mohamed Idrissi Alami Machichi, former Minister of Justice and expert in law, Hennou Allalli, Doctor and former member of the CNDH, Nezha Bernoussi, human rights activist and former CNDH staff, Fatima Lamrini El Ouahabi, Doctor and activists in disabilities rights…

On the other hand, the CNDH also devoted its pavilion to 220 children, but more than a thousand girls and boys came from different regions of Morocco to take part in more than 50 workshops on human rights. The CNDH also provided them, like real actors, with an open space to share, express, interact and discuss their situations through artistic creativity, art, theatre, drawing, singing… and raise their awareness.

A space to interact with visitors on the publications of the CNDH was established to expose more than 160 publications divided on seventeen topics, mainly: transitional justice, criminal legislation, individual freedoms, observation of elections, children's rights, women's rights, education and rights Human, foreigners' rights, the rights of persons with disabilities, places of deprivation of liberty, health and human rights ...