Morocco
(2001)
The Constitution provides for freedom of
religion and, although Islam is the official state religion,
Jewish and Christian communities openly practice their faiths;
however, the Government places certain restrictions on Christian
religious materials and proselytizing, and several small
religious minorities are tolerated with varying degrees of
official restrictions. The Government monitors the activities
of mosques and, places other restrictions on Muslims and
Islamic organizations whose activities are deemed to have
exceeded the bounds of religious practice and become political
in nature.
There was no change in the status of respect
for religious freedom during the period covered by this report.
Since July 23, 1999, when King Mohammed VI succeeded his
father, the late King Hassan II, who ruled for 38 years,
the new King has continued to uphold a tradition of respect
for interfaith dialog.
The generally amicable relationship among
religions in society contributed to religious freedom; however,
converts to Christianity sometimes face social ostracism.
The U.S. Government discusses religious
freedom issues with the Government in the context of its
overall dialog and policy of promoting human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has a total land area of approximately
172,320 square miles and its population is approximately
30,122,350. Ninety-nine percent of citizens are Sunni Muslims.
The Jewish community numbers approximately 5,000 persons
and predominantly resides in the Casablanca and Rabat urban
areas, as well as some smaller cities throughout the country.
The foreign Christian community (Roman Catholic and Protestant)
consists of 5,000 practicing members, although estimates
of Christians residing in the country at any particular time
range up to 25,000. Most reside in the Casablanca and Rabat
urban areas. Also located in Rabat and Casablanca, the Baha'i
community numbers 350 to 400 persons. There is no information
regarding the number of atheists in the country.
Section II: Status of Religious Freedom
Legal/Policy Framework
The Constitution provides that Islam is
the official religion, and designates the King as "Commander
of the Faithful" with the responsibility of ensuring
"respect for Islam." The Constitution provides
for freedom of religion and Jewish and Christian communities
openly practice their faiths; however, the Government places
certain restrictions on Christian religious materials and
proselytizing, and several small religious minorities are
tolerated with varying degrees of official restrictions.
A small foreign Hindu community has received the right to
perform cremations and to hold services. Baha'is are forbidden
to meet or participate in communal activities. The Government
monitors the activities of mosques and places other restrictions
on Muslims and Islamic organizations whose activities are
deemed to have exceeded the bounds of religious practice
and become political in nature.
The Government does not license or approve
religions or religious organizations. The Government provides
tax benefits, land and building grants, subsidies, and customs
exemptions for imports necessary for the observance of the
major religions.
The teaching of Islam in public schools
benefits from discretionary funding in the Government's annual
education budget, as do other curriculum subjects. The annual
budget also provides funds for religious instruction to the
parallel system of Jewish public schools. The Government
has funded several efforts to study the cultural, artistic,
literary, and scientific heritage of Moroccan Jews. In 1998
the Government created a chair for the study of comparative
religions at the University of Rabat.
In August 2000, the King declared in a
nationally televised speech that 100 mosques throughout the
country would be used as teaching centers to fight illiteracy.
In the first (and pilot) year of the announced program, 10,000
citizens between the ages of 15 and 45 were to receive literacy
courses on Islam, civic education, and hygiene. If successful
the program is expected to be expanded to include a larger
part of the population in subsequent years. The King designated
200 unemployed university graduates to administer the literacy
courses during the program's pilot stages, which began in
September 2000.
The Government regularly organizes events
and receives foreign religious delegations to encourage tolerance
and respect among religions. In July 2000, at the Royal Palace
in Tangiers, King Mohamed VI received two Jewish delegations
from the Representative Jewish Council of Great Britain and
Moroccan Jews residing in the United Kingdom. In September
2000, Royal Counselor Andre Azoulay, a leading Jewish citizen,
represented King Mohamed VI at the New York opening of the
2-week exposition sponsored by the palace, entitled "Morocco:
Jews and Art in the Muslim world."
Each May the Government organizes the annual
"Fez Festival of Sacred Music," which includes
musicians from many religions. In the past, the Government
has organized numerous symposiums among local and international
clergy, priests, rabbis, imams, and other spiritual leaders
to examine ways to reduce religious intolerance and to promote
interfaith dialog. Each year during the Islamic holy month
of Ramadan, the King hosts colloquiums of Islamic religious
scholars to examine ways to promote tolerance and mutual
respect within Islam and between Islam and other religions.
In July 2000, Royal Counselor Andre Azoulay delivered the
opening speech in Seville, Spain, at the annual conference
of the International Institute for Religious Dialog.
Also in July 2000, King Mohamed VI received
a delegation from the Boston-based American nongovernmental
organization (NGO) Middle East University, which was visiting
to open its first summer university program in Morocco. The
NGO eventually chose Rabat for its summer site, and opened
its program to interested Moroccan university students. Visiting
professors and experts from the United States and the Middle
East, as well as academics from North African countries,
participated in conferences, lectures, and courses during
the program.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs monitors
Friday mosque sermons and the Koranic schools to ensure the
teaching of approved doctrine. At times the authorities suppress
the activities of Islamists but generally tolerate activities
limited to the propagation of Islam, education, and charity.
Security forces commonly close mosques to the public shortly
after Friday services to prevent use of the premises for
unauthorized political activity. The Government strictly
controls authorization to construct new mosques. Most mosques
are constructed using private funds.
According to the press reports in late
spring and summer 2000, the authorities allegedly blocked
the publication of two newspapers associated with the Justice
and Charity Organization (JCO)--Al-Adl Wal Ihsane and Rissalat
Al-Futuwa--by ordering printers to suspend their distribution.
According to press reports the Government continued to block
the publication of the JCO's newspapers through the end of
the period covered by this report, and in mid-April 2001,
seized thousands of copies of the JCO's weekly youth organization
newspaper, Rissalat Al-Futuwa. Two of the JCO's websites
also were blocked by the authorities at the same time, with
domestic access to them cut off. The head of the Paris-based
NGO, Journalists Without Borders sent a protest letter, also
in April 2001, to Minister of Interior Midaoui, criticizing
the Government's actions. In May 2001, the Moroccan Organization
for Human Rights issued a similar communique expressing its
concern over the banning of JCO newspapers.
Islamic law and tradition call for punishment
of any Muslim who converts to another faith. Citizens who
convert to Christianity and other religions sometimes face
social ostracism, and in the past a small number of persons
have faced short periods of questioning or detention by the
authorities. Voluntary conversion is not a crime under the
Criminal or Civil Codes; however, in the past the authorities
have jailed some converts on the basis of references to Koranic
law.
Any attempt to induce a Muslim to convert
is illegal. (According to Article 220 of the Penal Code,
any attempt to stop one or more persons from the exercise
of their religious beliefs, or attendance at religious services,
is unlawful and may be punished by 3 to 6 months' imprisonment
and a fine of $10-$50 (115-575 dirhams). The Article applies
the same penalty to "anyone who employs incitements
in order to shake the faith of a Muslim or to convert him
to another religion.") Foreign missionaries either limit
their proselytizing to non-Muslims or conduct their work
quietly. The Government cited the prohibition on conversion
in the Penal Code in most cases in which courts expelled
foreign missionaries.
During the period covered by this report,
there were no known cases of foreigners being denied entry
into the country because they were carrying Christian materials,
as had occurred in 1998 and the first half of 1999.
Since the time of the French Protectorate
(1912-1956), a small foreign Christian community has opened
churches, orphanages, hospitals, and schools without any
restriction or licensing requirement being imposed. Missionaries
who conduct themselves in accordance with societal expectations
largely are left unhindered. Those whose activities become
public face expulsion.
The Government permits the display and
sale of Bibles in French, English, and Spanish, but confiscates
Arabic-language Bibles and refuses licenses for their importation
and sale, despite the absence of any law banning such books.
Nevertheless, Arabic Bibles reportedly have been sold in
local bookstores.
The small Baha'i community has been forbidden
to meet or participate in communal activities since 1983.
However, during the period covered by this report, no members
of the Baha'i community were reported to have been summoned
to the Ministry of the Interior for questioning concerning
their faith or for meeting, as had occurred in past years.
For the third year in a row, there were no reports of Baha'is
being denied passports because of their religion.
There are two sets of laws and courts--one
for Jews and one for Muslims--pertaining to marriage, inheritance,
and family matters. The family law courts are run, depending
on the law that applies, by rabbinical and Islamic authorities
who are court officials. Parliament authorizes any changes
to those laws. Non-Koranic sections of Muslim law on personal
status are applied to non-Muslim and non-Jewish persons.
Alternatively, non-Muslim and non-Jewish foreigners in the
country may refer to their embassies or consulates for marriage,
divorce, inheritance, and other personal issues if they choose
not to adhere to Moroccan law.
Women suffer various forms of legal and
cultural discrimination, in part because of the codification
of Islamic tenets in criminal and civil law. The civil-law
status of women is governed by the Code of Personal Status
(sometimes referred to as the "Moudouwana"), which
is based on the Malikite school of Islamic law. Although
the Code of Personal Status was reformed in 1993, women's
groups still complain of unequal treatment, particularly
under the laws governing marriage, divorce, and inheritance.
To marry, a woman generally is required to obtain the permission
of her "tuteur," or legal guardian, usually her
father. Only in rare circumstances may she act as her own
"tuteur." It is far easier for a man to divorce
his wife than for a woman to divorce her husband. Under Islamic
law and tradition, rather than asking for a divorce, a man
simply may repudiate his wife outside of court. Under the
1993 reforms to the Code of Personal Status, a woman's presence
in court is required for her husband to divorce her, although
women's groups report that this law frequently is ignored.
However, human rights activists reported that in one NGO-sponsored
test in the late 1990's, officials refused to order a divorce
without the wife being present, despite offers of bribes.
Nevertheless, women's groups complain that men resort to
ruses to evade the new legal restrictions. The divorce may
be finalized even over the woman's objections, although in
such cases the court grants her unspecified allowance rights.
A woman seeking a divorce has few practical
alternatives. She may offer her husband money to agree to
a divorce (known as a khol'a divorce). The husband must agree
to the divorce and is allowed to specify the amount to be
paid, without limit. According to women's groups, many men
pressure their wives to pursue this kind of divorce. A woman
also may file for a judicial divorce if her husband takes
a second wife, if he abandons her, or if he physically abuses
her; however, divorce procedures in these cases are lengthy
and complicated. In November 1998, the Minister of Islamic
Affairs proposed the institutionalization of additions to
the basic marriage contract that would outline the rights
and duties agreed upon between husband and wife and permit
legal recourse for the enforcement of the contract.
Under the Criminal Code, women generally
are accorded the same treatment as men, but this is not the
case for family and estate law, which is based on the Code
of Personal Status. Under the Code of Personal Status, women
inherit only half as much as male heirs. Moreover, even in
cases in which the law provides for equal status, cultural
norms often prevent a woman from exercising those rights.
For example, when a woman inherits property, male relatives
may pressure her to relinquish her interest.
The Government and the King continued to
promote their proposal to reform the Personal Status Code
to advance women's rights. Islamists and some other traditional
segments of society firmly opposed the proposal, especially
with respect to its more controversial elements, such as
reform of women's legal status in marriage and family law
issues.
Abuses of Religious Freedom
After 11 years of house arrest for refusing
to acknowledge the religious authority of the King, Islamist
dissident Sheikh Abdessalam Yassine was allowed to leave
his Sale home in May 2000. Subsequent to the lifting of his
house arrest, Sheikh Yassine began receiving at his home
leading members of his organization, the JCO, attending mosque
prayer services, and speaking before representatives of the
national and foreign press corps. Yassine's books, articles,
and audiocassettes were sold at some bookstores, and editorials
that had called for his release were published without impediment.
On December 10, 2000--International Human
Rights Day--security forces around the country arrested hundreds
of JCO activists conducting sit-ins in eight of Morocco's
largest cities to protest human rights abuses and operational
obstacles imposed on their organization by the authorities.
Many of those arrested, including multiple members of Sheikh
Yassine's immediate family, later were released; however
more than 100 were charged, and many of their trials still
were ongoing at the end of the period covered by this report.
Over half of those charged were prosecuted and sentenced
to suspended prison sentences and fines by the end of the
period covered by this report. Some of those charged received
1-year prison sentences for participating in an unauthorized
demonstration, illegal gathering in public, and possessing
dangerous objects. The OMDH also expressed in its May communique
its concern about the arrest and trials of the JCO members.
The JCO has an active presence on university
campuses and occasionally had organized protests of Yassine's
house arrest prior to his release. In November 2000, security
forces violently clashed with JCO students at Mohammedia
University (in the Casablanca suburbs) as the JCO prepared
for annual student elections. According to news reports,
security forces injured more than 100 students and arrested
14. Police claimed that they responded because the students
illegally remained on campus overnight and committed acts
of vandalism. The students were sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment
and fines ranging from $50 to $150 (575 to 1,725 dirhams).
Other reports indicated that similar although less violent
clashes occurred between security forces and JCO students
at other university campuses around the country engaged in
student elections.
In November 2000, security forces in Agadir
(in the south) forcibly broke up a sit-in demonstration by
an Islamist trade union that was striking for better working
conditions in a cannery. The violent actions allegedly led
to one death, and eight persons were seriously injured.
Prominent members of the JCO are subject
to constant surveillance and sometimes are unable to obtain
passports and other necessary documents. During the summer
of 2000, the Government prevented members of the JCO from
gaining access to campgrounds and beaches for group prayer
sessions, and arrested and jailed some of the group's members.
In August 2000, two JCO members were sentenced to 3 months'
imprisonment for their proselytizing activities on a beach
in El-Jadida. During the same month, Interior Minister Ahmed
Midaoui declared before Parliament that "we are one
sole nation and nobody can impose upon others their own vision
of Islam," and that "people go to beaches for recreational
purposes and we do not have Islamic beaches." He also
added that "we cannot tolerate the appearance of sectarianism
in our society."
In 2000 the Gendarmerie Royale summoned
several members of the foreign Christian community for questioning
concerning the practice of their faith. The Gendarmerie began
an investigation into their activities at that time. The
investigation reportedly still was ongoing at the end of
the period covered by this report. Despite not possessing
a resident visa, the subjects of the investigation continued
to face no problem residing in, exiting, and returning to
the country.
In the past, the Ministry of Interior claimed
that there were 55 Islamists serving sentences for offenses
that ranged from arms smuggling in the 1980's to participation
in a bomb attack on a hotel in Marrakech in 1994. In the
past, there also were claims that some of these Islamists
were imprisoned soley for calling for an Islamic state during
the 1980's. The AMDH claims that 2 members of the "Group
of 26", an Islamist group involved in smuggling arms
into the country from Algeria in the mid-1980's, remain in
prison. The other 24 members completed their sentences or
otherwise were released at various times between 1994 and
the end of the year.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious
conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been
abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or
of the Government's refusal to allow such citizens to be
returned to the United States.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
The generally amicable relationship among
religions in society contributed to religious freedom. Foreigners
attend religious services without any restrictions or fear
of reprisals, and Jews live throughout the Kingdom in safety.
While free expression of Islamic faith and even the free
academic and theological discussion of non-Islamic religions
are accepted on television and radio, public efforts to proselytize
are disouraged by society. Most citizens view such public
acts as provocative threats to law and order in an overwhelmingly
Muslim country. In addition, society expects public respect
for the institutions and mores of Islam, although private
behavior and beliefs are unregulated and unmonitored. Because
many Muslims view the Baha'i Faith as a heretical offshoot
of Islam, most members of the tiny Baha'i community maintain
a low religious profile; however, Baha'is live freely and
without fear for their persons or property, and some even
hold government jobs.
Because the populace is overwhelmingly
Muslim, because Islam is the religion of the State, and because
the King enjoys temporal and spiritual authority through
his role as "Commander of the Faithful," there
is widespread consensus among Muslims about religious practices
and interpretation. Other sources of popular consensus are
the councils of ulemas, unofficial religious scholars who
serve as monitors of the monarchy and the actions of the
Government. Because the ulemas traditionally hold the power
to legitimize or delegitimize kings through their moral authority,
government policies closely adhere to popular and religious
expectations. While dissenters such as Sheikh Yassine and
his followers challenge the religious authority of the King
and call for the establishment of a government more deeply
rooted in their vision of Islam, the majority of citizens
do not appear to share their views.
In mid-October 2000, two Moroccan youths
attempted to vandalize a synagogue in Tangiers following
the outbreak of Israeli-Arab violence in the Middle East.
King Mohamed VI publicly declared in a televised speech on
November 6, 2000 that the government would not tolerate mistreatment
of Morocco's Jews. A Tangiers court sentenced the two youths
to 1 year in prison.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
During the period covered by this report,
U.S. Embassy officers continued to raise religious freedom
issues in an effort to help resolve the few outstanding cases
of restrictions on religious freedom. Prior to the release
of Sheikh Yassine, the Embassy discussed his house arrest
with government interlocutors, Sheikh Yassine's lawyer, his
family, and some of his associates. Similarly, embassy officers
sought openly to meet directly with Sheikh Yassine prior
to his release and were informed by credible sources that
"as a matter of principle" he would not meet with
either journalists or diplomats. Prior to and after Yassine's
release, embassy officers who sought to meet with Sheikh
Yassine, members of his family, and his close associates
encountered no interference from the Government in seeking
these contacts.
U.S. Embassy officials also meet regularly
with religious officials, including the Minister of Islamic
Affairs, Islamic religious scholars, the leader of the Jewish
community, and local Christian leaders and missionaries.
The Embassy maintains contacts with the small Baha'i community
as well.
Sources: U.S. State Department - Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor |