CASABLANCA INTERNATIONAL BOOK FAIR: MORE THAN 7000 ATTENDEES IN 62 ROUNDTABLES HOSTED BY CNDH, COMPETITION COUNCIL AND CORRUPTION PREVENTION AGENCY

Under the theme of “Paths of Citizenship”, the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), the Competition Council and the Central Agency for the Prevention of Corruption participated, in a joint stand, in the 19th edition of the International Publishing and Book Fair, held in Casablanca from 29th March to 7th April 2013.

For 10 days, more than 7000 participants and attendees discussed and interacted with intellectuals, political figures, researchers and activists who were invited to take part in more than 60 meetings and roundtables.
Indeed, a rich activity program was proposed by the three constitutional institutions, revolving around several major issues: corruption and human rights, Moroccan youth, competition, citizen (socially responsible) enterprise, citizenship, disability rights and persons with disabilities, CNDH’s projects and activities, the dynamics of the regional human rights commissions, etc.

The joint stand hosted roundtables about CNDH’s memoranda and opinions including those related, in particular, to the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power, the Constitutional Court, the High Commission for Parity and the Fight against all Forms of Discrimination, the Advisory Council for Family and Childhood and the National Council for Languages and Moroccan Culture.

The Fair was an opportunity for the three institutions to interact and discuss with the public around other issues related, for example, to the statute of the Competition Council and values, in addition to CNDH’s last reports on mental health and prison conditions.

CNDH’s regional human rights commissions organized many roundtables on citizenship, multilingualism, human rights education, enterprise and human rights, the right to cultural heritage, the realization of the right to the city and the right to environment. Furthermore, eminent intellectuals and thinkers were invited, in one of the prominent and main activities of the stand, to shed light on the concept of citizenship...

Moreover, the stand hosted three meetings to pay tribute to three influential figures: Assia El Ouadie, who spent her life defending human rights in general and prisoners’ rights in particular, Khadija Cherif, a Tunisian militant and activist, and Stephan Hessel, a militant who a defended the Palestinian cause and immigrants’ rights.

Other roundtables were organized to shed light on the situation of human rights in some sister countries. Indeed, a meeting was held on Palestine, attended by Mr. Raji Sourani, the director of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Another meeting was organized in solidarity with Syria and a third was held to discuss Tunisia's Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

The joint stand hosted 62 meetings and roundtables, the discussions of which were lead by 162 national and international actors. The stand was also an opportunity, for the three institutions, to display their latest reports and publications.