Younes Mjahed writes… Profitable Human Rights
It is not new for certain parties to transform the issue of human rights into an ideology that serves political interests, especially since human rights principles transcend all considerations and partisan or ideological interests. However, what is happening in Morocco, as in many countries, is a derailing of these principles from their high status and dragging them into the mire of narrow political and opportunistic calculations. This matter is not limited to civil society organizations but extends to states, particularly in the West, which have made human rights slogans a diplomatic tool to barter for commercial and political gains—an issue that has become well-known, characterized by a degree of transparency in international relations that requires little effort to substantiate.
What concerns us more in these lines is to highlight some elements that we believe deserve attention regarding the behavior of some who raise human rights slogans merely for their employment, without believing in their nobility. For them, they are just a political cover to shelter under and a source of funding. Many of them also resort to external protection secured by international human rights organizations, which are, of course, affiliated with Western governments.
Questions that might come to mind include why this reliance on external protection? Isn’t it logical to seek support from within the homeland, turning to political parties, unions, and Moroccan organizations? Would it not be more fitting for some leftist forces that utilize human rights to rely on “popular masses” instead of depending on foreign support? There are many reasonable inquiries that can be posed in this context, and these inquiries find answers quite simply in that these groups that adopt a human rights ideology are isolated within their own country and unable to mobilize internal support because they adopt political issues that have no resonance within Morocco, despite being cloaked in human rights slogans.
This scenario is not new; it began in the 1970s among groups of Marxist-Leninist leftists who were in prisons, where the struggle was intense between political prisoners who believed it was necessary to turn to national and democratic parties, unions, and Moroccan organizations to demand release, while a part, especially belonging to the “To the Front” organization, believed it necessary to turn to international forces and foreign organizations. In this context, a sharp political conflict arose when then-French President François Mitterrand visited Morocco in 1983.
Supporters of “To the Front” proposed that political prisoners in the central prison in Kenitra turn to François Mitterrand to adopt this file, which was met with resistance from another group of political prisoners who refused to allow Mitterrand to use their case as a political bargaining chip for France’s interests. It later turned out that Madame Danielle Mitterrand had a list to present to the late King Hassan II, containing the names of political prisoners who held an anti- Moroccan stance on the Sahara issue.
I had previously met Madame Mitterrand in direct conversation and became even more convinced of the hypocrisy of many human rights activists in the West. In 1990, I was invited to visit Paris, and among the activities I carried out was a visit to the headquarters of the “France Libertés” organization to meet with the former French president’s wife. What struck me upon my arrival at this headquarters was its grandeur, resembling a queen’s palace rather than a “human rights activist’s” office. The meeting addressed several issues regarding human rights, and I had a single message I wanted to convey, which was that her organization relied on inaccurate reports about Morocco coming from marginal organizations and individuals, while this country is rich with parties, unions, and active organizations that are anything but marginal, and whose work and reports are more credible.
However, this meeting ended poorly when I told her that we in Morocco do not understand why she takes an antagonistic stance against it regarding the Sahara issue, as a human rights activist, while sending convoys to Tindouf, whereas she does not do the same for the Palestinian people. The atmosphere became tense, and Madame Mitterrand could not hide her irritation, and the meeting came to a halt. I left that lavish palace, accompanied by the protocol of a head of state, more convinced that “France Libertés” is nothing but a diplomatic shield for President Mitterrand, similar to many human rights organizations that are mere arms of their countries.
Thus, we should not be surprised if this trajectory continues from organizations and individuals seeking foreign support, while being isolated in their homeland due to the political stances they defend, despite their embellishment with human rights slogans, which soon lose their veneer. Moreover, among these groups are those who prioritize opposing support for the separatist project in the Moroccan Sahara as one of their top priorities. This approach is neither arbitrary nor happenstance; it is calculated, organized, and deliberate because it generates profit and income distributed by donor organizations and states.
