Macron Faces Calls for Colonial Apology During Morocco Visit

Arriving in Rabat on Monday, the French president is expected to deliver a speech before the two Chambers of Parliament this Tuesday, October 29. In its open letter made public on Sunday evening, the AMDH specifies that this speech by Emmanuel Macron coincides with the national day of the disappeared, marking the 59th anniversary of the kidnapping and assassination in Paris of the third-world activist and leader Mehdi Ben Barka, orchestrated by French agents in coordination with the Israeli and American intelligence services at the request of Morocco.

According to the association chaired by Aziz Ghali, "the crimes committed by France during colonialism, including murders, torture, the exile of thousands of Moroccans, the exploitation of the country’s resources, the demolition of its social structures, as well as the forced displacement of many members of the people and their involvement in colonial wars" have had a devastating impact on local societies, both humanly and socially.

The AMDH then calls on the French state, in the person of Emmanuel Macron, to "apologize to the Moroccan people for the crimes committed against them, whether for the exploitation and plundering of their wealth during the protectorate years or for the political and civil crimes committed against the resisters, restore the rights of the victims of the racist and colonial policies of your country, and offer compensation to the Moroccan people for the looted wealth, and that which your country continues to plunder".

It also demands to "try the people involved in the kidnapping of Mehdi Ben Barka and fully lift the secrecy on the file in order to know the truth, establish justice and ensure true accountability".