Moroccan Women’s Rights Activists Appeal to UN Over State-Linked Intimidation

The movement has sought to denounce the actions of certain websites close to the Moroccan state towards associative and political activists and journalists. They would be victims of defamation and intimidation during their activity.

In a statement dated March 2, the Khmissa movement stated that while "the majority of human rights organizations are conducting an international campaign to fight violence against women, and encourage nations to take deterrent measures, Moroccan women are facing a vile form of violence, that of the attack on their privacy and reputation."

According to the activists of the Khmissa movement, the Moroccan state would be the main instigator of these acts. It "uses the media to launch defamatory campaigns against associative and political activists, in order to symbolically kill them and minimize their influence on the public scene."

"Psychological and symbolic violence is just as dangerous as physical violence," the movement stressed, noting that "political and human rights activists, as well as a good number of journalists, are subjected to a vile blackmail through the publication of erroneous data on their private and intimate life. Even their families and loved ones are not spared."

To support their request, several excerpts and models of defamatory articles were submitted to the United Nations organization, accompanied by an exhaustive list of the women victims of these actions as well as testimonies from Moroccan human rights organizations.