Amellagou: Stories of Women Victims of Past Violations of Human Rights
The Meknes Regional Administrative Section of the Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) held a meeting devoted to reading stories of women victims of past violations of human rights, on April 18, 2009, in Amellagou (province of Errachidia).These stories are found in a book entitled “Elles Ont Brisé le Mur du Silence : Récits des Femmes des Années de Plomb” (they broke the silence: narratives of women of the years of lead), published by the CCDH in partnership with the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).
At the opening of this meeting, attended by representatives of civil society and families of victims, Mr. Lahcen Ait Lafkih, head of the CCDH Regional Administrative Section, said that this event was part of the implementation of the recommendations of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) on the preservation of memory and reconciliation to avoid the repetition of the human rights violations.
The audience managed to follow the stories of female relatives: mothers, wives, sisters and children of men who were prisoners or victims of disappearances during the period known in Morocco as the years of lead, about the suffering they endured.
“Elles Ont Brisé le Mur du Silence : Récits des Femmes des Années de Plomb”, a compilation of stories, is a contribution of the CCDH to raise awareness about violence and exclusion suffered by women.
In partnership with UNIFEM, the CCDH had already organized similar meetings in Azilal, Agadir and Figuig, and it will hold other meetings in several cities of Morocco.
In addition to the reading of stories, the Amellagou meeting was an opportunity to screen a short film on testimonies of the family of Fadma Ouharfou, kidnapped during the events of 1973 and died in the Agdez detention center (province of Zagora).
The reading of the book, published by the CCDH and UNIFEM, aims to support the process of democratic transition initiated by Morocco through the systematic integration of the gender approach and women’s rights in the process of following up the IER recommendations.