One year ago on January 6, 2006, the 17 members of Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) were closing up shop after submitting their final report to King Mohammed VI. The Moroccan truth commission had received a flood of compliments from the international community praising the recommendations in its report, especially those advocating legislative and constitutional reforms [IJT-38]. One year later, however, the results have been rather mixed. The IER commissioners had tackled the long-standing demands of human rights associations: primacy of international law, separation of powers, adhesion to the International Criminal Court, the adoption of a national strategy to eradicate impunity, etc. The King, who at the time issued a collective pardon instead of an official apology, assigned the human rights advisory council (CCDH), a permanent body, to implement the IER's recommendations.�

The CCDH says it is making good progress with respect to compensation and reparations, which concerns nearly 10,000 victims or their beneficiaries. It had to push back the payment date several times, to the victims' great dismay, but the IER letters and checks are finally in the processing stage. The State is paying the compensation (750 million dirham, or approximately 67 million euros, were appropriated in the 2007 budget) and the government had to sign off on all the files. The amounts set by the IER range from 15,000 to 1,400,000 dirham (1,400-130,000 euros). In addition, the CCDH paid the hospital bills of over 200 victims requiring emergency care. The IER had suggested providing health insurance for all victims. "This would affect nearly 40,000 victims or their beneficiaries and that is why it has taken time since we had to negotiate with the Ministry of Health and the mutual insurance companies. We also want to ensure that the type of coverage selected respects victims' dignity," explains Mahjoub El Haïba, Secretary-General of the CCDH, promising a decision soon.

Community reparations are intended to benefit some of the regions that have long been marginalized. In this respect, the CCDH is working with joint commissions composed of members from various ministries and representatives of local development associations. "We are open to any département *region+ that may have a project focusing on community reparation," says El Haïba. However, he also reluctantly admitted that some of these projects might mirror projects selected under the campaign to eradicate poverty and ensure universal access to services that the King launched in September 2005 with great pomp and ceremony. Consequently, there is a real risk that the reparations will not maintain their specific nature, as an expert at the International Center for Transitional Justice pointed out during a national forum held by the IER in October 2005.�

Tazmamart prison razed

Draft legislation calling for the establishment of a government agency to oversee the preservation of, and access to, archives has been proposed. However, there are other issues related to the former detention centers. For example, the ex-detainees at the Tazmamart prison wanted to see the prison converted to another use. Instead the building was simply razed to the ground without any consultation. �

Finally and more importantly, there has been zero progress on the central issue of legislative and constitutional reforms intended to guarantee that the violations committed in the past will never be committed again. The only step in that direction has been the establishment of a joint, CCDH-government commission. "We do not have a monopoly on oversight," explained El Haïba, "the only role we can play is that of a catalyst." As the 2007 legislative elections approach this fall, the theme of impunity is still blatantly absent from the political debate, causing victims to fear that the IER recommendations will drown in a sea of bureaucracy.