VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRB #0357/01 0591653
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 281653Z FEB 06
FM AMEMBASSY RABAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 2936
INFO RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 3753
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 8639
RUEHCL/AMCONSUL CASABLANCA 1304

UNCLAS RABAT 000357 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE NEA/MAG, DRL/PHD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM MO
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS LAW CLINICS IN MOROCCO -- THE CASE 
FOR CONTINUED FUNDING 
 
REF: 05 RABAT 01766 
 
¶1.  (U) This cable is sensitive but unclassified.  Please 
treat accordingly. 
 
¶2.  (U) This is an action request.  See paragraph 3.  With 
funding ending March 31, Post seeks an opportunity to express 
support for the continuation of the American Bar Association 
"Human Rights Clinical Legal Education" program in advance of 
any Department deliberations on continued funding. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Summary:  The American Bar Association (ABA), a US 
nongovernmental organization (NGO), has worked for the past 
year with Hassan II University in Mohammedia to institute a 
"Human Rights Clinical Legal Education" program.  A 
"memorandum of understanding" (MOU) was signed between ABA 
and the university in June 2005.  University president Rahma 
Bourquia, Morocco's first and only female university 
president, actively supports the project and signed the MOU 
for the university.  Classes began in the fall (October) 
semester.  The DRL/PHD-funded program has met with active and 
effective support at the highest levels of the university, 
including the president, deans, and the law faculty.  Law 
students eagerly participate in the training sessions, and 
lawyers and human rights activists from throughout Morocco 
have volunteered their time to teach in the program.  The 
university has developed plans to sustain the project after 
approximately eighteen months, and it is interested in 
increasing the number of students who participate in the 
clinics.  This program is a funding success story which is 
acting as an effective change-agent within Morocco, and we 
strongly encourage DRL's continued support for the project, 
which we believe is necessary to ensure the program's 
sustainability.  End Summary. 
 
¶4.  (U) During the summer and prior to the beginning of the 
fall semester, ABA distributed applications to students.  Of 
the 170 applications to participate, ABA chose fifty students 
to be interviewed; thirty-one were chosen for the course. 
Because of course scheduling, twenty-two students enrolled. 
Some of these students reside in low-income areas of 
Casablanca.  (Note:  During this initial year as facilities 
in the law school were allocated and organized and the 
program was devised, more than this number of students could 
not be accommodated.  End Note.) 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  ABA structured the clinic curriculum to encompass 
four subject areas:  international human rights law sources 
and philosophy; human rights protection mechanisms; specific 
human rights, e.g., labor law, refugee issues, women's 
rights, children's rights; and practical legal skills.  To 
date, twenty-three classes have been held in these areas, 
and fourteen different lecturers, who are either lawyers or 
human rights specialists, have taught the students using an 
interactive pedagogical method.  Among the lecturers have 
been Abderahim Sabir (regional director for Human Rights 
Education Associates and a spokesperson for the Arab 
Commission for Human Rights), Khadija Farhi (law professor, 
Hassan II University), Abdelaziz Nouaydi (law professor, 
Mohammed V University, Sale; founder of Adala, a Moroccan NGO 
advocating judicial independence), and Rabea Naciri (founder 
of the Democratic Association of Women in Morocco; along with 
Rahma Bourquia, implementing a major MEPI project on the 
dissemination of "best practices" based on the Moroccan 
Family Code changes). 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  This second semester the clinics are concentrating 
on labor-related human rights issues.  To develop this aspect 
of the training, ABA will be signing a MOU with the Center 
for People's Rights in Fez.  This center is a national human 
rights organization which provides counseling services to 
women workers in fifty-four listening centers throughout 
Morocco.  What is anticipated is that women workers in the 
Mohammedia area will be referred to the clinic to receive 
legal advice from students who will be working with lawyers. 
 
-------- 
Comments 
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¶7.  (SBU)  In a December 2005 meeting, Hassan II University 
presented an initial action plan to ensure the sustainability 
of the law clinics to DRLoff and Poloff.  ABA volunteered at 
that time to assist in working on the details of the action 
plan.  The involved parties also think that it will take one 
year to eighteen months to enable the university to make the 
program sustainable.  Additional funding from the USG for 
 
this period would specifically allow the enhancement of the 
Hassan II University law clinic and the possibility of 
establishing another clinic (reftel).  As the only funding 
source for this project, the Department can take pride in the 
accomplishments to date.  The program has met with great 
success -- the university is supportive, the lecturers have 
participated eagerly, and the students remain excited. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Comment cont'd:  In addition to the positive nature 
of the students' and Hassan II University administration's 
and faculty's broadly-based commitment to and involvement in 
the "Human Rights Clinical Legal Education" program, this 
program affords an opportunity to further USG policy goals 
through the promotion of democratic practices in a hands-on 
format.  It is one of the only on-going programs the USG has 
with a major Moroccan university, although we work closely 
with several universities for speaker programs and thematic 
programs; moreover, the clinic program is providing concrete 
skills to Moroccan students in the area of rule of law.  In 
addition, while the clinic affords the opportunity for 
students to understand the international context of human 
rights, it allows the USG to have broader exposure to the 
concerns and needs of Moroccan students.  This exposure 
enables the mission to understand the challenges in the area 
of rule of law and judicial reform more fully and to ensure 
that limited USG resources are effectively targeting goals 
outlined in the Mission's reform strategy.  End Comment. 
****************************************** 
Visit Embassy Rabat's Classified Website; 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/nea/rabat 
****************************************** 
 
Riley