Morocco will vote for the first time for the United Nations General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the death penalty, Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi announced on Monday, calling it a “historic step for human rights”.
In response to parliamentary groups' question on “the abolition of death penalty”, the Minister noted that “to enshrine its achievements in the field of human rights, the Kingdom of Morocco will respond positively by voting for the first time for the General Assembly resolution on a moratorium on the death penalty”.
“This major historic step is an extension of Morocco's great progress in protecting and promoting the culture of human rights nationally and internationally”, he added.
Ouahbi also noted that this vote, scheduled for December 15, is but the expression of commitment not to apply capital punishment for a period of two years, recalling that the Kingdom has not applied this penalty since 1993.
The vote in favor of this resolution, he said, would reflect Morocco's positive interaction with the recommendations of UN human rights mechanisms, notably those issued by the Committee in charge of the International Covenant on Human Rights and the Committee against Torture, as well as the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism.
He further stated that this position bears witness to the ongoing momentum in the Kingdom, both constitutionally and legally, as well as in practice.
“Supporting this resolution, although a step forward, hardly signifies the automatic abolition of capital punishment”, he pointed out, noting that many States in favor of this text have laws stipulating the death penalty.
In the same context, the Minister pointed out that 88 individuals, including one woman, are sentenced to death in Moroccan prisons, adding that since 2020, a total of 161 people have been pardoned and had their death sentences commuted to life imprisonment or fixed-term imprisonment.
