Taroudant - Mustapha El Khalfi, Morocco’s Minister of Communication and government spokesperson, sent a letter on September 21 to Kenneth Roth, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, in which he complains about the lack of impartiality from the members of the New York-based organization.
In the letter, published by the French newspaper L'Opinion, the minister denounced what he called a "total lack of neutrality and objectivity" of HRW’s reports.
#Morocco tells @hrw suspend activities in-country, after expelling @amnesty researchers and crackdown on @AMDHMAROC. pic.twitter.com/Qu33mvbbLg
— Eric Goldstein (@goldsteinricky) October 2, 2015
The minister also decried the "undermining work" of the teams of the NGO, which lead a "premeditated policy of systematic denigration and unjustified devaluation ".
A policy whose objective is to "tarnish the image of the Kingdom’s institutions and democratic achievements on the basis of pre-judgments," the minister said.
El Khalfi said that HRW’s investigators surrounded themselves with "well known individuals who have personal agendas."
El Khalfi’s letter asked the NGO to stop its activity until the upcoming meeting with Kenneth Roth. This meeting is already being prepared, according to Telquel.
Interviewed by L'Opinion, Ahmed Benchemsi, the founder and former editor-in-chief of TelQuel magazine, said he was "surprised" by the letter, "whose background is pointless and unnecessarily aggressive," he said. Benchemsi said that Moroccan authorities “have always welcomed us and allowed us to work without hindrance.”
The letter of the minister comes just weeks after a recent HRW press release, in which the NGO congratulated Morocco on the official recognition of a Sahrawi rights association.
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