Black Poop After A Miagraine

regicide in the West and Islam

Published in Zamane / November 2010

The death of a head of state is always a momentous event. So what about the murder of a king? In all cultures, regicide is considered the ultimate political crime, like no other and deserves the worst punishment. For killing a king is obviously an attempt on the temporal order of the city, but it also overcome the law of God, which guarantees the smooth running of earthly affairs.

By Suleiman Bencheikh

A king is always more than just a chief of state: its legitimacy is to both temporal and divine right. Moreover, if the European kings were gradually freed from their religious legitimacy and their temporal power, they are nonetheless, in large international events, even today, ceremonial "superior ; " Presidents of the simple republic. This means that the sacred aura is all monarchy. This also means the stigma that affects everyone who is guilty of regicide.

The regicide is a parricide

To stay in Europe, history has captured the assassination of Henri IV, 14 May 1610, but also the exemplary punishment of his murderer. The "good King Henry," first Protestant and converted to Catholicism (as "Paris is worth a Mass", he confesses), died in the stabbing of Francis Ravaillac in central Paris (a plaque near the Forum des Halles is still there to remind passersby of the sad end of Henry IV). Ravaillac, a fanatical Catholic, will be tortured in the Place de Greve and his death will, in many ways, symbolic of the religious dimension of his crime.

His execution order for "the inhuman parricide committed by him in the person of King Henry the fourth " is very explicit: the prisoner must "[be] tortured the breasts, arms, thighs and calves of the legs, his right hand, which was the knife with which he committed the said parricide, burnt fire is sulfur, and places racked, it will cast molten lead, boiling oil, pitch resin burning wax and sulfur melted together. Then his body will be drawn and quartered by four horses. Members of his body will be consumed in fire reduced to ashes and thrown to the wind . According to the chroniclers of the time, his killing would have lasted a whole day.

Besides the unprecedented violence of punishment, it is interesting to revisit the term "parricide" as used in the award against Ravaillac, instead of "regicide," a word rarely used at the time. The king is in fact considered the father of the nation, his subjects are his children. The regicide is therefore an attack on universal moral and can not benefit from any political justification.

Kill the tyrant

Yet as far back as the murders of kings, some thinkers have tried to justify them. Thus, in ancient Greece, where the term "tyrant" is commonly used to refer to a king who rules by terror and corruption, the murder of the sovereign has sometimes been considered the duty of every citizen. The philosopher Demosthenes made for example of the model of perfect tyrannicide dedication democratic, while Aristotle sees a law of nature. Several centuries later, in Rome, Cicero uses the same theory to justify tyrannicide the assassination of Julius Caesar in full Senate.

Also in West found analysis of the concept of tyrannicide from the second half of the 16 th century among monarchomaques. Mainly Protestant, these thinkers writing in the context of religious wars in Europe and support the idea that if the king persecutes the true religion, it violates the contract between God and people. The latter is then entitled to revolt. The idea of tyrannicide logically lead to revolutionary doctrines in line with the Enlightenment and the social contract which will see the French execute their king, Louis XVI, January 21, 1793.

Islam and monarchy

If the regicide was sometimes justified in the West, what is it in Islam? A priori, the notion of regicide is alien to Arab-Islamic culture. Indeed, historically, the political and social order in the restive Muslim idea of monarchy. The monarchy would persist and a pagan, since the only true kingdom of heaven is, and the only legitimate royalty is that of Allah. A sura of the Qur'an (Al Mulk) is also there to remember: " Blessed is He in Whose hand is the kingdom, He is Omnipotent, He who created death and life to test you and know which of you is best, and it He is the Mighty, the Merciful .

However, if the title of king (Malik) does not exist in the early days of Islam, the religious and temporal power belongs to one person: the caliph, etymologically successor and representative of the Prophet. A Hadith mentions also the decline and renewal power by way of the Prophet: "The prophétat (An-nubuwwah) remain among you as Allah wants it to remain, then remove it when He wishes to be removed. Then there will be the Caliphate following the path of prophétat, and it will remain as Allah wants it to remain, and then remove it when he wants it removed. Then there will be a monarchy overwhelming, and it will remain as Allah wishes it continues, then remove it when he wants it removed. After that, there will be a monarchy tyrannical, and it will remain as Allah wishes it still, and then remove it when he wants it removed. Then there will be the Caliphate following the path of prophétat " (Masnada Ahmad bin Hanbal, Hadith of An Nu'man bin Bashir).

monarchy or royalty are thus associated with the least imperfect forms of power. They would ultimately degeneration of the caliphate system only truly legitimate in Islam. Devoid of all sacredness, the caliphate itself is merely a delegation of prophetic power.

From caliphate to royalty

In the early days of Islam, the killing is a political act almost commonplace and disputes are settled often in a bloodbath . The AH itself is the result of the assassination plot hatched by the Quraysh against the Prophet. At that time, Mohammed was certainly a preacher, but when it comes back to Medina, some years later, it will be chieftain, almost in "Head of State".

If the Prophet was able to avoid being assassinated, he is not the same for three of the first four caliphs, the rightly guided (or Rachidin Orthodox in Arabic). While Abu Bakr, who was already old when he took over from Mohammed, died a natural death after two years in power, but his three successors are murdered: Omar was killed in 644 by a slave Persian Christian. Othman died in 656, almost lynched by a mob of angry Muslims. Ali meanwhile was assassinated by kharidjites dissidents in 661.

Yet the murders of three caliphs "orthodox" are not strictly speaking of regicide: Omar, Othman and Ali are more of a head of state elected as monarch divine right. The elective and non-hereditary character of their accession to power made them accountable to the Muslim community and inevitably vulnerable at a time of strong religious and political strife.

Finally, with the Umayyads, and even more with the Abbasids, Islam entered the era of hereditary monarchy, with kings vying for a degraded version of the caliphate. The successive dynasties in the Islamic world then legitimize their power by a constant quest for holiness. The murder of the leader is no longer a single political assassination, he became a regicide, with all that that implies transgression of the law of God.

Cubefield Goes To The Left

3 years ago already ... Universities, a reform long-term expats in Dubai

Article published in the Journal Hebdomadaire / December 2007

The issue of education is at the heart of the action of the new government. In any case, insists that Mohammed VI in each of his speeches. Royal Impatience is sensitive. But it stumbles on a reform that nobody claims authorship. At the university, the results are still waiting ...

The university is a crossroads. It wants it open to its socio-economic but it is also fertile ground for dissent. We want the interaction with the company, it is monopolized by unions. More than secondary or primary school, higher education is adversely affected by our rate of unemployment. Discredited and cataloged as "unemployed machine", the Moroccan university needed a reform. This reform has been adopted and entered into force in 2003. It produced its first graduates in 2006. Time for a first progress report is not she come? How the university reform she faced the test of field? Between the dispute and forced them complacency and blind other events between rigor and warnings authoritarian actors of our higher education are often at odds. Some have already endorsed the failure of reform, others make it an absolute dogma Law 01-00 on Higher Education. Meanwhile, the reform is undertaken. People hurry please wait ...

Some facs between weak and claims

University Moulay Ismail, Meknes. It is 17 hours. Classrooms are emptying and alleys come alive. Central to the establishment enthroned student associations. A fund to support the family of a deceased student is highlighted. Some, almost furtively slipped a piece there. At a time of prayer, a small battalion of believers was formed on the central lawn. Younis, a student activist close to Al Adl Wal Ihsan, the opportunity to explain his claims: "It is not normal that has no place of prayer. That's the most important although there are many other problems such as scholarships that have at least a month late, some courses have not started and an obvious problem of local and sometimes security . Reform? "It is suffered much more than acceding . Everything seems summarized in this sentence. Between weak and claims targeted the university of today no longer believe in the big night, any more than tomorrows. Rumbling and discontent: in December, strike action at the national level was launched by students, with the main slogan, the opposition to the reform and the challenge to its educational component.

Side teachers, even depression. A union official Meknassi Warns trainers: "In our faculty with 10 000 students, 150 teachers were and are called to a sixty secondary contractors. We clearly lack of trained personnel . Another professor, rbati it laments the level of its students Economics: " reform so far has no practical effect on the quality of education. How would you improve the level with students who do not even know their alphabet? I know that reform takes time, but I am very pessimistic .

Still in Rabat, the president of the University Mohammed V - Agdal, Abdelhafid Boutaleb is very upset when he asks questions too insistent on the success or failure of reform. Just admit that " voluntary departure has caused great harm to the university "and that" reform lack of resources. " For the rest everything is fine. For a former president of the National Union of Higher Education (Snesup), it is hard enough with his fellow teachers and is sensitive to discourse on their chronic absenteeism. He stresses the "instigators " who take their chair to a forum which, by politicizing their course, lack the most basic ethics faculty.

actors University Moroccan and return the ball: the students feel are the forgotten reform, teachers are calling for a university to the limits of its human and material means, with respect to administrative officials, nose to the grindstone, they seek recognition of work already accomplished, and they require time.

Emergency and ambition

Time is nevertheless a very rare commodity. It is now twelve years since the alarm was pulled, twelve years that the finding is made of a university in crisis. Hassan II in 1995 had moved a World Bank report that stigmatized the Moroccan education system performance. Teaching then appeared as a priority, it was clear the backlog for several decades in terms of international standards. A literacy rate to be ashamed, mass unemployment and universities were deemed uncontrollable fear the worst for Morocco. In 1999, Hassan II appointed Abdelaziz Meziane Belfkih at the head of the Special Education Training Commission (COSEF). In January 2000, COSEF publishes a National Charter for Education and Training. The same year was passed in parliament Law 01-00 on the organization of higher education. The reform began to be applied in the fall 2003. Four years later, where are we?

The approach initiated under the leadership of Abdelaziz Meziane Belfkih is not neutral. The result justifies itself. In an environment often hostile to reform, it was necessary to establish a consensus. Morocco is very fond of consensus. But it has established a minimum on a charter plans certainly impeccable values and goals. By acknowledging and defending the right of all citizens to education, Charter lifted a taboo. Available in 19 levers, she responded to a need for clarity and was intended operational. Yet it is criticized for not having managed to combine the desirable with the feasible . Everything would have been presented as both an ideal and a reality. Ambitious in its objectives and noble in its intentions, the charter is well worthy of the most advanced countries.

But by focusing on consensus, it has also ignored the urgency of the situation. For more than a yard or two legislatures, the question of teaching is the struggle of a reign. Since 1999, four successive Ministers of Education, so that the same Meziane Belfkih which has always headed the COSEF and then took the head of the Higher Council of Education (CSE) was established in 2007. Thence to conclude that the Palace is that the pilot reform, there is only one step. Especially since the latest negotiations for government formation have revealed the reluctance of political parties to accept the portfolio of Education. Yet any reform outside the Government raises questions that necessarily remain inaudible, particularly in terms of responsibility and timelines. A king can take his time for a government is a luxury.

without budget reform

Doubts about the effectiveness of the reform make sense when we compare the ambition and the relative thinness of the budget. If Abdelhafid Boutaleb recognizes the lack of resources, other officials argue that " reform did not require large expenditures. Is the reorganization of the financial system that has helped cushion the costs .

Indeed, the figures show no significant increase in the budget related to the implementation of the reform. In 2003, the year of reform, the budget for higher education has even a setback. In 2006, the Higher Education drained 5.3 billion dirhams, including 3.7 on salaries. The investment has raised just 560 million dirhams, half of which was used at the central level. The 14 universities and 25 colleges in the country have shared and a capital budget starved evaluated 250 million dirhams. For comparison, the only university of Paris IV-Sorbonne in France has a budget of 32 million. What is very little compared to 730 million euros from Princeton in the United States. Roughly speaking, in Morocco from 1999 to 2006, the weight of wages has doubled, and that scholarship has declined 23%, grants to university cities have stagnated. Only significant increases: the budget allocated to scientific research which doubles while remaining at a paltry, and grants to universities increased by almost 25%.

These figures are very revealing assumptions of the reform: it relies on universities with presidents of autonomous prerogatives expanded. They are the real levers of reform. So much qu'Abdelhafid Boutaleb rejects any "ministerial hierarchy ": " is a misnomer, it does not correspond to reality: I have no hierarchy . Mustapha Bennouna, Chairman of the University of Tetouan, Tanger said the autonomy it provides: " Now the department plays a role of assessment than management . Initiated by the House, the reform is thus applied by the university presidents. A sort of tacit agreement seems to have been passed between the Palace and the political parties, especially the very USFP located on the Ground: Meziane Belfkih the project's overall architecture, political parties participating in the selection of chairpersons of university, and therefore a right to inspect the implementation of the reform. With the arrival of Ahmed Akhchichine, a nonpartisan minister, the situation may have changed: the political parties stand to lose a little more control of a reform that's left Youssoufi initially wanted to put to his credit.

generations sacrificed?

reform has sinned by lack of means and no one claimed responsibility, but it is the field test that rewards success and punishes failure. Specifically, the reform of higher education rests on two main areas: an educational component that builds on the BMD system and a structural component comes in three slogans, independence, openness and governance. However, on the ground, the two axes are far from unanimous. The consensus aspired charter has fizzled and discontent is palpable now.

Azeddine has now left college, he is one of the first generation of "redundant reform": "I was a guinea pig reform. All I can say is that there was a big organizational problem. The return was always rather late. The teachers seemed lost with continuous monitoring and semesters. The students were very angry when they announced a mini-part of a week to another .

Larbi Assal, former dean at Meknes, has no words harsh enough to describe the effects of the reform: "It a fiasco! There was no improvement, we just changed packaging. Universities are always care! It would have been upset traditions, but since the left is in government, university is abandoned to itself. The main thing that everyone keeps quiet .

Tel rbati denounces another teacher education leading to half-courses spread over only two and a half months: "It's too condensed . There is clearly a problem of assimilation for students. Moreover, the issue of absenteeism is far from settled: catching up with multiple possible there are many overlapping courses and therefore the absences. In one of my classes, about twenty students, only six regularly come .

Mekki Zouaoui contributed to the report for the anniversary and became interested in education issues. When asked about the status of the Moroccan educational system, he said that the kingdom come a long way: "We must contextualize In 1940, the enrollment rate did not exceed 1% in 1956 it reached 10% difficulty. But if reform is broadly in the right direction , missed opportunities abound. For example, in 2001, there has been a phenomenal increase in pay teachers, but nothing has been considered for training. But the real problem of education in Morocco is that we do not have enough trainers valid .

The consensus of the Charter and the aspired reform is apparently far from being achieved. The skepticism is reinforced by the absence of a timetable for evaluating the reform. No statistics are yet available in universities on the employability of first fired. The public's legitimate questions abut the lack of visibility and the lack of progress report. When will we be able to establish a first assessment of the reform? Cabinards Some insist on the indivisibility of secondary and higher education: "We can not really judge the effects of reform, even on higher education, when it has produced its first graduates is to say in 2009, as current students are still suffering from secondary education they received. We can say that these generations sacrificed. This is the price of reform . Mustapha Bennouna, he thinks that " we can make judgments about reform around 2012, when the first doctoral students who have completed their entire education at the university under the sign of reform. " Obviously, most officials agree that the day of reckoning has not yet come. And everyone seems to expect the creation of the national evaluation agency recommended by the World Bank and IMF.

battalions of unemployed

And yet, some signals are alarming. Much emphasis was placed on the lack of opportunities for students enrolled in Arts in Islamic Studies or Law and Economics and sometimes Science. The faculties of Humanities and Sciences faculties legal, economic and social have long been regarded as sidings, unemployed as factories to open shortly on the world of business and employment. Yet the four years since the reform came into force can not detect any reflux of new registrations in these courses without opportunities. In 1999, there were more than 30 000 new students to enroll in Law and Economics in 2005, there were 2,000 more. Regarding the Humanities, enrollment growth is even more disturbing: in six years, we went from 19 000 new registrants to more than 25 000. This disturbing trend seems to be perverse of the Arabization of Secondary taught Arabic in high school, science subjects are then in French, often forcing students to turn to the Arabic channels they believe more accessible.

The linguistic dimension is here its full potential. Mekki Zouaoui notes a "profound linguistic insecurity which erects barriers between students. No language is completely controlled . Lack of trainers, sidings, linguistic insecurity ... these problems seem far from settled: the students and recent graduates rarely have reliable information on the content of education they want and pursue their opportunities. Administrative officials are more than aware of these pitfalls. But suppose a campaign to overcome targeted communication and time-consuming coordination with secondary schools. The creation in 1994 of the Faculties of Science and Technology (FST), which are institutions with a limited number of approximately 2000 students, wanted to respond to the lack of quality of teaching. But TSP also suffer from a lack of trainers. And they are not yet a sufficient alternative to the 80,000 students enrolled annually in universities free access.

Meanwhile, battalions of unemployed still coming future disarmed on the job market. But these generations sacrificed on the altar of reform is not lost for everybody: on this ground of injustice flourished Islamist opposition.

Souleiman Bencheikh

The LMD

system Licence / Master / Doctorate replaced the old system of a license in four years followed by a doctorate degree and a thesis of State for the bravest. It now takes three years to get a license, five for a master's degree and eight to get a PhD. The BMD system has the merit of corresponding to international standards and should allow greater foreign recognition of diplomas issued by the Moroccan universities. It is the educational component of the reform and rests on four pillars: semesters, continuous monitoring, modularization, capitalization.

Ø Semesters: We opted for a "pure semesters, the semester has become the teacher but also administratively. On the field, however, encounter difficulties semesters of application: delays in the academic and cumbersome review process, and deliberations of catching up in the middle of the year tend to shorten the effective duration lessons.

Ø Continuous : To streamline the examination system, still very expensive, we have introduced a note in the assessment of continuous monitoring. Everything is then the responsibility of the teacher who expected his students to submit a schedule of his planned course in which a duty is on the table. This measure is widely criticized by students who complain of lack of organization of some teachers.

Ø Modules: Modularization credit system responds to that found in European countries. A module corresponds to a certain number of credits. To obtain their license, students must validate 24 modules, four modules per semester.

Ø Capitalization: Inside a same seminar, a student may spend the next semester even though he has not released all its modules. Load modules to catch him that he is missing and which are also priority over other teachings. Hence a problem of duplication of courses and absenteeism. Hence also a lack of visibility for students: from how many modules he misses becomes impossible to enroll in next semester?

The university governance

With the educational aspect, Governance is the second part of the reform of higher education. It relies on universities much more autonomy than in the past, including management of budgets much more decentralized. The procedure for appointment of university presidents and deans of faculty is part of the governance component of the reform. They are not appointed by resolution royal, with all that that implies arbitrary. A call for applications has now passed. All candidates explain their project to the commission of five members from both academia and civil society. Commissions then hold three names are submitted to the Palace. Responding to the interests of transparency and meritocracy, however this new approach gives rise to all sorts of criticism: some complain the cumbersome process especially for deans, others believe that it was a means of involving political parties, especially the left, the system of co-optation at the head of public institutions. Several appointments process of presidents and deans have also been invalidated without more is known, giving rise to all sorts of speculation about the transparency and effectiveness This new governance.

Higher education in dates

TIME ERRORS

1977, the philosophy is not taught in universities

1979, Islamic studies make their entrance to the University

1980, gradual departure of foreign teachers

1995 report severe World Bank

THE TIME OF THE REFORM

March 1999, creating the COSEF chaired by Meziane Belfkih

October 1999 a Charter of education is made public

2000, a law on the organization of higher education is promulgated

2003, the law comes into effect in universities

TIME RESULTS

2006, first generation of "redundant reform, opening Masters selective pay and

2007, COSEF is dissolved and replaced by the CSE, the institution of a rating agency is still expected

Dark Brown Hair With Highlights 2010

Our

Report published in the Journal Hebdomadaire / October 2007

Dubai dream. 30,000 Moroccans have settled. Expatriates are our bankers, waiters, prostitutes ... or producers.

Emirates Mall in the heart of new Dubai. The elevator doors open. A young Emirati between: the score at every break, white traditional dress, wearable art and discreet headset. A quick smile and continued his conversation in Arabic: "You think it's worth it ... I know that 200 million (dollars!) not absolute risk, but I likes to throw money out the window! "In the elevator, no one tick. All very normal, it seems. This same experiment Hicham, a young Moroccan banker based in Dubai, was made two years ago: " At first I thought everyone was pathological liar," he says with a smile jaded one who has seen it others. " In Dubai, you do not juggle with the same numbers. For me, a matter of 5 million is almost nothing . And out of his Blackberry when he shows off an email sent the same day by an acquaintance who asks him to release $ 5 million. He then explains: " This guy just lost all credibility, he does not know how it works here .

" Impossible is not an Arab! "could exclaim almost an alien discovering Dubai. The wildest projects to find buyers and excess is the rule: an army of buildings that defy gravity, artificial ski resort in the desert, islands created from scratch, six-lane highways bottled Porsche, Ferrari and Hummer ... Here, gigantism is a trademark. Like the Burj al-Arab became the national emblem, which remains the only hotel the world to see seven stars. Or Burj Dubai tower in 2009 and has 162 floors over 800 meters high! By marrying modern, Dubai is thumbing its nose at the often retrograde Arab countries. Very soon, this small emirate has played the card of innovation to anticipate the depletion of oil resources. So today, the non-oil revenue represents about 95% of GDP against 45% last thirty years. Dubai is now offering a quality service second to none, an island of security in the heart of a turbulent region. With 80% of foreigners, the United Arab Emirates are also a cultural crossroads at the junction of Europe and Asia. But in this laboratory excellence Arabic, cosmopolitanism is a façade. It is in fact based on an ethnic organization of society. More than two million Asians who represent half of the population are relegated to menial tasks, while Emirates-born nationals and other Gulf countries monopolize the shift to higher value added. Westerners, Americans and British in mind, are no exception. Paid on the nail, they can enjoy satiety to a luxury almost limitless.

In this mosaic of nationalities, 30,000 Moroccans living in the UAE no doubt occupy a place apart. They are caught between two worlds that coexist without meeting.

The fame and money

Kawtar, whose business card announces that it is very stylish "Production manager, has just returned to Dubai after few months in Morocco: "I had hardly benchmarks. Some yards were gone, replaced by skyscrapers that seem to have always been there. Here, everything goes very fast, it changes from Morocco ". Very fast, very loud, very loud ... Dubai supports only superlatives. Everything is done to an eyeful. Hassan Benslimane and remembers his arrival in the UAE in 2005: " After traveling in Business Class, when I left the plane, a Sri Lankan waiting. I gave him my passport and he has managed for me all the formalities. Once outside, a driver I opened the door of a limousine. I had not yet started work I was already hooked! "This 29 year old banker with a smile and the assurance of the man who succeeds. It's been barely two years he is in Dubai, and it displays two promotions already on the odometer. Today, Africa is the head of his bank, one of the largest of the Emirates. It almost justifies not having the Porsche, but "just" a 4 × 4 Ford. Voluble, he heaps praise on the lives and work he has found here: apartment in a trendy tower with pool Gym, Jacuzzi. He says even be "hostesses" available in his building: " Earlier, a neighbor that I do not know, a Russian, has come to my door to take from me. She asked me if I did Ramadan. " Side work, accountability is in order: " Here, we do not feel the weight of bureaucracy. I have an obligation of result and I noted in my annual turnover. If the results do not go, I can be dismissed without notice. But everything is clear is stimulating. "Morocco is for him to light years. " At Casablanca, BMCE, I was paid 15,000 dirhams. In two years in Dubai, I have had nearly ten years in terms of career. In Morocco, there is really considered until forty years. "Consider he return home? The answer fuse " Why? I go back maybe in ten years to wedge myself in a comfortable leather chair, put my face down on the desk and give orders. There is nothing else to do there. "Hicham is a man of contacts and networks. Moroccans Rise in Dubai, he knows almost everyone. They are a hundred to attend regularly. In this month of Ramadan, they meet several times a week for poker parties where everyone shows off his success. Before joining his alter ego , Hicham is a quick overview of cars parked in the parking lot: "This Porsche belongs to a Moroccan. From all of us is the one who wins the most money . He immediately adds: " Here is the excessive materialism, but at another level in Morocco. We do not talk, we show . And before we leave, by way of goodbye: " Remember me ... in ten years! "

Kawtar she receives in offices leased by his production company in a large hotel on Sheikh Zayed Road: Apple's latest model computer machine, Nespresso all tastes, friendly atmosphere. At 28, she juggles her two phones with the ease of a business woman accomplished. low waist jeans, French manicure and clothing brand, it seems to have found happiness in Dubai. However, his stay Emirates is very similar to a forced exile. "Sama Dubai offered me 17,000 DH for a job in Morocco. I refused. I have much higher requirements. Today, she earns around 35,000 a DH and a lifestyle that suits him perfectly. " I never dines at home in the evenings, I meet many interesting people. In Dubai, we feel less social pressure that can undergo an independent woman all out there. I live like I want. She admits, however, does not want to do all his life: " If I get a job at DH 30,000 in Morocco I get home. I contemplated starting a family in my country. His sister Soumaya is much more skeptical. The past thirty, she made a cross to Morocco where she comes home only for holidays. Producer at MBC, it refuses to "amateurism prevailing throughout Morocco ": " People here are pros, the environment is stimulating. We are going forward. "

The downside

While some Moroccans are the way to success in Dubai for many others, the paths of glory are lost in maze. Lured by attractive offers, many of our compatriots who disillusioned very quickly. Rashid in Dubai for three years. At 28, he is the oldest of his colleagues at the Royal Mirage servers. He earns the equivalent of 4,200 dirhams per month. He did not retire, but he is fed, housed and milled and most of its health care are borne by the employer. Incommensurate with what he could expect in Morocco. After a few years in college without a diploma to the key, he chained seasonal contracts in Ouarzazate, enjoying the windfall films Americans turned to the kingdom. " But the attacks of 2003 have complicated everything. That's when I agreed to go into exile in Dubai. He did not spit on their living conditions, but critical " this superficial society where consumption is the only pleasure. "At 23, Amina, a graduate of IMTH Rabat is also server. He claims to suffer from racism and lack of consideration for some customers: "The Saudis take us to their minions . It is four in rooms of 15 square meters with Pakistanis and Sri Lankans, and we are not regarded as Arabs . And to add " our passports are confiscated. "However, none of them has come home immediately:" Too corruption, theft at the checkout, no professionalism . Here at least they can change rapidly in their careers ;: "Given the tourism grows and the quality of services is an excellent reference. It helps boost a CV. While in Morocco, one server can remain throughout his life. "Maybe Saad for the call of the country is the strongest: Moroccan clients receiving a fancy restaurant in Dubai, it distributes jokes in Darija. But beneath the joviality of the server of 23 years lies a rootless for whom rap is a way to sing a malaise. He is ashamed of "dirty these prostitutes who have the honor of [his] country ." He does not admit that he is Moroccan learner Saudis ask him to play immediately mackerel and "fend of their girls. "Prostitutes are the most popular Moroccan market, more expensive than the Russians and the Lebanese. Obviously, we do not find them in the street. Everything is done discreetly boxes in the alcoves lounge fashion as York Club or Amnesia. They sell their charms for the equivalent of 2,000 DH goes, not to mention all the "next." They have done so well as Dubai runs a proverb: " Moroccan, it is not a nationality but a job! "

What Do I Put On After I Wax

Who are our young minds from abroad?

Article published in the Journal Hebdomadaire / February 2007

First Prize Press Now 2008 Best Investigative Journalism

They're young, they are ambitious and they are Moroccans. Consulting firms and investment banks to the struggling, markets follow their predictions. But what do we really know of this elite Moroccan expatriates?

It is 4 o'clock in the morning. Yassin returned home, finally ... at the hotel. Three months earlier he received a call from his boss: "Your visa arrived, you're going to Dubai in three days . And here in his suite, a giant screen welcomes him. The groom gives him something to sustain: a magnificent seafood platter and juices galore. Yassine asleep satiated, but for some hours. The next day promised to be tough, like the previous one also. This was long lost count of the hours spent in the office, day or night, away from family and friends Tangier Paris. If there was the money he saves and twice the salary he receives as compensation for his forced expatriation, or nearly 50,000 Dhs, long ago he would have resigned!

Two months later, the same are back Yassin, the son of a good family settled in Fez and Tangier graduated from high school Parisian commerce. He left Mercer, the consultancy business strategy that employed for gold, but scarcely more than the minimum wage if we reduce the salary he was receiving at the number of hours spent at work or at the client. He chose to resign, and he now has many projects in mind, all in Morocco.

What (s) profile (s)?

The Case of Yassin is fairly typical of this part to his gilded youth classes abroad and who has found success but for whom returning home is always a necessity. This example should not obscure the diversity of profiles of young Moroccans who succeed abroad. A recent study by the association Morocco Contractors (see box) has sought to examine the propensity to return these yuppies. To do Morocco Contractors has completed a comprehensive survey and gathered responses from nearly 2,000 Moroccans living abroad. This study represents a significant database to identify which means the profile of these young Rise in Europe and elsewhere. Nearly half of respondents (45.3%) left Morocco just after graduation Baccalaureate. Most come from what is commonly called the "mission", student visas are very difficult to obtain for other students, at least at this level in their schooling. The survey also shows that one third of respondents worked in the telecommunications sector and new technologies, just under 20% monopolizing the banking, insurance and finance. The high value of these young and very good skill level are obvious. Especially look at the trades practiced, we find that commercial (13%), researchers (13%), consultants (12%) accountants and financial (11%) hold the upper hand. The study also reveals that one third of respondents (32.1%) are graduates or students of an engineering school, and 23% have received business training in a private school. The scientific and arrive well ahead, even if students awarded by business schools have also often followed a literary education in preparatory classes. Note also that 76% of respondents have a higher level of education or equal to 5 tray and nearly half hold two degrees.

The sample studied by Morocco Contractors is certainly not representative of the Moroccan community abroad, commonly known as MREs, but it can determine a typical profile of a young Moroccan who a hit abroad: it is usually born in Morocco in a family rather easy and made his classes in high schools as Descartes or Lyautey before flying to France (for 70% of respondents). There followed a scientific engineering or business before turning to a career consultant, trader or listener. He usually keeps a close emotional tie with the country of origin. The survey reveals that 86% of respondents wished to return to Morocco in the short or medium term.

An idyllic vision of Morocco

understand how such a desire to return home, while, conversely, year after year, thousands of pateras trying to win the European Eldorado? These young people do not they idealized the country of their childhood? Their vision of Morocco is certainly influenced by the gentle carefree years they have often past. Brought to freedom from want for the most part they have not been as Morocco that those who today seek to escape by any means. Many are convinced that a special place awaits them in the big cities of the kingdom. Thus, while only 4% are employed as branch abroad, almost 17% want to find one in the country. Similarly, over half of respondents residing in the United States or the United Kingdom says it does want to return to Morocco for a higher salary to 30,000 Dhs. France, Belgium or Canada instead of the bar is the order of 20,000 Dhs. When we know qu’un jeune diplômé de l’ISCAE gagne en moyenne 8.000 Dhs, on comprend la mesure du décalage. De fait, la réalité est souvent moins tendre. «  Les gens viennent avec l’idée qu’il est possible de faire n’importe quoi et n’importe comment au Maroc  », affirme ainsi le directeur d’un centre régional d’investissement. «  Ce n’est pas parce qu’on est MRE qu’on est un bon investisseur  », ajoute-t-il. Toujours dans la même veine, le responsable d’une banque tangéroise annonce clairement la couleur : «  Even with the best credentials in the world and the best business plan that may be, it is impossible to finance a young entrepreneur he has no solid guarantee behind him. " We understand better when the propensity to return depends more on family ties and social roots of the candidate for comeback: the more one comes from a wealthy background, the more one is sure of his trip home. For others, the experience abroad is often to stay. Thus, Karim, a graduate of ESCP and trader at Societe Generale in Paris, returning to fold, not for right away, " Finance is not sufficiently developed in Morocco and I can not hope to find a job in this field. The only way for me now is to put me back into my account, and as I can count on me, I must make savings ... .

If these young Moroccans are obviously very sensitive to their material welfare and wage issues, they do not make them uninterested in social and political developments in the kingdom. Over 25% of respondents say indeed want to return to Morocco "Contribute to national development." Thus the patriotic part she will definitely return to found.

But what is that Morocco want our expatriates? They are held at current events in the country and how they perceive the changes? What about the rising Islamist example? Many people say bluntly that " Islamists will not change much " if they come to government. In general, easily recognized that " King endorses all the successes and Prime Minister all failures. " Thus, the question of accountability is raised: perhaps the disaffection of Moroccan youth in all matters relating to politics she is the lack of transparency of public action. The discrediting of political parties is in any case for many obvious and technocracy necessarily a solution.

recovery policy?

The authors of the survey of Morocco Contractors are well aware that they risk being accused of Power stroke in the direction of the hair. Khalil Amine specifies that the invited speakers at conferences of Morocco Contractors (Nabil Benabdellah example is reached on the theme "Youth and Politics in Morocco" in Paris in January 2005) are chosen in function of the network knowledge of each other and not on partisan affinity. It is interesting to study the positioning of the Moroccan authorities in relation to an association such as Morocco Contractors. Think that for example the Embassy of the elite expatriate seeking to organize? The answer is simple: Ambassador to Paris Fathallah Sijilmassi spares no support for Morocco Contractors, always responding to invitations from the present association and regularly occurring on return to Morocco. From this point of view, the official message is clear: " Wherever you are, you can be useful to your country, the return is not the only option! . In fact, the Moroccan authorities are not necessarily pressed to welcome on their soil these young Moroccans who succeed. They transfer the currency in Morocco living abroad are probably more interesting than the skills they can bring to their country!

Yet it is certain that our rulers have always sought to control this part to his youth classes abroad and traditionally she held senior positions once in Morocco. It is for authorities to "filter" the return. But things are now much easier than before. In the years 1960 and 1970, Moroccan students abroad were in union structures as UNEM or UGEMA that depended respectively UNFP and Istiqlal UNEM draining course the bulk of the workforce. A former head of the Paris section of UNEM in the 1960s and now a member of the Political Bureau of the NIR, remembers well the atmosphere that presided over the meetings of the student union: shortly after the War of Sands, 1963 , in the midst of territorial tensions between Algeria and Morocco, the members of UNEM did not hesitate to organize a demonstration with the students to defend ... the Algerian Algerian theses in the dispute between the two countries ! The manager remembers being forced to remember his comrades in a little more patriotism!

Such an event is unthinkable today. Moroccans now living abroad, who succeed as much as their elders, are much more docile. Few indeed truly interested in political action. They follow the news as it keeps abreast of sports scores, but they never wet the shirt! How then did we move from one mode of student organization based on political groupings to essentially economic and bringing together aspiring entrepreneurs? The disillusionment with politics has been there! In Morocco as in their branches abroad, political parties fail to attract young people now, and political action has lost its meaning as its efficiency.

Generation apolitical

Our young expatriates often claim some form of patriotism. But it rarely happens with activism or engagement policy. An association as Morocco claims to Contractors and "apolitical", it wishes "A promotional role of Morocco" and wants to run "the economic leverage to develop the country." One of the main difficulties of this investigation was to gather moreover political stances. While many of our talented young expatriates willing indeed to "talk politics" as part of a private club, not just the crossing of a public commitment.

Few actually claim the right to publicly express political opinions. It is clear that our future elite (those who passes the back) has already mastered the art of waffling and dicours consensual. Issam, a student at ESSEC, recognizes "a group of influence" that often stifles individuality. " It's hard to stand out . Similarly, Omar, a student in London, understands that " people who have staked everything on their studies and their careers by doing a preparation and having crazy schedules (they) fear of involvement in problematic political t ". While much of leftist political parties (mainly USFP and PPS) are relays among young Moroccans parties to make their classes abroad.

But this commitment is too often the result of a family culture activist and not enough of a path that is strictly personal. In short, if our young expatriates embark sometimes in association with an economic or humanitarian character, little off the beaten path, very little campaigning in non-governmental parties. Their political consciousness is often a smooth muscle for many people, hold government positions only to identify the man or woman in politics. This depreciation is directly linked to the lack of credit given to parties Political and Parliament.

But if elected bodies are held in low esteem, the executive continues to inspire our young and ambitious expatriates. The ministers were technocrats their forties favors. No, really, our youth carton abroad are anything but the rebels! The state can now - at a cost of almost zero for it - tap into a pool of several generations of budding technocrats.

Le Journal Hebdomadaire - Suleiman Bencheikh

Blog Templante Scorpion Red

And if ... Mohammed V had not died in 1961

A column published in Zamane , the first magazine devoted to the history of Morocco.

November 2010

FACTS. We February 26, 1961, the day when everything changed. That day, the king of Morocco must undergo medical benign. Despite the advice of her surgeon usually unfavorable, Dr. Henri Dubois-Roquebert, Mohammed V has accepted a trade to his ear to mitigate the debilitating vertigo from which he suffers. General anesthesia is necessary and the operation is performed by a Swiss doctor. But against all odds, Mohammed V died of cardiac arrest, despite all the care of his personal physician, sent urgently. The news of the death of the sovereign is broadcast on Moroccan radio this Sunday, February 26, 1961. Crown Prince Moulay Hassan was officially inducted a few days later, on March 3.

The rest we all know: the new king, sworn enemy of the Moroccan left, is suspected have endorsed the kidnapping of Mehdi Ben Barka in 1965, ten years after its accession to the throne, he suffered two hurricanes policies, which take the form of a failed coup, he managed to regain control the mid-1970s thanks to his "brilliant idea", the Green March, which also opens the painful chapter of the years of lead, redemption comes at last to the edge of the 1990s when old and ill, Hassan wants to make his enemies an instrument of monarchical transition he wants peaceful. Ultimately successful mission ... But as time wasted!

CHANGE HISTORY. So back to that famous Sunday, February 26, 1961. Mohammed V, already considered by the people as the father of the Moroccan nation wakes up smoothly from its general anesthesia. A week later, fresh as a roach - although he did 42 years - he resumed his normal activities as Chairman of the Governing Council, but with a greater involvement than in the past. His son, Crown Prince Moulay Hassan, who is also vice-chairman, may erode its brake: it will not, in his words, that "the brilliant second of a king called last . Especially since his father is listening very carefully to his former comrades in the struggle for independence, the chiefs of the Istiqlal and the National Union of Popular Forces (UNFP) founded in 1959. Moreover, Mehdi Ben Barka inroads in the international arena as a leading Third World inevitable, leader of a Africanist, progressive third way.

Reluctant to the showdown, the sovereign understands that his interest is to reverse and, perhaps, to give up the Presidency of the Council. Why not revive a leftist government, as was the case for 16 months between 1958 and 1959? Would not this the best way to cut the grass under the feet of Ben Barka become too cumbersome? This was done October 29, 1965. While the Moroccan socialist leader is busy preparing for the Tricontinental Conference to be held in Havana in January 1966, Mohammed V took everyone by naming him short at the head of government. A victory for Ben Barka and progressives Moroccan, but a pill difficult to swallow for Moulay Hassan, who is, in fact, stripped of his government prerogatives. No worries, Morocco moves, Morocco advance and, under the leadership of Ben Barka, adopts its first constitution, ten years to the day after independence. Now, Morocco is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary effective. Admittedly, its territory remains amputated "southern provinces" and "chair of the North, but the Maghreb Union is on track. Instead, therefore, rapid economic development and in all directions.

AFTER 20 YEARS. Mohammed V passes the weapon left in 1981. He is 72 years old and leaves his son, 20 years his junior, a peaceful kingdom. The new King Hassan II can continue his life of princely pleasures without unduly worrying about the running of his kingdom. The time of kings who ruled rose. Place today, Moroccan land, peoples who self-determining, in a sort of pax romana with the monarchy.

Receptionist Cover Letter

The equation is complicated and I'm not ready to find the solution. This is not new, it has been 10 years since I dry before this equation. I've always been bad at math. And yet I spend my days doing an addition, projections, charts, budgets, forecasts, analysis .... I spend my days to do what I hate and I have more time for what I love.
I thought about your answers: The most obvious is to work less.

I know from my maternity leave I'm not made for doing nothing.
should therefore halftime, a 3 / 4 time, see a job as "freelance, or temporary. I always thought that acting would suit me, I who have all the time need to change ...
Well, not that much, since it is at least 6 years that I am bored, I turn around, that I'm looking for something else and never do anything or almost.

Once I was about to sign elsewhere, but the girl that I was hired resigned a week before signing the contract.
Another time, I even went so far to spend several interviews PR agency but I realized along the way that I was sharing a donkey against a mule. And I left without regret.
Since then, I Ponder, I plan, I fantasize, I dream, I make lists, and I plan ... nothing.

There are probably some deep psychological reasons that cause I can not give up this job, fears buried: insecurity, emptiness ....
But I'm fed up, I'm fed up, I saturate.
This week is a little harsh sentence of my bosses that broke the camel's already full of frustrations.
"Ah well you, you're just like Cinderella at the stroke of 18h, you disappear." And yes I'm like Cinderella, and he is so stupid and ugly that Javotte

... I can not stand this culture of availability 24hrs on 24 / 7 / 7.
I can not stand.
It is time for me to get a kick in the ass, it's time I go, as I take the bar with both hands. This time, I have a great motivation: my koala.
For once, the equation is simple. If I spend 15 minutes more to a job which m'assèche, I arrived too late to play a bit with Anthony, to read him a story, or just a little fun in the bath. And everything becomes a chain stressful accomplished without pleasure, a knot in his stomach. And I did not wait so long, I do not have sacrificed so much for now sacrifice my koala on the altar of success in the realm of junk Boys' Club. At follow

Ankylosing Spondylitis College Scholarships

The equation of time passing



I'm disoriented compass. I am the hamster wheel in his attempts to find the perfect rhythm

The day my boss is all the time on my back. I do not see the point of work if I can not even do a little personal ....
the evening, I leave the office at 18.00 (under the very eyes of my colleagues), I arrive home at 18.45, I played with Anthony, I give a bath to Antony, I give to eat at Anthony, a small trotro / Pingu / Barbapapa and hop in bed.

I finished eating, put everything I m'affale. It is 21.00 if all goes well.
A tour on your blogs, I leave less and less commentary. My brain refuses to restart ... I try
attempted ticket: Waterloo is plain dull: nothing has not the slightest spark.
is 21.30, my head begins to nod like a little old ... ..
I read under the duvet, I fall asleep after 30 lines
6.45 ... my little chubby clock starts

weekend, must do the shopping, laundry, storage, administration .. .
weekend, my Kulpabilizator integrated prompts me to preparing fresh purees for my son .... It's so much better than small pots bios ...
same weekend, I have my program discover the parks of Paris "

When I was not working, I found long time ....
When I work, I can not find time
Who can solve the equation?

Fotos De Tongue Ring Ball

Justice: Reform Impossible?

Article published in L'Express / September 2010

By Suleiman Bencheikh and Myriem Khrouz

At eleven o'clock in the morning there are crowds at the Court of First Instance of Midelt, a small village on the borders of the Middle Atlas. The disorderly queue of litigants stretches in a row underground. Itto, a young nomad, is there "to divorce". On several occasions, her husband was picked from the matrimonial home, but this time he wants to do it officially and definitively. Itto knows neither his age nor the date of his marriage. It follows the eyes, mute the incessant ballet of lawyers. Berber-speaking and illiterate, she does absolutely nothing that is said about her, just as it fails to decrypt the information plastered on the walls. Fortunately, her father accompanied her. He knows a few words of Arabic and tries valiantly obtain information. But that's six hours with these two women waiting to no avail: they do not even know when will be their audience. Itto walk away empty-handed, determined to return a week later. Like many defendants, it must explain his case alone, without other aid than his father. Like her, thousands of Moroccans in rural areas are poor with a system they often do not understand the language. "The Moroccans have the right to testify in Arabic. The Berber particular can not benefit from the assistance of an interpreter, unlike a European who may testify in the language of their choice, "said a lawyer from Rabat.

justice for the poor

Language is not the only barrier. In the vast majority of small business people, often illiterate, are forced to defend themselves. Few people can afford a lawyer: Clerks office exist, but they are a rare commodity, restricted to the poorest. "I know a widow, nomadic and living alone, who has been denied such assistance because she had a job: breeder. She had a chicken and a goat, "says Brahim Am Mbarek, Bar Meknes.

These obstacles partly explain the discredit suffered by the Moroccan justice system: a system that has cut its public service nature and endorsed the inequalities between men and women , rich and poor, majority and minorities. "It is no coincidence, says President Transparency Morocco, Rachid Filali Meknassi, if in the opinion polls, the justice happens regularly at the top of the most corrupt public services. Rates are around 80%, at the same level as the police and gendarmerie! "

A Midelt, Fatima says:" At 29, with 2 children, divorced with no income, I can not get a pension when the court gives me the right. I paid my lawyer with great difficulty before realizing that my husband was paying too ... and more expensive than me since I have no legal aid ".

Above laws

Corruption primarily benefits the richest, this discredits even further the institution. Several cases involving relatives of the royal family have hit the headlines in recent months. Covered mainly by the Arab press, they have helped raise more light on the shortcomings of a merciless justice with the poor and powerless, if not corrupt, against the powerful. Accused of last year's assault by a lawyer Khenifra, then having kidnapped and tortured a "little maid" Amahzoune Hafsa, one of King's aunts, was never worried. Neither did her son, involved in a fatal accident. Previously another cousin of King Hassan Yacoubi, who was arrested for having a red light, reacted by shooting the officer. At the time, a lawyer argued in a newspaper Casablanca "a normal citizen did not put them out with less than ten years in prison."

The ills of the Moroccan justice system has yet been diagnosed a long time. In 1995, a report from the World Bank has sounded the alarm. King Hassan II then promised reform. He particularly emphasizes the need to strengthen the training of judges better trained, including the physical condition must be improved. But nothing is really happening and the operation "clean hands" launched by Driss Basri, Minister of Interior, fizzled. Only progress: the creation a Consultative Council on Human Rights. Hassan II understood that the world has changed and he will have to make some progress on rule of law ...

Mohammed VI to adopt him, during the early years of his reign, two measures Lighthouse: a new family code or Moudawana and the creation of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) in charge of the years of lead solder in compensating victims of violations of human rights. Undeniably, These two texts constitute progress. They do are no less certain limits. The new Moudawana does not address gender inequality in inheritance. As for the text on the ERC, it provides no sanction against the perpetrators of the years of lead. A gap heavily criticized by some advocates of human rights.

The reform of the judiciary itself, it remains a work in progress. "Four ministers have not been enough! There were drafts of reform. But never thought of combining the real practitioners of law ", complains Amina Bouayach, president of the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights (MOHR).

Awareness is nevertheless real. Minister in the government of Socialist Abderrahamane Youssoufi Azzimane Omar is a statement without concessions, "Building the rule of law and strengthening of ethics," he wrote in 2002, appear today as the conditions the establishment of a modern economy governed by rules of the game namely, transparency, legal certainty and predictability (...) The success of this enterprise also depends on the ability of justice to accompany and support the comprehensive upgrade of the company, his successor, Mohamed Bouzoubaa, obtained a consensus for a moratorium on the death penalty. Rallying to his cause Islamists nostalgic for the Shariah, it also reduces from 21 to 11 the reasons for which capital punishment may be imposed.

And now?

reform of justice, she looks more and more like a sea serpent was appointed justice minister in 2007 after the death of Bouzoubaâ, the socialist Abdelouahed Radi has worked on a project, but elected last year as head of the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) was replaced in January by the Department of Justice Mohamed Naciri. Which took over the case ... The project is still not out of cardboard. Only the main roads, which were the subject of a document submitted to the king, are known: modernization of the courts, with the financial support of Europe, to make access easier for litigants (reception windows, trial monitoring over the Internet) overhaul of the Superior Council of Magistracy, the fight against corruption (more rigorous selection and training, enhanced supervision and inspection, improving the material situation of judges). The reform envisaged by Radi also included the transfer to regions of a number of powers exercised today by the Department (Mutations, inspections) and the creation of regional judicial districts.

The practitioners of law, which have not been involved in preparatory work, welcomed the project with suspicion. Even with some hostility. Aberrahim Jamai, a famous lawyer and activist unrepentant Casablanca, does not mince words: "The text of Radi is zero! It contains not more than three pages. And it was addressed to the King without even the Prime Minister has not have a say. "

The new minister, Mohamed Naciri is also the lawyer for royal affairs, so near the palace. "This choice, says Rachid Filali Meknassi, president of Transparency Morocco, says symbolically that the courthouse has lived in the shadow of the royal palace and that the attorney appointed to administer justice can claim that the authority of Sovereign. "The confusion obviously raises the question of independence of the judiciary vis-à-vis the king.

Listing subjection of judicial authority on royal power, the right of grace refers to the religious legitimacy of the sovereign, who is also Commander of the Faithful. Until 2003, Mohammed VI has used it with a certain magnanimity. But the attacks in Casablanca this year have changed the situation. Since then, Islamist detainees have seen all their appeals for clemency rejected. "The right of grace illustrates the government's stranglehold on political justice, Rachid Filali Meknassi analysis. The postponement recurring debate on this issue highlights the difficulty of the subject. In fact, anyone who can deal on behalf of the State are bound by an obligation of confidentiality that can be lifted only by order of Chief Magistrate. "

On July 30, in his speech from the throne, King Mohammed VI reiterated its commitment to justice reform, "the keystone of the supremacy of the law. " Does this mean that a text is finally presented to parliament in the coming months? Nothing is less certain.

A palpable impatience

Number of foreign partners of Morocco does not hide that they want reform is finally put on track. This was even one of the points in the first political meetings between Moroccans and Europeans in the "advanced status" which now links the Kingdom to the European Union. Further reform of the institution, along the lines of greater independence, several Western countries argue that Morocco lift its reservations on certain clauses contained in international conventions ratified by Rabat, including the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of Children. ; The lifting of these reservations would allow individual complaints to international justice. It would, indirectly, requiring the Moroccan justice to decide taking into account the provisions of these treaties. But there is no indication that such an approach is currently envisaged.