Moroccan human rights organizations and activists on Tuesday renewed calls for the abolition of the death penalty, urging the government to reform national legislation and ratify an international treaty banning capital punishment as the country prepares to host the 10th World Congress Against the Death Penalty.
At a conference held at the headquarters of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH), participants stressed the need to accelerate abolition efforts, review the legal status of people currently sentenced to death and align the country’s criminal justice system with its international human rights commitments.
Reforming legislation
Abderrahim Jamai, a lawyer and coordinator of the Moroccan Coalition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty, said Morocco’s upcoming hosting of the global congress carries political and human rights responsibilities.
He called for the removal of capital punishment from all ordinary and military legislation and urged authorities to apply abolition retroactively to people already sentenced to death. According to figures he cited, 56 people, including one woman, are currently on death row in Morocco.
Jamai also called on judicial authorities, the presidency of the public prosecutor’s office and lawmakers to review the cases of prisoners whose sentences may have become subject to statutory limitation periods.
He urged authorities to lift restrictions and release those whose sentences have legally expired, arguing that continued detention in such cases raises legal and human rights concerns.
Jamai said abolition efforts should involve coordination among the CNDH, political parties, trade unions, civil society organizations and women’s and youth groups. He also called for greater youth participation in preparations for the upcoming congress in Marrakech.
He urged Morocco to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which aims to abolish the death penalty, warning that continued inaction could undermine the country’s human rights credibility.
Jamai also expressed concern about moves to resume executions in some countries in the region, including Algeria, arguing that protecting the right to life requires resisting efforts to reinstate capital punishment.
A test for the new government
Abdellah Messad, secretary-general of the Moroccan Observatory of Prisons, said that despite international setbacks in human rights, several developments support the global movement toward abolition.
These include commitments announced by various countries, Morocco’s preparations to host the 10th World Congress Against the Death Penalty and support for abolition efforts from 75 independent United Nations experts, he said.
At the national level, Messad cited Article 20 of Morocco’s 2011 Constitution, recommendations issued by the Equity and Reconciliation Commission and Morocco’s vote in favor of a 2024 United Nations resolution calling for a moratorium on executions.
He also pointed to a decline in the number of people sentenced to death and relative stability in the number of death sentences issued. How the new government addresses human rights and the right to life, he said, will constitute a significant test.
Messad called on Moroccan authorities to ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. He also urged the country to continue supporting United Nations resolutions calling for a halt to executions.
He called for the adoption of a criminal code without the death penalty and implementation of recommendations from United Nations human rights mechanisms. In the meantime, he urged authorities to pay greater attention to the psychological and mental health of people on death row and provide them with training and rehabilitation programs.
Messad also highlighted the international coalition against the death penalty’s theme for 2026 and 2027, “Testimonies for Life,” saying accounts of people affected by capital punishment reveal its devastating physical, psychological and social consequences for prisoners, their families and wider communities.
He added that the death penalty can reinforce a culture of vengeance and social stigma.
Parliamentary support for abolition
Nezha Skalli, a former minister and coordinator of the Network of Parliamentarians Against the Death Penalty, described abolition as a human rights issue rooted in human dignity, constitutional principles and universal values, rather than a demand that is necessarily raised through everyday public mobilization.
Skalli emphasized lawmakers’ role in changing the law, noting that parliamentarians would ultimately vote on any measure to abolish capital punishment. She said the network, established in 2013, has retained former members alongside newly elected lawmakers to maintain continuity in its work.
She pointed to what she described as favorable political conditions within the new governing coalition, saying three of its four parties have traditionally supported abolition: the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), the Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) and the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS).
Skalli said members of the Independence Party had also been active in the network. She added that its leadership had communicated that it did not oppose abolition, creating further opportunities to advance legislation.
She also cited support among some opposition lawmakers, including members of the left-wing alliance and the Popular Movement, as well as figures within the National Rally of Independents, naming Mohamed Ouzzine as an example.
“The conditions today are more favorable than ever for change,” Skalli said.
The conference comes as Morocco prepares to host the 10th World Congress Against the Death Penalty in Marrakech, placing renewed focus on the country’s next steps toward ending capital punishment.
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