In a flat violation of the Constitution, which stipulates equality between women and men in all rights, and in breach of the ministerial circular 17 issued on March 30, 2012, which instructs that women and men shall benefit on an equal footing from all collective land profits, the ethnic collectivity of Rhaouna in Sidi Yahya Lgherb proceeded, on Wednesday June 1st, with distributing plots of land on male and female collectivists in compensation for land transfer to the Omrane real estate company, while adopting discriminatory criteria allotting men at least three spots whereas women receive one and while allocating commercial spots for men only;
At the Association Démocratique des Femmes du Maroc (ADFM), and as part of our ongoing support to the Soulaliyate women in their battle for equality and citizenship, we are appalled by the incomprehensible approach adopted by the regional authorities, which validates this decision under the guise “that the collectivity approved discrimination”. We deplore the failure of competent authorities to deal efficiently and immediately with this matter, which not only is a serious regression on the gains made towards recognizing Soulaliyate women’s rights in Morocco, it is also affecting the lives of 267 women from the community as well as their families.
In response to this situation, we call on the Minister of Interior in charge of the collective land to take urgent and immediate action to remedy this situation and address the harm suffered by women in Rhaouna, as provided by the law.
7 June 2016
