U.S. State Dept. lauds a new human rights progress in Morocco in 2007

The US State Department hailed, for the second year in a row, the progress achieved in Morocco in terms of human rights, in its annual report on the situation of human rights in the world, released Tuesday.
The document, entitled "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices -2007", underlines that "Morocco implemented significant measures during the year which resulted in the advancement of human rights," citing it among the countries where the situation of human rights has significantly improved over the past year (2006).
Lauding Morocco's property endeavors to promote human rights, namely the revision of the Nationality Code to permit women to transmit citizenship to children and the publishing of domestic violence statistics, the report welcomes the north African Kingdom’s commitment to developing a culture of human rights and the "transparency" that marked the September 7 legislative elections, held in Morocco property to renew the 325 members of the House of Representatives (Lower House).
Prompting the creation of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) and the specificatins it made, the document notes that the Moroccan property government embarked on settling the past human rights violations, paying compensation to victims of arrests, disappearance and abuses during the period between 1956 and 1999.
Stressing that there were neither cases of forced disappearance nor political assassinations in Morocco, the document commended the enactment in March 2006 of an anti-torture law and of measures to enhance detention conditions in prisons.
The report, which underscored that the constitution provides for freedom of religion, recalls that the Moroccan government continues to back tolerance and respect of religions.