Morocco will serve as president of the UN Human Rights Council in 2024, after beating South Africa in a vote held this Wednesday and which in Rabat was celebrated as an international “recognition” of the work carried out by the Alawite kingdom in terms of rights and freedoms.
The candidacy of the Moroccan ambassador, Omar Zniber, permanent representative of Morocco to the UN institutions in Geneva, has obtained the support of 30 of the 47 member countries of the Council. South Africa, the other candidate, has been left with 17, as announced by the institution.
The presidencya symbolic position that implies greater prominence and coordination of meetings, This 2024 was reserved for the group of African countries, that due to the lack of consensus they have finally put two options on the table, which has forced a secret vote for the first time since 2021.
Recognition
The Moroccan Foreign Ministry has highlighted that the victory “expresses recognition by the international community” of the work of the king Mohamed VI “in matters of protection and promotion of human rights”, as would have been enshrined in the 2011 Constitution.
Likewise, he emphasized in a statement the majority support “despite the mobilization of Algeria and South Africa”, allies of the Polisario Front and detractors of Morocco’s candidacy.
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The Polisario envoy to the UN offices, Oubi Bucharaya, had also asked this week the members of the Human Rights Council not to endorse a “military occupation force” which is, furthermore, “the only country on the continent that has not ratified the African Charter on Human Rights”.
“Morocco is the country least suited to reflect the values of Africa in this course of the presidential cycle,” he said, emphasizing that he would not have “dared” to run for a position at this level if it were not for his “chronic feeling of impunity”.