Managing Memory in the Context of Transitional Justice: A Comparative Study of Moroccan Experience

The paper deals with memory management policies in transitional justice, based on the experience of the Moroccan Justice and Reconciliation Commission, compared with other models such as those of South Africa, Argentina, Poland, Chile and Tunisia. The paper examines critical incidents of violence in current Moroccan history, especially those involving widespread violations of human rights, for which the commission sought some resolution. The paper states that Moroccan experience adopted “conciliatory truth” rather than “judicial truth,” and so was able to uncover facts pertaining to the previously unknown fates of many persons, cases of arbitrary detention, methods of torture, and detention centers and conditions. This Moroccan experience was primarily political, and prioritized reconciliation over forthrightness, and was consequently marred by forgetfulness. The paper highlights a shift taking place in the chronicling of history, as historians began to take interest in the topic of memory and call for convening workshops on the history of present times. At the same time, the paper concludes by saying that the Moroccan experience reflected a reformist spirit, but one not emerging from a framework of a democratic transition, and it contributed rather to the slow and stalled democratic transformation seen in Morocco.

Download Article Download Issue Subscribe for a year

Abstract

Zoom

The paper deals with memory management policies in transitional justice, based on the experience of the Moroccan Justice and Reconciliation Commission, compared with other models such as those of South Africa, Argentina, Poland, Chile and Tunisia. The paper examines critical incidents of violence in current Moroccan history, especially those involving widespread violations of human rights, for which the commission sought some resolution. The paper states that Moroccan experience adopted “conciliatory truth” rather than “judicial truth,” and so was able to uncover facts pertaining to the previously unknown fates of many persons, cases of arbitrary detention, methods of torture, and detention centers and conditions. This Moroccan experience was primarily political, and prioritized reconciliation over forthrightness, and was consequently marred by forgetfulness. The paper highlights a shift taking place in the chronicling of history, as historians began to take interest in the topic of memory and call for convening workshops on the history of present times. At the same time, the paper concludes by saying that the Moroccan experience reflected a reformist spirit, but one not emerging from a framework of a democratic transition, and it contributed rather to the slow and stalled democratic transformation seen in Morocco.

References