A/HRC/41/54/Add.1 I. Introduction 1. At the invitation of the Government, the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance visited Morocco from 13 to 21 December 2018 to assess the authorities’ efforts in eliminating racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in Morocco. 2. During the visit, the Special Rapporteur travelled to Rabat, Tangier, Tétouan, Agadir and Casablanca, where she met with representatives from various levels of government. She met with the Minister of State for Human Rights, the Interministerial Delegate for Human Rights, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister Delegate for Moroccans Living Abroad and Migration Affairs, as well as with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of National Education, Vocational Training, Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Family, Solidarity, Equality and Social Development, the Ministry of Culture and Communication, the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, the Ministry of Religious Endowments and Islamic Affairs and the Ministry for Youth and Sports. She also held meetings with the President of the Office of the Prosecutor-General, members of the Parliamentary Commission on Justice, Legislation and Human Rights, and representatives of the High Authority for Audiovisual Communication, as well as with the Wali of the Tanger-Tétouan-Al Hoceïma region, the Wali of the Souss-Massa region, the Wali of Casablanca, and other local government representatives. In addition, the Special Rapporteur met with the President of the National Human Rights Council and representatives of its regional commissions, the Institution of the Mediator (the Ombudsman), the Secretary-General of the Muhammadan League of Religious Scholars, the Secretary-General of the Council of Israelite Communities of Morocco, and representatives of the Institut Royal de la Culture Amazighe. 3. The Special Rapporteur also met with representatives of the United Nations country team, civil society representatives, academics, Amazigh communities, religious communities, migrants and refugees, and with individual victims of racism, discrimination and related intolerance. In Tangier, she visited the forest north of the city where black subSaharan African migrants have increasingly been forced to live in recent months, as well as two police stations with detention facilities (in the centre of the city and in Bni Makada). She also briefly visited the Ouled Ziane bus station in Casablanca, the day after a fire had destroyed the makeshift housing and belongings of black sub-Saharan African migrants living in the nearby camp. 4. The Special Rapporteur would like to reiterate her gratitude to the Moroccan authorities for inviting her to undertake a visit, and for their excellent cooperation on every aspect of her visit. She appreciates the fact that she was able to meet with many high-level representatives of the executive, demonstrating the importance Morocco attaches to the special procedures of the Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur also wishes to thank the United Nations country team for its support, and she expresses her sincere gratitude to all those who took the time to meet her, some of whom travelled long distances from rural and other areas that she was unable to visit. 5. The Special Rapporteur would like to note that the Moroccan authorities permitted her complete freedom of movement across the entire country, but that due to time and resource constraints she had to limit the number of places she visited. She therefore invited civil society and other organizations working on issues related to racial equality, but who were unable to meet with her during the visit, to provide written submissions to inform the present report. II. General background 6. Morocco is a multi-ethnic and multicultural society. While Moroccans are predominantly Sunni Muslims of Arab, Amazigh or mixed Arab and Amazigh ancestry, the preamble of the Constitution recognizes that the country’s unity and identity, “built on the 3