Driss Benzekri (activist)
Encyclopedia
Driss Benzekri was a Moroccan
left-wing political and human rights activist.
Benzekri was born into a modest Berber
family in Aït Ouahi, near Khémisset
. Quite young, he participated in the short-lived marxist-leninist movement Ila al-Amam
and was arrested in 1974, at the age of 24, and sentenced in 1977 to 30 years in prison. He was freed in 1991 and then studied law and linguistics in Rabat
and Paris
. He specialised in Berber language and co-authored in 2007 a book called Amazigh. Voyage dans le temps berbère.
In 1999 he founded together with other victims of the Years of Lead
the Justice and Truth Forum (Forum Vérité et Justice, FVJ). In 2003 he was asked by the Moroccan King Mohammed VI to preside the newly created Equity and Reconciliation Commission
, which gathered testimonies from hundreds of former political prisoners or their families and allocated indemnizations to them. He achieved enormous popularity and was even classed in a newspaper poll the most popular Moroccan, with the king Mohammed VI coming second.
In 2005, after the IER was closed, he took the direction of the Consultative Council of Human Rights, an official institution. Although he was sometimes criticized for associating so closely with the government, most independent human right organizations paid hommage to his work and achievements.
He died on May 20, 2007 in Rabat of complications of a stomach cancer.
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
left-wing political and human rights activist.
Benzekri was born into a modest Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
family in Aït Ouahi, near Khémisset
Khemisset
Khemisset is a city in Morocco, population 111,971 . It is situated on the A2 motorway between Rabat and Meknès , and is the capital of the province Zemmour....
. Quite young, he participated in the short-lived marxist-leninist movement Ila al-Amam
Ila al-Amam (Morocco)
Ila al-Amam was a Marxist group in Morocco founded by the Moroccan engineer Abraham Serfaty and other left-wing activists in 1970. It was an underground movement whose members lived in hiding and distributed political leaflets. Most of its members were arrested and imprisoned in 1974 and received...
and was arrested in 1974, at the age of 24, and sentenced in 1977 to 30 years in prison. He was freed in 1991 and then studied law and linguistics in Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
. He specialised in Berber language and co-authored in 2007 a book called Amazigh. Voyage dans le temps berbère.
In 1999 he founded together with other victims of the Years of Lead
Years of Lead (Morocco)
The Years of Lead is the term used especially by former opponents to the rule of King Hassan II of Morocco to describe a period of his rule marked by state violence against dissidents and democracy activists.-Timeframe:...
the Justice and Truth Forum (Forum Vérité et Justice, FVJ). In 2003 he was asked by the Moroccan King Mohammed VI to preside the newly created Equity and Reconciliation Commission
Equity and Reconciliation Commission
The Equity and Reconciliation Commission is a Moroccan human rights and truth commission created on January 7, 2004 by King Mohammed VI in order to reconcile victims of human rights abuses, such as torture and atrocities committed by Makhzen during the Years of lead, with the State.IER is...
, which gathered testimonies from hundreds of former political prisoners or their families and allocated indemnizations to them. He achieved enormous popularity and was even classed in a newspaper poll the most popular Moroccan, with the king Mohammed VI coming second.
In 2005, after the IER was closed, he took the direction of the Consultative Council of Human Rights, an official institution. Although he was sometimes criticized for associating so closely with the government, most independent human right organizations paid hommage to his work and achievements.
He died on May 20, 2007 in Rabat of complications of a stomach cancer.