Moroccan Christians meet with advocacy group to stand up for their rights

Moroccan Christians have recently met with the National Council of Human Rights to submit a series of requests related to their basic rights, such as the freedom to worship and the official recognition of Christian churches in the country.

Mustafa Susi, the spokesperson of the newly created National Coordination of Moroccan Christians, said that his group was "well received" when it met with the delegation of the council in Rabat on April 3.

"Several Moroccan Christians met with the organisation to give them a folder with a series of requests that have to do with our rights," Susi said, according to Evangelical Focus.

"We were well received and we spoke with them for 45 minutes. We told them that we want to assert our rights," the representative added.

Apart from the freedom to worship, the group also asked to "celebrate civil marriages and have our cemeteries – we want to bury our deceased people in non-Muslim cemeteries."

Susi explained that Christians want to use biblical names when naming their children, which is currently not allowed. He added that the group also asked for the right to decide if they want their children to take Islamic religion class in school.

The Christian group reportedly assessed the outcome of the meeting as very positive. "They told us to do our part, and they will support us before the Moroccan government," the group stated.

Dris Yazami, the President of the National Council of Human Rights, confirmed that the meeting actually took place. "They asked for a meeting, we received them and they gave us a document," said the council president.

He said that the requests submitted by the Christians "will be evaluated," adding that the fact the meeting took place shows that "the ground for liberties in Morocco is expanding."

Susi said that the requests and the council were "receptive" to their demands and encouraged the Christian group to "open new channels of communication" in Morocco. He stated that the group will start making contacts with human rights organizations in the country.

Yazami had not commented on the possibility of a change of attitude towards Christians in a country that only considers Islam and Judaism as religious options for its citizens.

About 98 percent of Morocco's population are Muslim. Over one percent are Christians, while a fraction of a percent is Jewish. Several Moroccans who have converted from Islam to Christianity have been judged or jailed.