A Decade of Constitutionalised Right to Access Information in Morocco: Reflections on the Progress and Challenges
Posted: 3 July, 2024 Filed under: Reda Benkhadra | Tags: biennial anti-corruption plan, chafafiya.ma, Commission for the Right to Access Information, constitutionalisation, ight to access information, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, legislative framework, Model Law, Morocco, politico-militant sphere, Press and Publishing Law, Protection of Personal Data, right to access administrative records, right to information 1 Comment
Author: Reda Benkhadra
Researcher
Originally limited and considered as a right to access administrative records, the right to information has evolved over time to become a key element in strengthening good governance and institutional transparency. By endorsing foundational texts such as Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 10 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC), member states have committed to advancing the recognition of this right. In fact, the UNCAC calls upon state parties to take appropriate measures in accordance with their domestic laws to ensure the right to information and facilitate its access.
Politics of witchcraft and mental illness in the black communities
Posted: 21 October, 2022 Filed under: Konanani Happy Raligilia | Tags: Andile Mxakaz, brutal assaults, Christian state, cultural heritage, Jostina Sangweni, killings, legislative framework, mental illnesses, religious denominations, rural communities, Satanic church, scientific approaches, spirituality, Steve Biko, violence against women, witchcraft, Witchcraft Suppression Act in 1957 3 Comments
Author: Konanani Happy Raligilia
Acting HoD, Department of Jurisprudence, University of South Africa
When asked by Judge Boshoff about his views on witchcraft, Steve Biko had this to say; “we do not reject it [witchcraft], we regard it as part of the mystery of our cultural heritage, [and] we feel for ourselves it has not been sufficiently looked into with available scientific approaches as of this moment.” Indeed, issues relating to witchcraft are public interest matters and that is so because ordinarily they highlight conflicting and contending views about spirituality. Arguably, the attributing factor to this contesting view is the fact that at the time of the enactment of Witchcraft Suppression Act in 1957, South Africa was still a Christian state as opposed to the current secular post-democratic one which embraces all religious denominations and cultural heritage. The Witchcraft Suppression Act of 1957 exposes a reality that this law failed to divide matters of spirituality and witchcraft, thereby creating a vacuum which often results in members of the communities resorting to judging those who are perceived as witches based on Christian standards of acceptability and norms. Regrettably, the Witchcraft Suppression Act does not provide a definitive answer of what constitutes witchcraft, yet its founding purpose is aimed at suppressing practices of witchcraft and similar practices. However, Reverend Riaan Swiegelaar and Dr Adri Norton announced the country’s first Satanic church in June 2020. It remains to be seen whether its practices would fall out of this witchcraft’s legislative framework and whether those potential witchcraft practitioners would then be prosecuted and punished.
AfricLaw 