Women lead Casablanca sit-in over rights

FLDDF protest at the continued violence against women\'s rights in Casablanca On Thursday, the Federation of the Democratic League for Women’s Rights (FLDDF) held a \'sit-in\' at one of Casablanca\'s largest squares, in protest at the continued violence against women\'s rights, which some believe has increasing over the past year.
The protests come after the Minister of Justice and Liberties, Mustafa Ramid, refused their demands to draft a comprehensive law to stop violence against women - including rape - to guarantee protection, prevention, escaping punishment, and to review the current criminal law to guarantee the protection of all citizens, men and women. However Ramid said that the Ministry was open to national dialogue on the issue.
Khadija Rouissi Delegate of Authenticity and Modernity party and vice president of the Moroccan Parliament was critical of Ramid\'s comments and posed the question: “How was Mustafa Ramid appointed as minister of Justices and Liberties while married to two women?\" and added: \"We cannot even trust the committees he using for different issues... a man married to 2 women cannot be fair with Moroccan woman.\"
A statement released by The Women’s Federation also criticised the law: \"There is an absence of any political, Institutional, governmental or parliamentary reaction to what women suffer daily, including violence and rape.” The statement asked challenged the government to take all \"administrative and judicial procedures and apply the rule of non-impunity to prevent those crimes from being repeated.\"
The federation also warned about “the increase of violence against women in the latest months of this year, including physical, sexual, economical, legal, and psychological abuse”, describing the Islamist government\'s stance on violence again women as counterproductive for “insisting that a women\'s rights are protected if she marries her rapist.”
Meanwhile a journalist who spoke out in defense of sexual freedom has ignited a fierce debate between secularists and Islamists in Morocco, resulting in an Imam calling for the journalists death.
Abdellah Nhari, an imam in the northeastern Oujda region, declared in a recent sermon that Elmokhtar Laghzioui was a \"dayoute,\" or cuckold in colloquial Arabic, and that in Islam \"the \'dayoute\' should be killed.\" Nhari was reacting to Laghzioui\'s remarks, on a satellite television channel, indicating that he supported personal, and in particular sexual freedom, even in the case of one\'s \"mother or sister.\"
The mostly secular defenders of sexual freedom in Morocco want to see the abolition of article 490 of the penal code, which stipulates a prison sentence of one year and one month for anyone caught having extra-marital sex.
In reality, sex outside marriage is common in Morocco and largely tolerated, with unmarried couples behaving discreetly.
Attajdid, the newspaper of Morocco\'s ruling Party of Justice and Development (PJD), has weighed in on the debate repeatedly, denouncing the sophistry of the liberals.
Wading into the debate, Mustafa Ramid said: \"We do not agree with changing the law regarding free sexual activity amongst adults. This is a kind of corruption, which we consider an attack on the core of the Moroccan public system which is based on Religion.\"