Morocco: Current Issues

Congressional research reportJan 15, 2015

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RS21579

Morocco: Current Issues

Summary

Successive U.S. Administrations have viewed Morocco as an important regional ally, a partner in

counterterrorism, and a free trade counterpart. Morocco receives substantial U.S. development

aid, and bilateral trade and investment have increased following a 2006 Free Trade Agreement.

Morocco also benefits from U.S. security assistance and military cooperation, and is a purchaser

of U.S. defense articles, including F-16 jets. Some observers have placed greater emphasis on the

U.S.-Morocco relationship amid regional turmoil and terrorist threats emanating from

neighboring states in North Africa and the nearby Sahel region of West Africa. The United States

and Morocco initiated a Bilateral Strategic Dialogue in 2012, and King Mohammed VI undertook

an official state visit to Washington, DC, in November 2013, his first since 2004.

King Mohammed VI, who inherited the throne in 1999, retains supreme political power in

Morocco but has taken some liberalizing steps. In 2011, amid popular demonstrations that echoed

unrest elsewhere in the region, the king backed a new constitution that was then adopted by

referendum. Provisions in the new constitution could strengthen the legislature, judiciary, and

local-level government, if fully implemented. It nonetheless preserves the king’s role as the

arbiter of political decision-making, head of the military, and the country’s highest religious

authority. Legislative elections held in 2011, the first under the new constitution, brought an

Islamist political party, the Justice and Development Party (PJD), to power for the first time. The

PJD has sought to bolster the power of elected officials and to institute economic and governance

reforms. However, the party has faced challenges in transitioning from an outsider opposition role

to the day-to-day responsibility of policymaking. It has also struggled to overcome tensions with

pro-palace elites, as well as with nominal allies. Public protests have dwindled since their peak in

2011, but sporadic demonstrations continue over economic and social grievances, while some

Moroccans continue to call for deeper political changes.

With regard to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, which Morocco considers an integral part

of its sovereign territory, the United States has recognized neither Morocco’s claim to the region,

nor the self-declared independent Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which is backed

and hosted by Algeria. U.S. policy over the past decade has been to support U.N.-facilitated

negotiations over the territory’s final status. Congressional views of the Western Sahara issue

have been stated in foreign aid appropriations legislation. Most recently, the Consolidated and

Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (P.L. 113-235, Division J, section 7041[g][1]) states

that funds appropriated for foreign bilateral economic assistance “shall be made available for

assistance for the Western Sahara.” It has been the policy of successive Administrations that funds

appropriated for bilateral aid for Morocco may not be programmed in Western Sahara, as doing

so could represent a tacit acknowledgment of Moroccan sovereignty. The executive branch

interpretation of the FY2015 provision, and its implications, remain to be seen.

Morocco’s foreign policy focuses on its Western partners (especially France, Spain, the European

Union, and the United States); the Middle East; and francophone Africa. The Moroccan military

has reportedly participated in U.S.-led operations to counter the Islamic State organization in

Syria. Neighboring Algeria is a regional rival and supports independence for Western Sahara.

Friction over the Western Sahara issue has stymied Moroccan-Algerian relations, Moroccan

relations with the African Union (Morocco withdrew in 1984 over recognition of the SADR), and

regional economic and security cooperation. See also CRS Report RS20962, Western Sahara.

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Morocco: Current Issues

Contents

Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 1

Government and Politics.................................................................................................................. 2

Terrorism and Counterterrorism ...................................................................................................... 4

Human Rights .................................................................................................................................. 7

The Economy ................................................................................................................................... 8

Western Sahara ................................................................................................................................ 9

Foreign Policy................................................................................................................................ 10

U.S. Relations ................................................................................................................................ 11

U.S. Assistance ........................................................................................................................ 12

Recent Congressional Actions ................................................................................................. 14

Outlook .......................................................................................................................................... 15

Figures

Figure 1. Morocco at a Glance......................................................................................................... 2

Tables

Table 1. U.S. Bilateral Foreign Assistance to Morocco, Selected Accounts.................................. 13

Contacts

Author Contact Information........................................................................................................... 15

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Morocco: Current Issues

Overview

Obama Administration officials have expressed strong support for the Moroccan monarchy, while

also encouraging political reforms and occasionally voicing human rights concerns. U.S. bilateral

aid assists Morocco with economic growth, basic education, democratization, military and police

professionalization, and counterterrorism. In addition, a five-year, $697.5 million U.S.

Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact was completed in September 2013, and

Morocco is eligible for a second compact. U.S.-Moroccan military cooperation includes sizable

Moroccan purchases of U.S. defense materiel and a large annual bilateral exercise, African Lion.

Amid widespread political upheaval in the region since 2011, Moroccan officials have urged the

United States to expand bilateral ties. A U.S.-Morocco Bilateral Strategic Dialogue was initiated

in 2012, with working groups devoted to political, economic, security, and educational/cultural

cooperation. (Strategic Dialogues were also initiated with Algeria and Tunisia.) High-level

sessions of the Dialogue have been held in both countries, most recently in April 2014 in

Morocco, with Secretary of State John Kerry leading the U.S. delegation. King Mohammed VI

conducted an official state visit to Washington, DC, in November 2013, his first since 2004. The

king met with President Obama at the White House, and a joint statement emphasized shared

support for Morocco’s “democratic and economic reforms” and for bilateral cooperation in a

number of domains.1 In November 2014, Vice President Joe Biden visited Morocco for the

Global Entrepreneurship Summit and also met with the king.

With regard to the disputed territory of Western Sahara, the United States has recognized neither

Morocco’s claim of sovereignty nor the self-proclaimed independent government-in-exile, the

Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR), which is hosted and supported by Algeria. At the

same time—in the context of valued bilateral ties with Morocco—the Obama Administration,

using phrasing similar to that employed by the George W. Bush Administration, refers to

Morocco’s proposal for regional autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as a “serious, realistic,

and credible” potential approach to the territory’s final status. U.S. policy over the past decade

has been to support United Nations (U.N.)-facilitated negotiations between Morocco and the

independence-seeking Popular Front for the Liberation of Saqiat al Hamra and Rio de Oro

(Polisario, which formed the SADR) toward a mutually accepted settlement.2

In April 2014, the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and

North Africa, held a hearing on U.S. policy toward Morocco. Several other hearings during the

113th Congress also examined U.S. policy interests in Morocco and the wider North Africa

region.3 Congressional views on Morocco and the Western Sahara issue have been expressed in

foreign aid appropriations legislation (see “Recent Congressional Actions”).

White House, “Joint Statement by the United States of America and the Kingdom of Morocco,” November 22, 2013.

See, e.g., testimony of William V. Roebuck, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, before

the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, April 9, 2014.

These included “The Middle East and North Africa FY2014 Budget: Priorities and Challenges,” House Foreign

Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, May 2013; “Political, Economic, and Security

Situation in North Africa,” Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South and Central

Asian Affairs, November 2013; and “Political Pluralism in the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in

Europe] Mediterranean Partners?,” U.S. Helsinki Commission, July 2014. The U.S. Helsinki Commission, or

Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, is an independent federal agency that consists of members from

the U.S. Senate; the House of Representatives; and the Departments of State, Defense, and Commerce.

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Morocco: Current Issues

Figure 1. Morocco at a Glance

Note: Morocco considers Western Sahara to be part of its national territory, but U.S. government maps do not

include it as such. See, e.g., U.S. Department of State, “Morocco,” at http://www.state.gov/p/nea/ci/mo/index.htm.

Government and Politics

The Moroccan royal dynasty has ruled the country since the mid-17th century, remaining

relatively intact under French and Spanish colonial protectorates.4 King Mohammed VI, who

inherited the Moroccan throne in 1999, is the preeminent state authority within a complex

political system that also includes an elected parliament and local-level representatives. The king

has said that he is committed to building a democracy, and in 2011 he introduced a new

constitution (later adopted in a popular referendum) that, if fully implemented, could strengthen

the legislature, the judiciary, and local-level government. The constitution, however, preserves the

king’s role as the ultimate arbiter of state decision-making, head of the military, and Morocco’s

highest religious authority. Although the constitution grants some executive powers to a head of

government (prime minister), the king approves and may dismiss cabinet ministers. He may also

dissolve parliament, call elections, and exercise certain powers via decree. The king also has a

“shadow government” of royal advisors and is tied to significant domestic economic enterprises.

Morocco gained independence from France in 1956. Spain retained two coastal enclaves, Ceuta and Melilla.

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The 2011 constitutional revision and other reforms initiated during the “Arab Spring” did not

substantially alter the monarchy’s political and economic prerogatives, but they demonstrated

responsiveness to public pressures for greater political participation. Many observers argued that

in introducing the reforms, the king retained his popular legitimacy and ensured Morocco’s

continued stability.5 Ultimately, the degree to which the new constitution leads to significant

political changes may depend on how it is interpreted and implemented and the extent to which

political parties and other interest groups leverage the political space accorded to them. For

example, planned justice sector reforms and decentralization, both nominal priorities of

constitutional implementation, have made only halting progress. Constitutional provisions on

gender equality and parity, along with civil liberty protections, have yet to be implemented.6

Protests periodically occur, though they have dwindled in size since their peak in 2011. Some

Moroccans continue to call for deeper political changes. Much of the public, however, may have

lost any appetite for unrest, in part due to the example of turmoil elsewhere in the region.

The bicameral legislature consists of a 270-seat upper house, the Chamber of Counselors, whose

members are indirectly elected to nine-year terms, and a 395-seat lower house, the Chamber of

Representatives, whose members are directly elected to five-year terms. Sixty seats (about 15%)

in the lower house are reserved for women, and 30 seats are reserved for candidates under 40

years of age (candidates for these seats are elected from a separate national list). A law adopted in

2011 expanded previous quotas for women in local-level elected government positions.7

The Party for Justice and Democracy (PJD, also known as Al Misbah/The Beacon), an Islamist

political party, won a plurality of seats (27%) in the most recent elections for the Chamber of

Representatives, in 2011. That election was the country’s first under the new constitution, which

introduced a requirement for the king to appoint the head of government from the largest party in

parliament. The PJD’s Abdelilah Benkirane was named Prime Minister and leads an often

fractious multiparty government coalition. In government, the PJD has focused on reforming

fiscally burdensome state pension system and subsidy programs; it hopes to replace the latter with

targeted aid for poor households. It has also weighed in on cultural, media, justice sector, and

educational policies, sometimes with the apparent aim of introducing greater religiosity into the

public sphere, although the party’s leadership defines its stance as one of moderation.8

While the PJD has been legally recognized for two decades, it had not held cabinet positions prior

to 2011. Some observers view the PJD as more driven by constituent concerns and more focused

on countering corruption than other political parties, and therefore interested in devolving power

away from the monarchy and toward elected government. In turn, the PJD has reportedly faced

opposition from pro-palace elites.9 Public perceptions of these dynamics may underlie the

personal popularity of Prime Minister Benkirane, despite regular policy setbacks.10 Still, the PJD

See, e.g., Aidan Lewis, “Why Has Morocco’s King Survived the Arab Spring?” BBC News, November 24, 2011.

State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, “Morocco,” February 2014; Aida

Alamijune, “Morocco’s King Slow to Deliver on Pro-Democracy Vows,” New York Times, June 11, 2014.

The Quota Project (database), “Morocco,” at http://www.quotaproject.org/uid/countryview.cfm?CountryCode=MA.

Institute for Research and Debate on Governance, “Analyse et perspective d’un parti islamique au Maroc” [interview

with Lahcen Daoudi], http://www.institut-gouvernance.org/en/entretien/fiche-entretien-55.html.

See, e.g., Africa Confidential, “Headaches for Benkirane,” January 24, 2014; Intissar Fakir and Maati Monjib,

“Rabat’s Undoing,” Foreign Affairs, October 23, 2014.

A public opinion poll found in January 2015 that 48% of Moroccans hoped Benkirane would remain the head of

government, a significant decrease from 2014 but still 11 points higher than those who preferred he step down.

L’Economiste, “Enquête L’Economiste-Sunergia: Benkirane... homme d’Etat,” January 6, 2015.

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has not demanded deep political changes, preferring to reassure the monarchy in tacit exchange

for greater acceptance into national politics.11 The party’s influence over policymaking is further

constrained by its slim legislative plurality, the role of royal advisors who sit outside of elected

government, and economic limitations. Mutual distrust between Moroccan Islamists and liberals

has also inhibited political cooperation, despite a potential shared interest in democratization.12

In 2013, Prime Minister Benkirane was forced to reshuffle the cabinet after a key coalition

member, the Istiqlal (Independence) party, withdrew, leaving the coalition without a majority.

After months of stalemate, the National Rally of Independents (RNI), which many observers view

as close to the palace, joined the government in its place. In exchange, the PJD relinquished

several key portfolios, including the Foreign Ministry. Some observers viewed the PJD as

weakened by these events, while others posited that it could capitalize on perceptions that it

remains an underdog confronting a system of vested interests.13

Several other Islamist movements wield influence while operating outside of formal politics.

Religiously conservative Salafist groups, for example, have been alternately targeted and courted

by the authorities.14 The Justice and Charity Organization (JCO or Al Adl Wal Ihsan), a domestic

Sufi movement, is reportedly Morocco’s largest grassroots organization. It opposes the monarchy

as un-Islamic and undemocratic, and is therefore banned, but its activities are generally tolerated.

The JCO eschews violence and often conveys its views in street demonstrations; it was reportedly

a key force, in addition to leftist groups, behind Morocco’s 2011 protest movement. Some

analysts question whether the JCO might move toward more overt political participation in the

wake of the death of its founding leader, Sheikh Abdessalem Yassine, in 2012.15

Terrorism and Counterterrorism

Moroccan nationals have been implicated in terrorism abroad, and Morocco has suffered from

terrorism at home.16 Within Morocco, numerous small and reportedly unconnected extremist cells

Anouar Boukhars, Morocco’s Islamists: Bucking the Trend? FRIDE, June 6, 2014. For example, PJD Prime Minister

Abdelilah Benkirane refers to the ruling family as “a referee” in Morocco’s political system and defends laws banning

criticism of the king. (Benkirane interview with Fareed Zakaria at the World Economic Forum, January 25, 2013.)

Maâti Monjib, The “Democratization” Process in Morocco: Progress, Obstacles, and the Impact of the IslamistSecularist Divide, Saban Center, Brookings Institution, Working Paper Number 5, August 2011; and Mohammed

Masbah, “Islamist-Secularist Divisions in Morocco,” Sada, May 29, 2014.

Financial Times, “Morocco: Dance with the Deep State,” July 15, 2013; and Ursula Lindsey, “All the King’s Men

[op-ed],” New York Times, June 5, 2013.

Mohammed Masbah, “Moving Towards Political Participation: The moderation of Moroccan Salafis since the

beginning of the Arab Spring,” SWP Comments, January 2013. “Salafism” refers to a broad subset of Sunni Islamic

reformist movements that seek to purify contemporary Islamic religious practices and societies by encouraging the

application of practices and views associated with the earliest days of the Islamic faith. Salafist movements hold a

range of positions on political, social, and theological questions. A subset of Salafists advocate violence in pursuit of

their aims, but many instead pursue nonviolent preaching, charity, and (for some) political activities. See CRS Report

RS21745, Islam: Sunnis and Shiites, by (name redacted).

Vish Sakhthivel, Al-Adl wal-Ihsan: Inside Morocco’s Islamist Challenge, Washington Institute for Near East Policy,

August 2014.

Noteworthy developments abroad include the trial of two Moroccans in German courts for aiding the 9/11 terrorists

and the revelation that a Moroccan imam was “the spiritual father of the Hamburg cell” that helped execute the 9/11

attacks. A French-Moroccan, Zacarias Moussaoui, was tried in the United States as the 20th hijacker for 9/11. A

Moroccan network was implicated in the March 2004 Madrid train bombings. In February 2012, a Moroccan national

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adhering to the Salafiya Jihadiya (Reformist Holy War/“Jihadist”) ideology are generally viewed

as the top security threat.17 The deadliest terrorist attack on Moroccan soil occurred in 2003, when

12 suicide bombers reportedly linked to Al Qaeda and the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group

(GICM, after its French acronym) attacked five Western and Jewish targets in Casablanca, killing

themselves and 33 others, and injuring more than 100.18 Several small-scale attacks have occurred

more recently, including two suicide attacks near the U.S. consulate and the American Language

Center in Casablanca in 2007, and a bombing at a Marrakesh café popular with tourists in 2011.

Moroccan authorities regularly report that they have disrupted terrorist cells plotting attacks

against Moroccan government, military institutions, foreigners, and tourist sites.

Recruitment of Moroccans by transnational terrorist organizations is a key government concern,

as is the return of Moroccan nationals who have joined terrorist groups abroad. Some 1,500

Moroccan nationals have reportedly traveled to Syria and Iraq as “foreign fighters,” making

Morocco one of the largest sources of such combatants, according to statistics published in news

reports.19 Foreign fighters also reportedly include Europeans of Moroccan origin.20 A Moroccanled Islamist extremist group operating in Syria, Harakat Sham al Islam (Islamic Movement of the

Levant), was reportedly founded by three Moroccans who had been detained at Guantánamo and

were released to Moroccan custody between 2004 and 2006.21 Moroccan authorities claim to have

disrupted domestic plots by cells affiliated with the Islamic State and other terrorist groups; in

November 2014, a previously unknown Morocco-based group calling itself Jund al Khilafah

(Soldiers of the Caliphate) posted an Internet video pledging allegiance to the Islamic State.

Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), a regional network of Algerian origin and a U.S.designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), has carried out attacks in neighboring

countries—as have several of its splinter factions and affiliated groups—but not in Morocco to

date. In 2014, a State Department official stated in congressional testimony that Morocco’s

“holistic counterterrorism strategy” had made it “difficult for AQIM to effectively establish a

foothold in Morocco.”22 AQIM has nonetheless attempted to recruit Moroccans and has called for

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was arrested in Washington, DC, on accusations of plotting to bomb the U.S. Capitol building.

State Department, Country Reports on Terrorism 2013, “Morocco,” April 2014.

The attacks occurred after Osama Bin Laden listed Morocco among the “oppressive, unjust, apostate ruling

governments,” which he characterized as “enslaved by America” and, therefore, “most eligible for liberation.” New

York Times, “Moroccans Say Al Qaeda Masterminded and Financed Casablanca Suicide Bombings,” May 23, 2003.

The GICM was also linked to the 2004 Madrid train bombings, and in 2005 the State Department designated the group

as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). However, the GICM has reportedly been inactive since a crackdown on its

followers in Europe and elsewhere, and it was de-listed in 2013.

See, e.g., Washington Post, “Foreign Fighters Flow to Syria [Info-Graphic],” October 11, 2014; and The Economist,

“It Ain’t Half Hot Here, Mum: Why and how Westerners go to fight in Syria and Iraq,” August 30, 2014.

Jeffrey D. Palmer, “The Death of Moroccan Exceptionalism: A Brief History of Moroccan Salafi Jihadism and

Current Jihadist Trends,” Jihadology.net, September 5, 2014.

Two of the three have reportedly been killed in combat. See Maria Abi-Habib, “After Guantanamo, Freed Detainees

Returned to Violence in Syria Battlefields,” Wall Street Journal, June 3, 2014. See also Mohammed Masbah, “Is AlQaeda a Threat to Moroccan Stability?” Sada, October 2013; and Vish Sakthivel, “Weathering Morocco’s Syria

Returnees,” Washington Institute for Near East Policy, September 2013. In 2014, another Moroccan ex-Guantánamo

detainee, who had reportedly been transferred from U.S. to Spanish custody in 2005, was arrested in Spain on

accusations of recruiting fighters for the Islamic State.

Statement of William V. Roebuck, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, before the

House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, April 9, 2014.

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attacks in the country.23 In 2013, the group released a 41-minute video assailing the Moroccan

monarchy.

The State Department characterizes Morocco as “a long-standing and effective partner” in

counterterrorism.24 In addition to international cooperation, Morocco’s counterterrorism efforts

include vigilant security measures, law enforcement efforts, and counter-radicalization programs.

Morocco exercises control over religious leaders and institutions and has created theological

councils, supervised and trained imams, closed unregulated mosques, retrained some individuals

convicted of terror-related crimes to correct their understanding of Islam, and used media efforts

to transmit, as one analyst frames it, “a Moroccan Islam that can compete with political Islamists,

salafists, and extremists.”25 Morocco has also sought to transmit these values to partner states in

West Africa through religious education outreach and exchanges.

Morocco adopted a broad antiterrorism law after the 2003 terrorist attacks in Casablanca, and a

new law in 2014 broadened the scope of terrorism offenses amid rising concerns over possible

activities by Islamic State sympathizers. Human rights advocates argue that these laws define

terrorism too broadly and contain insufficient civil liberties protections.26 The State Department

reports that Morocco’s counterterrorism approach “has emphasized adherence to human rights

standards and the increased transparency of law enforcement procedures.”27

In 2011, three European aid workers were kidnapped from the Polisario-administered Western

Sahara refugee camps in Tindouf, Algeria, by the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa,

an AQIM splinter faction.28 In reports on the Western Sahara issue, the U.N. Secretary-General

has cited concerns about rising insecurity on the eastern side of the berm that demarcates

Moroccan-administered areas (to the west) from those controlled by the Polisario.29 Moroccan

officials and some analysts regularly cite fears that an independent Western Sahara would be

vulnerable to terrorist and criminal infiltration; some contend that the Polisario itself has links to

terrorism. In April 2014, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs

William V. Roebuck testified before Congress that, “We are not aware of links between, for

example, the Polisario, and terrorist organizations.”30

State Department, Country Reports on Terrorism 2013, op. cit.

Haim Malka, “The Struggle for Religious Identity in Tunisia and the Maghreb,” Center for Strategic and

International Studies, May 2014.

Agence France Presse (AFP), “UN calls for an end to torture confessions in Morocco,” December 18, 2013; Borzou

Daragahi, “Spectre of Isis Used to Erode Rights in Morocco,” January 4, 2015; Anna Jacobs, “Morocco’s Crackdown

on Human Rights Groups Divides the Government,” Muftah, October 2, 2014. In 2010, Human Rights Watch (HRW)

reported a “pattern of abuse” under the 2003 law, including extrajudicial detentions; torture and ill-treatment of

detainees; and coerced confessions. Moroccan authorities rejected the report’s primary allegations and disputed the

details of cases cited in it. HRW, “Morocco: End Abuses in Counterterrorism Arrests,” October 25, 2010.

State Department, Country Reports on Terrorism 2013, op. cit.

The hostages were subsequently released, reportedly in exchange for European ransom payments and the release of

militants from prison in Mauritania. The Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa later merged with another

AQIM splinter group to form Al Murabitoun, which is a U.S.-designated FTO.

Report of the Secretary-General on the Situation Concerning Western Sahara, April 10, 2014, U.N. doc. S/2014/258.

Testimony before the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, op. cit.

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Human Rights

The U.S.-based organization Freedom House rates Morocco’s degree of political and civil

liberties as “partly free.” The State Department reports that “most significant” human rights

problems in Morocco are “the lack of citizens’ right to change the constitutional provisions

establishing the country’s monarchical form of government, corruption in all branches of

government, and widespread disregard for the rule of law by security forces.”31 Laws barring acts

deemed harmful to the monarchy or to Morocco’s claim of sovereignty over Western Sahara limit

freedom of expression, assembly, and association.32 U.N. experts have also expressed concern

over the reported use of torture to obtain confessions in criminal cases, a lack of due process for

those held in pretrial detention, and Morocco’s sweeping anti-terrorism legislation.33 Religious

freedom is subject to a prohibition of proselytization to Muslims, and some Moroccan Christians

report police harassment.34 Moroccan officials often dispute critical reports by human rights

activists, while noting a commitment to improving human rights conditions.35

Pro-independence and human rights activists operating in Moroccan-administered Western Sahara

reportedly face particular state restrictions on their freedom of speech, press, assembly, and

association; the use of arbitrary and prolonged detention to quell dissent; and detainee abuse.36

After human rights groups, including the state-backed National Human Rights Council (CNDH),

criticized the use of military tribunals to try civilian detainees accused of committing violence

during protests in Western Sahara in 2010, the king promised to end the practice. However, the

status of legal reforms introduced in 2014 remains uncertain, and the courts reportedly have not

investigated detainee allegations of police torture and coerced confessions.37

Morocco is a transit point and destination for migrants seeking asylum, economic opportunities,

or access to Europe via Spanish enclaves on Morocco’s northern coast. Morocco’s treatment of

African migrants, which has reportedly included large-scale expulsions into desert areas, has been

widely criticized. In September 2013, the government announced a new migration and asylum

policy that promised an end of expulsions and potential legal status. In early 2014, Human Rights

State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, “Morocco,” February 2014. The report also

described “the police use of excessive force to quell peaceful protests”; pretrial detention and poor prison conditions;

the reported existence of “political prisoners”; a lack of judicial independence; and human trafficking.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), World Report 2014, “Morocco/Western Sahara.” Media advocates contend that, in

addition, some prosecutions of critical journalists on charges ostensibly unrelated to their journalism are designed to

inhibit independent coverage and commentary, and that financial pressures are employed to quiet some media outlets.

AFP, “UN Calls for an End to Torture Confessions in Morocco,” December 18, 2013; U.N. doc.

A/HRC/22/53/Add.2, Report of the Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment

or Punishment, Mission to Morocco, April 30, 2013.

State Department, International Religious Freedom Report for 2013, “Morocco,” July 2014. In 2010, the government

expelled foreign Christians, including Americans, on allegations of proselytizing.

See, for example, U.N. Human Rights Council, U.N. doc. A/HRC/22/53/Add.5, Report of the Special Rapporteur [ ...

], Mission to Morocco: comments by the State on the report of the Special Rapporteur, March 4, 2013.

State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, “Western Sahara,” February 2014.

HRW, “Morocco: Sahrawi Activist Facing Military Tribunal: Promised End to Such Trials for Civilians Not Yet a

Reality,” December 22, 2014; “Morocco/Western Sahara: Fair Trials Elusive: Court Ignores Torture Allegations,”

September 9, 2014; “Just Sign Here”: Unfair Trials Based on Confessions to the Police in Morocco, June 21, 2013.

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Watch reported that summary expulsions appeared to have ceased under the new policy, but that

migrants were still subject to abuse by state security forces.38

King Mohammed VI has backed several major initiatives in select areas of human rights. In 2004,

the king supported and parliament adopted significant changes to the Family Code, or

Moudawana, that aimed to improve women’s legal rights and socio-economic status. The king

also created an Equity and Reconciliation Commission to provide an historical record of state

abuses before King Mohammed VI ascended the throne in 1999, to account for the “disappeared,”

and to compensate victims. He has furthermore attempted to recognize and expand the cultural

and linguistic rights of ethnic Berber communities, considered the indigenous inhabitants of

North Africa. While recognizing these initiatives as important precedents, however, some human

rights advocates have criticized them as insufficient or insufficiently implemented.39

The Economy

Morocco’s economy is relatively diverse: key sectors include agriculture, tourism, mining, and

textiles and apparel. Remittances from emigrant workers, mainly in Europe, provide another

source of foreign exchange and a social safety net. Through internal and Western Saharan mines,

Morocco controls some 75% of world reserves of phosphates, which are used in fertilizers—and

of which the United States is a top global consumer.40 Morocco is considered a lower middle

income country; poverty and illiteracy remain widespread, especially in rural areas. The

unemployment rate is officially 9% but is double that among youth under 24 years old.41

Socioeconomic hardships drive emigration and occasional unrest. The state has attempted to

address discontent through social programs, public sector hiring initiatives and wage increases,

and subsidies. The economy grew by 3.5% in 2014 and is projected to grow 4.7% in 2015.42

Morocco actively encourages foreign investment and trade. It has a Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

and bilateral investment treaty with the United States; an Association Agreement with the

European Union; FTAs with several other countries in the Middle East and North Africa; and

several free-trade zones. It has also recently positioned itself as a platform for global trade and

investment in Sub-Saharan Africa. However, bureaucratic red tape, corruption, high labor costs,

opaque regulation, and taxation policies are reportedly constraints on competitiveness.43

In 2012, Morocco and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreed to a $6.2 billion, two-year

line of credit aimed at proactively reassuring investors. Morocco did not end up drawing on the

HRW, Abused and Expelled: Ill-Treatment of Sub-Saharan African Migrants in Morocco, February 10, 2014.

For example, regarding women’s rights, judges have not applied the 2004 law or new constitutional provisions on

gender equality consistently, and women reportedly continue to experience discrimination, a lack of equal access to the

justice system, and gender-based violence. Some advocates contend that some of the Equity and Reconciliation

Commission’s recommendations have not been implemented, that senior officials accused of serious abuses should

have been prosecuted, and that the Commission declined to focus sufficiently on abuses in Western Sahara. (Amnesty

International, Broken Promises: The Equity and Reconciliation Commission and Its Follow-Up, January 2010.)

U.S. Geological Survey, “Phosphate Rock: Mineral Commodity Summary,” 2014. Morocco’s Royal Office of

Phosphates, or OCP, has a monopoly on the mineral’s extraction, processing, and commercialization.

CIA World Factbook, updated June 2014.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) World Economic Outlook database, October 2014.

State Department, 2014 Investment Climate Statement – Morocco, June 2014; and World Economic Forum, Global

Competitiveness Report 2013-2014, “Morocco,” at http://www3.weforum.org/docs/GCR2013-14/Morocco.pdf.

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Morocco: Current Issues

“Precautionary and Liquidity Line,” but the IMF concluded that it had “provided useful insurance

against external risks while anchoring the authorities’ reform agenda and sending positive signals

to markets.”44 A two-year successor arrangement with a $5 billion line of credit was agreed to in

July 2014. The IMF has praised efforts under the current PJD-led government to reduce

Morocco’s fiscal deficit, while continuing to call for further reforms “to stabilize the economy,

strengthen competitiveness, and build the foundation for stronger and more inclusive growth.”45

The royal family’s role in the economy is reportedly extensive. The phosphate industry and much

of the economy are dominated by the royal family and associated elites who control large, multisectoral holding companies. In 2009, King Mohammed VI was reported to be one of the world’s

15 richest royal figures, even as Morocco is a relatively poor country; in 2014, Forbes estimated

his net worth at $2 billion.46 The royal family reportedly controls a majority stake in the National

Investment Company (SNI), which has significant financial, insurance, construction, and

commodity interests.47 The king is also a major landowner.

Morocco meets most of its energy needs by importing oil and gas. It hopes to find offshore oil,

which is currently under exploration, including off the coast of Western Sahara (see below).

Morocco has also sought to develop domestic renewable energy sources, with a particular focus

on solar energy, which it hopes to use domestically and export to Europe.

Western Sahara48

The dispute between Morocco and the independence-seeking Polisario over the former Spanish

colony south of Morocco remains unresolved. Morocco occupies some 85% of the territory,49

which it considers its southern provinces. Morocco says it will only accept a solution that

guarantees it sovereignty over “the whole of its territories” and will only negotiate on that basis.

A U.N. peacekeeping operation, MINURSO, originally conceived to oversee a referendum on the

final status of the region, monitors a 1991 ceasefire between Morocco and the Polisario. Morocco

has authorized foreign oil companies to explore off the Saharan coast, and the prospect of

discoveries, as yet unrealized, may have hardened its resolve to retain the region.50

Talks between Morocco and the Polisario on the final status of the territory are ongoing under the

auspices of the Personal Envoy of the U.N. Secretary General for the Western Sahara, Christopher

Ross, a U.S. diplomat. In 2007, King Mohammed VI submitted an autonomy plan for Western

IMF, Request for an Arrangement Under the Precautionary and Liquidity Line and Cancellation of the Current

Arrangement, July 11, 2014.

IMF, “Morocco – IMF Staff Conduct 2014 Article IV Consultations, First Review of the Precautionary and Liquidity

Line,” November 17, 2014.

Forbes.com, “King of Rock,” June 17, 2009; and “The 5 Richest Kings in Africa,” June 3, 2014.

Souhail Karam, “Morocco Regulator in Pledge on Monarchy-Owned Firms,” Reuters, September 30, 2011.

See CRS Report RS20962, Western Sahara.

State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2013, “Western Sahara,” April 2014.

In 2002, the U.N. Legal Counsel, in response to a query from the Security Council on the legality of contracts

concluded by Morocco offshore Western Sahara, concluded that such activities are illegal “if conducted in disregard of

the needs and interests of the people” of the “Non-Self-Governing Territory,” that is, Western Sahara. This

determination is not readily enforceable, but appears to have affected the calculations of private companies seeking to

operate in the area. See U.N. doc. S/2002/161, Letter Dated 29 January 2002 from the Under-Secretary-General for

Legal Affairs, the Legal Counsel, Addressed to the President of the Security Council, February 12, 2002.

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Morocco: Current Issues

Sahara, asserting Moroccan sovereignty, to the United Nations. In line with this initiative, the

king has pursued policies of decentralization that he says are intended to empower residents of his

Saharan provinces. Neither Morocco nor the Polisario has shown interest in a compromise;

Morocco contends that autonomy is itself a compromise. The stalemate appears likely to endure.

Foreign Policy

Morocco’s foreign policy focuses on its Western partners, the Middle East, and Sub-Saharan

Africa.51 In addition to Morocco’s Foreign Minister, Salaheddine Mezouar, who is from the RNI

party, the king and his royal advisors play a key role in foreign policy; they have prioritized close

ties with the West while Prime Minister Benkirane has occasionally publicly criticized Western

policies.52 The European Union (EU) is Morocco’s top trading partner and provides considerable

aid. European leaders appear to hope that Morocco’s stability will be preserved amid regional

upheaval. They also seek Moroccan cooperation to stem illegal immigration and drug trafficking

via Morocco to Europe. Morocco’s EU Association Agreement entered into force in 2000, and a

2012 trade agreement expanded the duty-free treatment of agricultural, food, and fisheries

products on both sides. A new fishing agreement that includes European access to the coastline of

disputed Western Sahara was ratified in 2014, after a hiatus; the previous agreement was

discontinued in 2011 due to some EU parliamentarians’ objections to conditions in Moroccanadministered Western Sahara, as well as environmental and economic concerns.

Diplomatic, commercial, and military ties with former colonial powers France and Spain are

extensive, and both countries have large immigrant populations of Moroccan origin. Frictions

with France nonetheless arose in 2014 over allegations by France-based Moroccan activists of

torture in Morocco; statements critical of Morocco that were attributed in the press to a senior

French diplomat; and, possibly, France’s recent cultivation of closer ties with Algeria.53 After the

January 2015 terrorist attacks in France, Foreign Minister Mezouar declined to attend France’s

multinational rally against extremism due to the presence of “blasphemous caricatures of the

Prophet.”54 Spain, for its part, possesses two territorial enclaves on Morocco’s Mediterranean

coast, Ceuta and Melilla, which Morocco claims, sometimes causing bilateral tensions. The

neighbors also have an unresolved dispute concerning territorial waters between Morocco and the

Spanish Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. Still, territorial disputes and occasional criticism by

Spanish politicians of Morocco’s stance on Western Sahara appear secondary to economic,

security, and law enforcement cooperation.

Morocco positions itself as a moderate Arab state and has sought to play a role in addressing

conflicts in the Middle East. In recent years, it has drawn closer to fellow Arab monarchies in the

Gulf, which have offered aid, investment, and security cooperation. Morocco broke diplomatic

In particular, King Mohammed VI has recently increased his outreach to francophone Africa, where Morocco has

longstanding diplomatic, commercial, and security interests. See Haim Malka, “Morocco’s Rediscovery of Africa,”

Center for Strategic and International Studies, July 2013.

In remarks at the U.N. General Assembly on September 25, 2014, Benkirane stated that “Western countries and their

affiliated institutions, all they do is give lessons, and at best, a few pieces of advice. As for support, it is very limited

and is always conditional.” Transcript via Congressional Quarterly.

Reuters, “Morocco Sues Activists in France over Torture Accusations,” March 26, 2014; Jeune Afrique,

“Salaheddine Mezouar: ‘La France n’est pas engagée avec nous,’” January 9, 2015.

Le Monde, “‘Charlie Hebdo’ absent des pays du Maghreb,” January 14, 2015.

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Morocco: Current Issues

relations with the Syrian government in 2012, and the Moroccan military has reportedly

participated in U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State.55 The king supports a twostate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and chairs the Al Quds (Jerusalem) Committee of

the Organization of the Islamic Conference, which seeks to bolster Muslim claims to the city. The

king recognized President Mahmoud Abbas as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian people in

Abbas’s dispute with Hamas and has urged Palestinian national unity. Morocco closed Israel’s

liaison bureau in Morocco and Morocco’s office in Tel Aviv during the Palestinian intifada

(uprising) in 2001. Still, links between the two countries remain, as some 600,000 Israelis are of

Moroccan origin, and thousands travel to Morocco yearly.

Morocco and Algeria are regional rivals. The two countries fought a war over disputed border

territories in 1963-1964, and the border was not demarcated until 1972. It has been closed by

Algeria since 1994, after Morocco imposed visa restrictions on Algerian nationals and blamed

Algeria for a terrorist attack. The Western Sahara is a key element of bilateral tensions. Moroccan

officials frequently indicate their belief that Algeria could solve the Western Sahara issue if it

wanted, presumably by pressuring the Polisario, while Algeria argues it is not a party to a dispute

that it characterizes as between two sovereign nations (Western Sahara and Morocco). The

dispute over the territory of Western Sahara has stymied Moroccan-Algerian relations, Moroccan

relations with the African Union (AU), and regional economic and security cooperation.56

U.S. Relations

The United States and Morocco have long-term, warm relations; Morocco’s monarchy was one of

the first governments to recognize the independence of the United States.57 In 2004, thenPresident George W. Bush designated Morocco a Major Non-NATO ally. The U.S.-Morocco

relationship focuses on promoting regional stability, supporting democratic reform efforts,

countering violent extremism, and strengthening trade and cultural ties.58 The Bilateral Strategic

Dialogue initiated in 2012 has resulted in the enumeration of shared commitments in a number of

areas, such as implementation of Morocco’s new constitution, the promotion of economic growth

in Morocco, and coordination on criminal justice, nonproliferation, and counterterrorism.

Bilateral ties have been enhanced by security cooperation and assistance. Over 1,000 U.S.

personnel participate annually in a flagship bilateral military exercise, African Lion, and smaller

bilateral exercises are held regularly. Recent Moroccan purchases of U.S. defense materiel

include 24 F-16 aircraft; 24 T-6 trainer aircraft; 90 AGM-D Maverick air-to-ground missiles;

refurbishment worth over $1 billion for 200 Abrams M1A1 tanks acquired as a grant U.S.

transfer; advanced AM 120-C7 air-to-air medium-range missiles systems; and Joint Direct Attack

Munition (JDAM) missile guidance kits.59 Sales agreements for U.S.-made military radar systems

Eric Schmitt, “U.S. Adds Planes to Bolster Drive to Wipe Out ISIS,” New York Times, November 26, 2014.

Morocco is the only country in Africa not to be a member of the AU, having withdrawn in 1984 from the AU’s

predecessor organization over the latter’s recognition of the SADR.

Morocco and U.S. officials regularly state that Morocco was the first country to recognize the United States, in 1777.

The State Department Office of the Historian dates recognition to the two countries’ treaty of peace and friendship in

1786 (“A Guide to the United States’ History of Recognition [ ... ] by Country, Since 1776: Morocco.” See also State

Department, “U.S. Relations with Morocco,” Fact Sheet, August 12, 2014, which cites recognition that year).

Testimony of William V. Roebuck, House Foreign Affairs Committee, April 9, 2014, op. cit.; White House, “U.S.Morocco Strong and Enduring Commitment,” Fact Sheet, November 22, 2013.

The sale of F-16s has drawn particular attention in the region, where Algeria—reportedly the biggest regional arms

(continued...)

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Morocco: Current Issues

and Sidewinder missiles were announced in 2011. Morocco is also a top recipient of U.S. Excess

Defense Articles (EDA) grants, and a U.S. National Guard State Partnership Program with Utah

was established in 2003. Morocco is part of NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue, has hosted and

participated in NATO military exercises, and cooperates with NATO’s Operation Active

Endeavor, monitoring the Mediterranean Sea for terrorists.

A U.S.-Morocco free trade agreement (FTA) came into effect on January 1, 2006 (P.L. 108-302),

eliminating duties on over 95% of all goods and services.60 Since then, U.S. exports to Morocco

have nearly tripled in value, and U.S. imports from Morocco have nearly doubled.61 However, the

agreement has been controversial in Morocco, particularly among labor leaders, and Prime

Minister Benkirane suggested in a 2012 address to parliament that Morocco was not sufficiently

benefitting from it. Morocco was the United States’ 69th-largest goods trading partner in 2013

(latest available): U.S. exports to Morocco in 2013 were valued at $2.48 billion, and U.S. imports

from Morocco at $977 million.62 The United States and Morocco signed new trade agreements

under the FTA in December 2012 and November 2013, and a Customs Mutual Assistance

Agreement in November 2013.

As noted above (“Overview”), the United States has not recognized Morocco’s claim of

sovereignty over Western Sahara, nor has it recognized the Polisario’s self-proclaimed

independent government-in-exile, the SADR. The Obama Administration refers to Morocco’s

proposal to grant Western Sahara autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty as “a serious, realistic,

and credible proposal” and “a potential approach that could satisfy the aspirations of the people in

the Western Sahara to run their own affairs in peace and dignity.”63 At the same time, it maintains

that the parties “have to reach a mutually agreed upon solution” through negotiations and that the

United States cannot “impose” a solution.64 U.S.-Morocco relations were briefly troubled in April

2013 by U.S. support in the U.N. Security Council for adding human rights monitoring to

MINURSO’s mandate. Morocco vehemently objects to a human rights monitoring role for the

mission as an affront to its sovereignty. Ultimately, the proposal did not advance.

U.S. Assistance

The United States provides aid to Morocco to help advance democratization, alleviate poverty,

increase military effectiveness, counter terrorism, and build trade capacity. The Obama

(...continued)

purchaser—reportedly maintains air superiority, although U.S. officials indicated that the sale would not alter the

regional balance of power. According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), Algeria and

Morocco were the world’s 6th- and 12th-largest arms importers, respectively, between 2008 and 2012.

Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), “Morocco,” May 1, 2014.

U.S. International Trade Commission statistics on U.S.-Morocco trade between 2006 and 2013, consulted January

2015. On the FTA, see CRS Report RS21464, Morocco-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, by (name redacted).

USTR, “Morocco,” op. cit.; U.S. International Trade Commission statistics, consulted January 2015.

See, e.g., State Department, “Joint Statement of the Second Session of the United States - Kingdom of Morocco

Strategic Dialogue,” April 4, 2014. Identical language was used by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2011.

State Department, Remarks by United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Moroccan Foreign

Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, March 23, 2011, Washington, DC.

Testimony of William V. Roebuck, then-Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, before the

House Foreign Affairs Committee, Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, April 9, 2014.

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Morocco: Current Issues

Administration requested $30.9 million in bilateral foreign assistance for Morocco in FY2015

(see Table 1), stating that such aid would support Morocco’s achievement of “critical” reforms.65

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) current five-year strategy for Morocco,

which is designed to support Morocco’s development and reform objectives, lists three core

objectives: increasing youth employability, expanding civic participation in governance, and

enhancing the quality of primary school education.66 USAID activities in Morocco focus on

improving agricultural growth and productivity; enhancing teacher training; building the capacity

of local-level government to respond to citizen demands; addressing the needs of the most at-risk

youth through engagement in productive social, economic, and civic activities; and assisting

Moroccan businesses in meeting the requirements of the U.S.-Morocco FTA.67

Table 1. U.S. Bilateral Foreign Assistance to Morocco, Selected Accounts

Appropriations, current $ thousands (State Department and USAID)

FY2010

FY2011

FY2012

FY2013

FY2014

(estimated)

FY2015

(requested)

ESF

3,000

2,281

1,929

20,896

20,000

FMF

9,000

8,982

8,000

7,595

7,000

5,000

IMET

1,789

1,989

1,898

1,677

1,710

1,650

INCLE

750

9,000 [of

which 7,500

in OCO]

1,500

3,000

NADR

1,200

1,100

3,300

1,684

1,470

1,250

19,546

19,039

16,720

Total

35,396

34,141

41,237

31,105

34,076

30,900

Source: State Department, Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations, FY2012-FY2015.

Notes: (1) FMF=Foreign Military Financing, ESF=Economic Support Funds, IMET=International Military Education

and Training, INCLE=International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, NADR=Nonproliferation,

Antiterrorism, Demining, and Related Activities, DA=Development Assistance, OCO=Overseas Contingency

Operations. (2) Table does not include MCC funding or other assistance administered under regional or global

programs, or by U.S. departments or agencies other than the State Department and USAID.

In addition to the bilateral aid cited above, Morocco recently benefitted from a five-year, $697.5

million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) compact, which was completed in 2013. It

focused on alleviating poverty through targeted investments in fruit tree productivity, fisheries,

artisan production, financial services, and private enterprises.68 Morocco is eligible for a new

compact, for which it is developing proposals. In November 2014, the MCC announced that it

expected to invest $50 million to improve Morocco’s technical and vocational education system

State Department, FY2015 Congressional Budget Justification for Foreign Operations, March 2014.

USAID, USAID/Morocco Country Development Cooperation Strategy, 2013-2017.

USAID, “Morocco,” at http://www.usaid.gov/morocco.

See MCC, “Morocco Compact,” http://www.mcc.gov/pages/countries/program/morocco-compact.

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Morocco: Current Issues

as part of a compact agreement “to be signed in 2015,” pending MCC Board approval and

congressional notification.69

Morocco also participates in U.S. regional aid programs, including the Trans-Sahara

Counterterrorism Partnership (TSCTP), a State Department-led interagency initiative that

includes 11 states in North and West Africa; the Administration’s Middle East and North Africa

Transition Fund, which has provided technical aid for good governance; and grants administered

by the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI), the State Department’s regional democracypromotion entity, for women’s empowerment, civil society, job growth, and legal reforms.

Morocco also receives assistance administered by the international financial institutions (such as

the IMF and World Bank), which receive U.S. funding.

Morocco has committed resources of its own in support of several U.S.-Morocco cooperation

initiatives, including the Peace Corps program in Morocco and a five-year “Virtual Exchange

Initiative” named in honor of the late U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens, which aims to

connect youth in the Middle East/North Africa and the United States.

Recent Congressional Actions

Many Members of Congress are strongly supportive of the Moroccan government and its stance

on Western Sahara, and many have expressed appreciation for King Mohammed VI’s reform

initiatives. Other Members have expressed concern over Morocco’s handling of the Western

Sahara issue, and/or over human rights and religious freedom problems. Several hearings in the

113th Congress examined U.S. policy interests in Morocco and North Africa (see “Overview”).

The explanatory statement accompanying the FY2015 Department of State, Foreign Operations,

and Related Programs Appropriations Act (Division J of P.L. 113-235, the Consolidated and

Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015) provides $20 million in budget authority for

Economic Support Fund (ESF) aid for Morocco (equal to the Administration’s bilateral aid

request) and $7 million for Foreign Military Financing (FMF) ($2 million more than requested).

The explanatory statement “expects that no [FMF] funds will be used for internal security

purposes,” referring to a provision in the act that FMF funds for Morocco “may only be used for

the purposes requested” in the Administration’s FY2015 congressional budget justification

(Division J, §7041[g][2]). Separately, the explanatory statement appears to endorse a requirement

for the State Department to report on why it is not implementing a recommendation by its Office

of the Inspector-General to close the U.S. Consulate in Casablanca.70

Morocco and the Polisario, and advocates on both sides, regularly appeal to Congress to support

their respective positions on Western Sahara. Congressional views on the Western Sahara issue

have been stated in official correspondence and in foreign aid appropriations legislation. The

FY2014 Consolidated Appropriations Act (Division K of P.L. 113-76, §7041[h]) provided that

MCC, “MCC, Moroccan Government Announce Plans to Invest in Innovative Partnerships in Vocational Training,”

November 20, 2014. The announcement followed a similar statement by Vice President Joe Biden at the Global

Entrepreneurship Summit in Marrakesh, Morocco.

The reporting requirement was in the Senate report (S.Rept. 113-195) accompanying S. 2499 (the Senate version of

the bill). The explanatory statement accompanying Division J of P.L. 113-235 indicates that “Federal departments,

agencies, commissions, and other entities shall comply with the directives, reporting requirements, instructions, and

allocations contained in H.Rept. 113-499 [ ... ] and S.Rept. 113-195 [ ... ] unless specifically directed to the contrary.”

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Morocco: Current Issues

bilateral economic assistance appropriated for Morocco “should also be available for assistance

for the territory of the Western Sahara.”71 It has been the policy of successive Administrations that

funds appropriated for bilateral aid for Morocco may not be programmed in Western Sahara, as

doing so could represent a tacit acknowledgment of Moroccan sovereignty. The FY2014

provision did not appear to alter this policy in practice.

A modified provision contained in the FY2015 Act (Division J of P.L. 113-235, §7041[g][1])

states that funds appropriated for global bilateral economic assistance “shall be made available

for assistance for the Western Sahara.” It also requires the State Department to “consult with the

Committees on Appropriations on the proposed uses of such funds.” The executive branch

interpretation of the FY2015 provision, and its implications, remain to be seen.

The explanatory statement accompanying P.L. 113-235 endorses a requirement in S.Rept. 113195 for the State Department to update its report to the appropriators on “steps taken during the

previous 12 months by the Government of Morocco to release political prisoners and support a

human rights monitoring and reporting role for the U.N. Mission in Western Sahara.”72

Outlook

The United States and Morocco continue to share an interest in promoting stability and pursuing

economic and security cooperation amid ongoing regional tumult. Morocco’s role in

counterterrorism and regional security is likely to remain of interest to Members of Congress, as

is the bilateral trade and investment relationship. Congressional efforts to use foreign aid

appropriations legislation to prompt the executive branch to change its policy toward the disputed

territory of Western Sahara have gained in prominence in recent years. Some Members have also

continued to focus on the degree to which U.S. policy toward Morocco includes the

encouragement of human rights and democracy. The role of Moroccan Islamist political parties

and movements may also be of congressional interest in the context of regional developments.

Author Contact Information

(name redacted)

Analyst in African Affairs

[redacted]@crs.loc.gov, 7-....

Previously, the conference report on the FY2012 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 112-74, December 23, 2011)

stated that, “The conferees note that funds provided in title III of this Act [bilateral economic assistance] for Morocco

may be used in regions and territories administered by Morocco. The conferees remain concerned with resolving the

dispute over the Western Sahara and urge the Department of State to prioritize a negotiated settlement.”

See footnote number 70. P.L. 112-74 (Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2012; Division I, §7041[g]) required such a

report. That requirement was carried over into FY2014 via S.Rept. 113-81, accompanying S. 1372 (the Senate draft

FY2014 Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Appropriations Act).

Congressional Research Service

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