“We are convinced that you are currently giving priority to the reform of the Penal Code, in particular by repealing certain articles relating to breaking the fast in public and consensual relations,” recalled Pastor Adam Rbati, president of the Christian Union Moroccans, in a letter addressed to the Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, on December 25.
While welcoming the “efforts made to anchor and defend freedoms”, the Union calls for the repeal of article 220 of the Penal Code which in its paragraph 2 punishes with a prison sentence of six months to three years, accompanied by a fine “anyone who uses means of seduction to shake the faith of a Muslim or convert him to another religion, by exploiting his weakness or his need for help…”
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In a recent statement to Madar21the official deplored the persistence of discrimination against Moroccan Christians because of their religion: “We cannot practice our religious rites openly, we resort to domestic churches, we are forced to marry according to Islamic documents, we It is forbidden to give Christian names to our children and we do not even have Christian cemeteries.”
Adam Rbati is convinced that the repeal of Article 220 will allow Moroccan Christians to fully enjoy their religious freedom. According to the US State Department’s 2020 report on global religious freedoms, Morocco has between 2,000 and 6,000 Christians. Their number would rather be around 25,000, according to the Moroccan Association for Human Rights.
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