[Maghrebia] Morocco is toughening its laws to prevent any connection between money laundering and terrorism.A bill now under consideration by parliament also honours Morocco's adherence to international agreements, Justice Minister Mohamed Naciri said on December 29th.
To prevent the use of the national financial system for criminal purposes, the proposed legislation includes a new mechanism to monitor suspicious bank accounts. Banks will be required to show vigilance with regard to transactions conducted by or to people from countries considered high risk in terms of money laundering and terrorist financing.
The goal is to equip Morocco with a comprehensive law on organised crime, according to MP Mohamed Benabdessadek. There are already scattered provisions in various laws, but this initiative specifically targets financing of groups or individuals for the purpose of terrorist acts, he said.
The current Morocco money laundering law was adopted in 2007.a A team attached to the prime minister's office was created in 2009 to gather information on money laundering networks and identify individuals and organisations suspected of the offence and the covers that they use. The Counterterrorism Law was passed a few days after the deadly attacks of 16 May 2003 in Casablanca.
The bill was introduced last October as part of efforts to clean up public life as a whole by revising laws on money laundering to adapt to the new challenges of the fight against this crime, which has had a serious impact on the national economy, according to MP Omar Sentissi. He also said that this crime reached dangerous proportions and financed terrorist operations that threaten stability and public safety.
Sentissi called for the provisions of the law to be implemented in a manner consistent with human rights
... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you...
by guaranteeing suspects fair trials with no abuses of authority.
The first draft of the law states that the terrorism financing is an act "involving the gathering of property or funds, even if this is done in a lawful manner, with the intention of using them in an act of terrorism or in the knowledge that they will be used wholly or in part to this end by an individual or an organised group".
Morocco's legal arsenal needs to be in line with international regulations, according to political observer Mohamed Chemlali. In particular, he said co-operation over efforts to tackle organised crime has become an international necessity. He says that owing to Morocco's location within the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
, the country has to deal with all sorts of trafficking that sustain terrorism.
"It is therefore necessary to boost not just the legislation, but also regional and international co-operation," he asserted.