[JURIST] Moroccan authorities are interfering with the work of human rights organizations [press release], Human Rights Watch (HRW) [advocacy website] said Friday. According to HRW, authorities have blocked [AP report] the Moroccan Human Rights Association (ADMH) [official website] from holding more than 15 meetings since June. ADMH claims that Moroccan government officials specifically interfered with the group’s attempt to hold meetings in public spaces by locking buildings where these meetings were to take place. The authorities have also reportedly disallowed the use of venues for Amnesty International and other human rights groups. Government spokesperson Moustapha Khalfi said last month that there is “no systematic policy to prevent the activities of human rights associations,” but Khalfi declined to comment on HRW’s latest accusations.

Morocco has been upheld as a modern reformation state in the past decade. The country is to host [press release] the World Forum on Human Rights [advocacy website] in late November. Last year Morocco was elected [JURIST report] to the UN Human Rights Council. In July 2011 Moroccan voters overwhelmingly approved [JURIST report] a revised version of the constitution, highlighted by fewer powers reserved for their king. The constitutional revisions were a product of a reform process announced [JURIST report] that April following peaceful demonstrations [JURIST reports] demanding democratic reforms as part of the wider protests in the Middle East and North Africa [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive].