I was fortunate to have attended the Summer courses and the Teaching seminars of the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg, in 1973. I had the good fortune of listening to, and meeting, the late Nobel Laureate Rene Cassin, who delivered the opening lecture at the session. The great Cassin inspired us all with his emphasis on the universality of human rights, the importance of respecting the dignity and equality of every human being, and the value of human solidarity. The International Institute of Human Rights was the start of my human rights career, which began in 1973 and continues a half century later!!!! I was fortunate to have been invited subsequently to lecture at the Institute on The Concept of Protection, and I delivered the opening address at the start of the Summer courses in 2004, when I was performing the functions of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. I shall always remember the inspiration of Rene Cassin and of the International Institute of Human Rights. They have had a global influence.

My name is Saadia BELMIR, a Moroccan national. I am a career magistrate, with the rank of Chamber President at the Cour de Cassation. I am currently attached to the central administration as an advisor.

In addition to my main professional activities, I am a member of the Committee against Torture in Geneva and of the Conseil Supérieur des Oulémas du Maroc (jurisconsults).

Professionally, I have held a number of positions, including :

• Magistrate at the Rabat Court of First Instance,
• Deputy public prosecutor at the Rabat Court of Appeal,
• Advisor to this court,
• Attached to the central administration of the Ministry of Justice (General Secretariat, part of the national and international legislation group),
• Conseiller à la Cour de Cassation, member of the administrative chamber,
• Member of the French Constitutional Council.

Concerning my studies, diplomas and internships, after a bachelor’s degree in political science and my 1st year DES in political science in Morocco, I obtained the DES, then the Doctorat d’Etat in public law in France (Paris II). I taught for several years at the Institut de formation des Magistrats in Morocco. At the same time, I was a member of the former Conseil consultatif des droits de l’homme, then of the Conseil des droits de l’homme.

On another level, I was a member of the National Steering Committee for the Action Plan for Democracy and Human Rights in Rabat.

Previously, in 1996, I had the honor of being part of the think tank for His Majesty King Hassan II (April 1996 – July 1999).
I have also represented the Ministry of Justice at a number of international meetings and congresses, and participated in the drafting of bilateral agreements, notably in the field of private international law.

I have taken judicial training courses, particularly in France, as well as other courses on human rights:

• At the United Nations Office in Geneva,
• At the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg (I graduated from the Institute in 1991 and attended the 1997, 2002 and 2005 sessions),
• At the Institute of Humanitarian Law, San Remo (Italy, summer 1990),
• At the Prince Edward Institute in Charlottetown (Prince Edward Island, Canada),
• To the Canadian Human Rights Foundation (summer 1992).

Given the reputation of the IIDH, Morocco has taken the initiative of sending groups of jurists (magistrates, lawyers, judicial commissioners, NGO members) there every year for the July sessions, to receive training in human rights.

The importance of the teaching, its level, its practical and theoretical methods, the judicious choice of themes, the quality of the teachers and the participants from several countries meant that, after the first session, everyone did their utmost to take part in the following sessions.

Thus, my appointment to take part in a first session of the IIDH turned into a renewed commitment for subsequent sessions.

And so my story with the IIDH sessions began. Every year, I dreamed of my stay in Strasbourg, which enabled me to take part in several sessions, establish enriching contacts with teachers and participants, and exchange important ideas.

The 1991 session was particularly interesting, albeit difficult, as it was on this occasion that I prepared for and obtained the IIDH diploma.
The main theme of this session was human rights and the family, and the development and application of international standards.

Among the teachers at this session was Mr. M. Nowak, whom I would meet again a few years later at the Palais Wilson when I joined the Committee against Torture.

As a teacher at the Institut de formation des juges, my diploma from the IIDH enabled me to join the group of public law teachers there. The inauguration of the human rights unit entrusted me with the responsibility of leading the human rights course at the Institute.

My participation in the 1997 and 2002 IIDH sessions, devoted respectively to prevention as a means of ensuring respect for human rights and international protection of the right to life, inspired my course on international and regional prevention of human rights violations.

This course enabled me to pass on what I’d learned in Strasbourg to future judges, and then, at national seminars, to other categories of jurists.

All in all, I can say that the IIDH has been a regulator for me, helping me to have a clearer vision of my judicial mission, which is so constraining and difficult, given the time it takes to establish the rule of law and human rights.
Attending several IIDH sessions on a regular basis has helped me to refine my working method and to review my profession and the other missions I carry out, building on my knowledge of human rights thanks to the IIDH.

I’m grateful and proud of it.

Throughout my career as a magistrate and member of international committees, I have seen the importance of the role played by the IIDH, both nationally and internationally, in teaching, training, disseminating and promoting human rights:

• I first noticed this in my judicial functions, notably at the Paris Court of Appeal and the Court of Cassation, where I often drew on IIDH documentation to prepare training courses and lectures on the European Convention on Human Rights, which I was responsible for delivering to magistrates and students.

• I have also seen this in the many years I have regularly attended Council of Europe meetings, both as a member of the Steering Committee on Crime Problems (CDPC) and the Steering Committee on Human Rights (CDDH), and as a magistrate seconded to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Deputy Director of Legal Affairs. These duties led me to defend France in several cases before the European Commission and Court of Human Rights, giving me the opportunity to forge valuable contacts with the IIDH, in particular with Professors Jean-François Flauss and Gérard Cohen-Jonathan.

• I was also able to measure the importance of the IIDH’s role at international level during my terms as an expert on the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, then on the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), as well as on the Commission nationale consultative des droits de l’homme (CNCDH), also founded by René Cassin. These mandates enabled me to see the influence of the IIDH far beyond France’s borders.

• Finally, I was able to observe the IIDH’s influence by taking part in conferences and courses organized by the Institute, attended by students from several countries. This has been the case in recent years, for example, at the Université Panthéon-Assas in 2013 and at the IIDH Human Rights Clinic in 2014.

In the light of these observations on the importance of the IIDH, I decided in 2014 to lend my full support to the creation of the new “IIDH – René Cassin Foundation”, convinced that this public utility foundation will enable us to pursue and amplify the fundamental mission of the Institute, assumed from its founder René Cassin to our dear President Jean-Paul Costa.