Morocco's Tourist hub city of Marrakech was hit by a bomb blast in late April that ripped through a popular restaurant at lunchtime, the Argana, overlooking Jamaa Lefna Square. The blast, according to officials killed 16 people most of whom were foreigners. The attack occurred as the country witnesses a wave of peaceful demonstrations calling for democratic change. Bloggers and netizens have been quick to react, sending instant eyewitness accounts, as reported by Global Voices.

About 4,000 people demonstrated in Morocco's biggest city Casablanca Sunday (3 April) to demand more democracy and reform, an AFP reporter said. Police said about 2,500 people took part in the demonstrations while organisers put the figure at 10,000. Demonstrators chanted 'No to corruption', 'End social injustice', and 'The people want an end to authoritarianism'.

Two weeks after establishing the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), Morocco reformed another state body. The Mediator Institution, set up in mid-March to replace the 10-year-old Diwan Al Madhalim, will have greater powers to tackle rights abuses and conduct probes. The institution will have the power to carry out inquiries and investigations, propose disciplinary action or refer cases to the public prosecutor.

Responding to pressure from citizens, Morocco is taking steps to reform its human rights institutions. The Advisory Council on Human Rights (CCDH) will become the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), but it is more than just a change of name. The March 3rd royal decree boosts the independence of the council and creates regional authorities for protecting human rights.

Since the current wave of Arab revolutions first ignited in Western Sahara in November 2010, February and March have seen a new upsurge in protests across Morocco and its illegal Occupied Territory of Western Sahara, writes Konstantina Isidoros. As the extraordinary events sweeping the Arab world bring down republic government figureheads, a new question is whether these social reset buttons will have the tenacity to tackle Arab monarchies.

For Moroccan women, the International Women's Day on 8 March provided an opportunity to evaluate the status of their rights. Women still suffer from discrimination and have yet to achieve much-desired equality in the workplace, officials and experts say. According to the economy and finance ministry, the level of women's employment in the civil service is 36 per cent. Women account for 14 per cent of senior employees, constituting 10 per cent of division heads and 16 per cent of department heads.

Violent clashes broke out in the early morning hours of Saturday (26 February) in the city of Dakhla. The unrest left two dead and 14 injured, according to Moroccan officials. While Moroccan authorities blamed supporters of the Polisario for the latest events, Sahrawi activists were just as quick to accuse Moroccans. 'Armed militias of Moroccan origins,' were behind the events, the Collective of Sahrawi Human Rights (CODESA) claimed.

Several Moroccan cities saw attempts to organise follow-up pro-democracy protests brutally stopped by riot police. Following the large, nation-wide protests one week ago, on 20 February, and smaller protests following, big pro-democracy manifestations were planned for Sunday. However, contrary to one week ago, the protests were mostly banned by local authorities and police in the last moment.

Across Morocco, peaceful protests have emerged, with thousands taking to the streets from Tangier to Fes. In the southern city of Marrakech, however, reports that the protests turned into chaos emerged, with claims of vandalism and attempts by protesters to storm police headquarters.

Morocco will address labour concerns and unemployment by providing 'solutions as quickly as possible', according to Communications Minister Khalid Naciri. 'The labour situation is worrying. Wages are still frozen at a time when prices are skyrocketing. Unemployment is rising. We must enter into serious discussions. As unions, our role is to prevent the country from getting into difficult situations,' said Abdelhak Azzouzi, General Secretary of the Democratic Labour Federation.

As a wave of protests is sweeping North Africa, many Moroccans wonder if similar events will occur in the Kingdom. The apprehension is palpable. A youth movement, 'Liberty and Democracy Now', used Facebook to send out calls for peaceful demonstrations across the country on 20 February. It is time for an independent commission to carry out a comprehensive reform of the constitution, according to their statement.

A number of female Moroccan seasonal workers in Spain find themselves in a precarious legal and economic situation, a study revealed on 28 January. 'They do not speak Spanish, so they have no way of defending their rights,' said Rachid El Badouli, director of strategic studies at the Orient-Occident Foundation. According to the findings, around 90 per cent of the women are illiterate and come from large poor families. Over 23 per cent of them earn less than 35 euros per day.

Despite the provisions of the Family Code, child marriages are on the rise in Morocco. The Moudawana raised the minimum marriage age from 14 to 18 and required a judge's approval for nuptials with a minor. Still, five years after the Family Code became law, 33,253 females below the age of 18 tied the knot.

Thirty-four per cent of Moroccans admit to having paid a bribe in the past 12 months, according to a recent study by Transparency International. For its 2010 Global Corruption Barometer, released on 9 December, the Berlin-based organisation interviewed more than 91,500 people in 86 countries and territories. Nearly one thousand heads of household, including 483 women, participated in the survey.

Moroccan women are acutely underrepresented in the media sector, according to a recent report. National Moroccan Press Syndicate (SNPM) data show that women constitute just 26 per cent of journalists in the country. The SNPM revealed in its 23 November study that 1,755 men hold a professional journalist card from the Ministry of Communication, as opposed to 632 women.

At least 30 people have been killed in Morroco following torrential rain and floods. The dead included 24 people who were killed on Tuesday after their bus fell into a flooded river near Bouznika city, 40km south of the capital Rabat, police and the official MAP news agency said.

With tensions coming to a head over the past two weeks, Morocco is once again under the international spotlight for its alleged illegal territorial occupation of Western Sahara. In the wake of a raid on the Sahrawi encampment of Gdeim Izik by Moroccan forces on Monday 8 November, Konstantina Isidoros argues that such ‘events shed illuminating insights into Morocco’s illegal occupation’.

Economic activity in Morocco favours certain geographical areas, putting residents of other regions at a significant disadvantage. According to recent figures from the Ministry of Finance's forecasting and research division, a number of challenges are ahead, including deepening imbalances, especially in employment and social exclusion. Sociologist Mohamed Bouchaibi told Magharebia that the situation requires an intervention, as the divide continues to widen between the regions of diverse economies.

The Moroccan government is stepping up efforts to check the rising maternal mortality rate in the country by implementing a variety of measures to help women who give birth without medical supervision, particularly in rural areas. Experts say about 132 deaths per 100,000 live births occur each year. At a meeting organised by Socialist Union of Popular Forces (USFP) - a Moroccan political party founded in 1975 – a number of factors were listed as the main causes of maternal mortality in the North African country.

Morocco exercises secret detention and ill-treatment of detainees under counter-terrorism laws, Human Rights Watch (HRW) alleged in a provocative new report titled 'Stop looking for your son: Illegal detentions under the counterterrorism law in Morocco'. 'While Morocco has demonstrated the political will to adopt enlightened human rights legislation, it lacks the political will to enforce it when it comes to terrorism suspects,' said Leah Whitson, head of HRW's Middle East and North Africa division.