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Are universal rights bound to colonialism? Are they culturally imperialistic? By juxtaposing Morocco´s practice of torture with its discourse of cultural relativism, this study links popular resistance to universal rights to a deliberate politics that delegitimizes those very same rights, requiring a new, more inclusive system of universalism.

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1. The Multiple Actors Present at the Convention against Torture´s Origin 2. Internal Politics behind the Moroccan State´s Disinterest in a Definition for Torture 3. The Use of Cultural Relativism for the Purpose of Delegitimizing Fundamental Rights 4. Colonialism as a Policy of Resistance to Human Rights Law 5. Human Rights Law as a Tool for International Solidarity 6. Torture Persists Despite the Constitutional Reforms of 2011

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Osire Glacier is Professor in the Department of History and the Department of Political Science and International Studies at Bishop´s University, Canada. She is the author of the book Political Women in Morocco, Then and Now.

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