'The Kids' spotlights rights of children in conflict with law

Beyond crime, every broken childhood deserves a new opportunity to start anew, the CNDH President believes.

Amina Bouayach, President of the National Human Rights Council (CNDH), has celebrated Fouzi Bensaid's short film *The Kid(s)*, which advocates for the rights of children in conflict with the law. The movie was screened on Tuesday at the La Renaissance Cinema in Rabat.

Its screening was organized through a partnership between the Mediterranean Cinema and Human Rights Meetings (ARMCDH) and the CNDH.

In addition to advocating for the rights of children in conflict with the law, the short film also emphasizes the protection of those children and their reintegration into society to prevent recidivism.

Celebrating the movie, Bouayach stressed the importance and effectiveness of poetry, art, music, and cinema in speaking up for the fundamental and inalienable rights of the marginalized and the downtrodden.

"*The Kid(s)* perfectly illustrates these expressions, the quest for freedom, the need for attention, and the sense of injustice that these children feel, confirming the importance of this strategy," she said.

Bouayach also conveyed CNDH’s and all attendees’ gratitude to the short film’s director, noting that his movie is an emotionally charged work that sheds critical light on the legal and social inequalities as well as the lack of support facing young Moroccans from poor and low-income backgrounds.

"Beyond the awareness raised by the screening of this film, our joint action with the Mediterranean Meetings Association advocates for a new public policy on the treatment of children in conflict with the law," Bouayach said.

The CNDH and its partners believe that every broken childhood deserves an opportunity to start a new life, she argued, stressing: "Society should invest in this - these children are our future."

Fadoua Maroub, president of ARMCDH, told Morocco World News that the short film was produced by the association with support from the European Council, the National Human Rights Council, and other sponsors.

“The film was produced as part of an advocacy campaign led by several civil society organizations, which has been called The Last Refuge,” she said. The campaign is using cultural means to create new spaces for the advocacy of human rights through art, especially film festivals and cinema, Maroub concluded.