Driss El Yazami

Driss El Yazami is a Moroccan human rights advocate, intellectual, and civil society leader known for his decades-long work in advancing human rights, transitional justice, and diaspora engagement. He has played a central role in shaping Morocco’s human rights landscape and contributing to broader debates on reform and reconciliation in the MENA region.

El Yazami currently serves as President of the Council of the Moroccan Community Abroad (CCME) and he is a former chair of the Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Support of Human Rights Defenders. From 2011 to 2018, he was President of Morocco’s National Human Rights Council (CNDH), where he oversaw initiatives to strengthen rights protections, support transitional justice, and institutionalise dialogue between state institutions and civil society.

Earlier, he was a prominent member of the Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER), Morocco’s landmark truth and reconciliation body, as well as the Consultative Commission for the Revision of the Constitution in 2011.At the international level, he served as Secretary General of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and has been an active member of various global advocacy networks. He is also a strong advocate for recognising the role of Moroccan and Arab diasporas, promoting cultural diversity, and advancing migrant rights. 

In addition to his activism, El Yazami has coordinated and contributed to several published works on human rights and migrants’ history in France and Europe.