The 10th of December marked the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which was published on that day in 1948. While human rights have become a crucial issue globally, it is still forgotten in Arab countries.
At a time when the world celebrates the occasion, the Arabs have celebrated it in a different way. I will only refer to a series of examples illustrating the human rights situation in the Arab world.
In Tunisia, 21 reformists have been sentenced to four to 10 years in prison.
In Syria, 12 members of the Damascus Declaration have been sentenced to two and a half years. In Egypt, four months ago, an administrative court handed down a two-year sentence to democracy advocate Saad Eddin Ibrahim, in addition to the trial of a number of editors of independent newspapers. In Saudi Arabia, reformist Matruk Al-Faleh is still in prison since his arrest eight months ago. In Algeria, parliament has amended the constitution to allow President Abdel Aziz Bouteflika to enjoy eternal presidency. In Morocco, demonstrators demanding improved living conditions are suppressed.
The human rights situation in the Arab world is the worst; only overtaken by the African continent. Some Arab countries do not issue driving licenses to their citizens, as is the case in Saudi Arabia, where women are prohibited from driving. In Libya there is no written constitution, not to mention the fact that there are no political parties or non-governmental organizations.
As far as international human rights instruments are concerned, the Arab states fall into three categories. The first is the states that do not recognize the UDHR, especially the political rights, such as the right to equality, freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, demonstration, freedom of elections, freedom of belief and religion. Some of these countries have not ratified a number of international conventions and human rights treaties, such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its optional protocol, and the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families, such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Egypt, Kuwait, Jordan, Tunisia and the UAE.
The second is the states that pretend to respect human rights, but in fact exercise repressive acts against their citizens and opponents, as is the case in Syria, Egypt, Tunisia and Yemen, turning their countries into unquestionable authoritarian reserves.
The third is states that offer a deal to their citizens to give up their political rights in return for securing jobs and distinguished economic and social status, as is the case in the Gulf States.
A few days ago, an important report by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies monitored the human rights situation in 12 Arab countries. The most outstanding conclusion of this was the fact that the Arab region has shifted from exportation of terrorism to exportation of repression. There are Arab countries that represent a real obstacle to the global development of human rights. The report points out the negative role played by Egypt and the Arab bloc in the United Nations Human Rights Council in order to disrupt bills for the protection of human rights around the world.
Actually, we do not need reports and studies to uncover the extent of the deteriorating human rights situation in the Arab world; Arab prisons are enough proof.
We urgently need an “Arab civil rights movement modeled on those witnessed by the US over the 1950s and 1960s to break the dominance of authoritarian regimes and live with dignity. That’s the least they can do.
Khalil Al-Anani is an Egyptian expert on political Islam and democratization in the Middle East and is a senior fellow at Al-Ahram Foundation. E-mail: [email protected].
