About human rights
Human rights
Granting that the Charter of the League of Arab States did
not include a reference to the concept of human rights, with regard to both its
enhancement and protection, and based on its commitment to develop joint Arab
action in a way that serves the peoples of the Arab world, the Arab League has
sought to remedy this shortcoming through initiating, establishing and
developing mechanisms to enhance the protection and respect of human rights on
the regional level.
In 2001, a
Human Rights department was established within the structure of the General
Secretariat with the responsibility of coordinating the positions of Arab
countries in regional and international forums on issues relating to the
promotion of human rights. Moreover, the department acts as the technical
secretariat for the Standing Committee on Human Rights established in
1968. This a technical committee for studying topics referred to it by the Member
States and coming up with recommendations to be presented to the League’s
Council at Foreign Ministers’ level. This Committee played a significant role
in the drafting of many intra- Arab
agreements pertaining to human rights.
At the top of these agreements comes the Arab Charter on
Human Rights which was issued in 1994
by the League’s Council at ministerial
level. In recognition of the developments that have been and are
still witnessed in the Arab region, the Arab Charter on Human Rights was amended
and updated in 2004. The Arab Charter on Human Rights entered into force on 16
March 2008, after the seventh Member State submitted its ratification and 16
March was adopted as the Arab Human
Rights Day.
With
the Arab Charter on Human Rights entering into force, and according to article
45 thereof, the Arab Human Rights Committee
(the Charter’s mechanism) was established, as the first Arab regional
mechanism tasked with studying the reports of the States Parties to this Charter,
on the measures taken to put into effect the
rights and freedoms stipulated in its articles, and on the progress made towards the enjoyment
therefrom. The Committee shall submit to the Arab League Council, through the
Secretary-General, an annual report containing its comments and recommendations.
In the same context, the Arab States adopted the Arab Plan
for Human Rights Education in 2008, its Guiding Manual in 2010 and the Arab
Plan for Enhancing the Culture of Human Rights in 2010. Since the adoption of
these two plans, the General Secretariat receives reports on the efforts
of Member States to implement what was stated in the two plans
and circulate them among the Member states, in order to benefit from the best
practices.
In response to the Arab League’s endeavors, the Arab States
endorsed In 1994 the Arab Agreement on Regulating the Status of Refugees in the
Arab Countries. The General Secretariat, in the light of the incessant
aggravation of the refugee issues in the Arab region and despite the fact that
the Agreement did not enter into force, proceeded on updating it, to be
consistent with international standards. It is scheduled that the Agreement
would be presented to the Arab League Council at the ministerial level, as soon
as the update is completed.
In the context of activating the participation of the national
institutions and the non-governmental organizations concerned with Human
Rights, the General Secretariat was keen to offer them the status of observer
in the Standing Arab Human Rights Committee. The number, to date, of these
institutions and organizations reached
23 from 12 Arab countries
On the
International level, the Arab League cooperates with several international
institutions in the field of human rights, such as the Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the
European Union (EU). This cooperation takes many forms and is implemented
through holding seminars and workshops with the aim of building the capacities
of governmental agencies, national institutions and non-governmental
organizations working in the field of human rights.
Last but not least, the League of Arab States General
Secretariat is preparing the draft statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights.
The idea of the establishment of this
Court was adopted by the Member States in the 2013 Doha Summit , upon a
proposal submitted by the Kingdom of Bahrain.
إدارة حقوق الإنسان
لجنة حقوق الإنسان
