International Human Rights groups argue proposed Arab Court for Human Rights needs more work
United Nations Human Rights Council logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
On 31 August, 17 regional and international human rights organizations sent a joint statement to Arab foreign ministers, urging them to delay their adoption of a statute on an Arab Court for Human Rights. The foreign ministers are scheduled –according to the Secretary General of the Arab League – to make a decision about adopting the statute during the assembly of the Ministerial Council of the Arab League to be held between 3 – 8, September 2014.
According to the signatories of the statement, the proposed draft statute does not serve the aim of establishing an Arab Court of Human Rights, which is to provide justice to victims of human rights violations. The signatories noted that although the main goal of the Arab Court is to provide an effective equity mechanism for violations of the Arab Charter on Human Rights, the Arab Charter itself should be amended in a way that guarantees compliance with international human rights standards, including the right to life, the prohibition of the death penalty, the prohibition of harsh, humiliating, or inhuman treatment, gender equality, and the right to freedom of thought and belief.
The signatories have especially criticized Article 19 of the statute, which limits the jurisdiction of the court to “any state against whom a case of human rights violation is made,” and gives states the power to decide whether or not NGOs could present cases on behalf of individuals. The article, thus, dilutes the effectiveness of the court as it is unlikely that officials would allow organizations to seek accountability of their states through it.
In addition to the Cairo Institute for Human Rights, the signatories of the statement are International Commission of Jurists, International Federation of Human Rights, Open Society Foundations, Arab Regional Office, Al Haq, Human Rights Watch, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Amnesty International, Association des Magistrats Tunisiens, Legal Agenda, Human Rights Information and Training Center, Gulf Centre for Human Rights, Bahrain Human Rights Society, Palestinian Human Rights Organization, Yemeni Organization for the Defence of Human Rights and Democratic Freedoms, Amman Center for Human Rights Studies, and Amel Association International,Beirut, Lebanon.
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Ray Hanania is an award winning political and humor columnist who analyzes American and Middle East politics, and life in general. He is an author of several books.
Hanania covered Chicago Politics and Chicago City Hall from 1976 through 1992 at the Daily Southtown and the Chicago Sun-Times. He began writing in 1975 publishing The Middle Eastern Voice newspaper in Chicago (1975-1977). He later published “The National Arab American Times” newspaper (2004-2007).
Hanania writes weekly columns on Middle East and American Arab issues as Special US Correspondent for the Arab News ArabNews.com, at TheArabDailyNews.com, and at SuburbanChicagoland.com. He has published weekly columns in the Jerusalem Post newspaper, YNetNews.com, Newsday, the Orlando Sentinel, Houston Chronical, and Arlington Heights Daily Herald.
Hanania is the recipient of four (4) Chicago Headline Club “Peter Lisagor Awards” for Column writing. In November 2006, he was named “Best Ethnic American Columnist” by the New American Media. In 2009, Hanania received the prestigious Sigma Delta Chi Award for Writing from the Society of Professional Journalists. He is the recipient of the MT Mehdi Courage in Journalism Award. He was honored for his writing skills with two (2) Chicago Stick-o-Type awards from the Chicago Newspaper Guild. In 1990, Hanania was nominated by the Chicago Sun-Times editors for a Pulitzer Prize for his four-part series on the Palestinian Intifada.
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Hanania is the US Special Correspondent for the Arab News Newspaper, covering Middle East and Arab American issues. He writes for the Southwest News newspaper group writing on mainstream American issues.
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