The Arab human rights system: achievements and challenges (original) (raw)

Human Rights in the Six Arab States of the Gulf Cooperation Council (‘GCC’): From Vision to Reality

Cardozo International Comparative, Policy & Ethics Law Review, 2020

This paper explores the extent to which the hypothesis of a ‘human rights trend’ in the six Gulf Arab States is valid. In order to do this, firstly, it examines these States’ attitude to international human rights instruments. Secondly, drawing from their ‘Visions’ for the future, it identifies examples of reforms, local policies and ‘best practices’. The paper draws from various examples, focusing however on Qatar and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The paper makes two main submissions. It submits that there is indeed a ‘shift’ towards a model of better human rights compliance, yet this trend is detectable in these States’ local policies, and not in their international commitments. The paper concludes that in order to achieve sustainable economic growth and meaningful collaboration with other States at the global level, it is in the interest of those States’ and their future generations to take human rights seriously.

Human Rights: Effectiveness of International and Regional Mechanisms

This chapter examines the study of human rights regimes in the field of International Relations (IR). In particular, it explores the links between theories of regimes (how are the origins, development and effects of regimes on politics explained?) on the one hand, and the evolving norms and practices of human rights embedded within the institutions of international and global society on the other. Despite the ubiquitous institutional presence of human rights in world politics, the subject of human rights regimes remains somewhat elusive. The first section therefore seeks to give a general overview of how the study of human rights regimes has developed at the interface between IR and international law with a view to outlining the subject of research; to survey the main approaches adopted; to give a sense of why regimes matter and to what extent they could be understood to be ‘effective’. In particular, the implications of the analytical shift from the inter-state dynamics of international society to its transnational dimensions for the study of human rights regimes are outlined. Building on this last point, the second section explores the ways in which the norms and practices of global human rights institutions have evolved since the Second World War and into the age of globalisation. The focus here is on the institutionalization of human rights globally through the United Nations system and the connections between the development over time of international human rights institutions on the one hand and their relative effectiveness in shaping human rights behaviour on the other. Against this global background, the third section examines the comparative development of regional human rights regimes. Particular emphasis is put on the role and influence of regionalism in shaping the development and impact of international human rights law and policy.

The Arab Court of Human Rights: A Study in Impotence

Revue québécoise de droit international

An Arab human rights system remains relatively underdeveloped to this day. On September 7th 2014, the League of Arab States approved the Statute of the Arab Court of Human Rights (ACtHR) finalizing a twenty-year process to put in place a human rights mechanism resembling those operating in other regions such as Europe and the Americas. The focus of this article is on the Statute, but in view of the fact that the ACtHR’s jurisdiction is fundamentally limited to interstate cases concerning the application and interpretation of the Arab Charter on Human Rights of 2004 (2004 Charter), the 2004 Charter, revising the defunct Arab Charter on Human Rights of 1994, is briefly examined and, while progressive in parts, it is found to be imperfect in many ways. The mandate of the Arab Human Rights Committee established thereunder is looked into but its role is found to be extremely limited. The article proceeds to analyze the salient features of the Statute, which was concluded independently of...

Comparative Perspectives on Regional Human Rights Systems

This briefing is based on the principal conclusions of the third workshop of the Inter-American Human Rights Network, held at University of Ghent’s Human Rights Centre in January 2016. The workshop represented an innovative attempt at comparative analysis by scholars and practitioners of the challenges facing human rights systems across the globe. Workshop participants critically examined and compared a full range of international human rights bodies to assess the extent to which policies and procedures have helped to advance the realisation of human rights, and how best practices may be adapted across different systems. The debate focused principally on the operation of regional human rights systems in the Americas, Africa and Europe, but due consideration was also given to the mechanisms available before the United Nations. The main conclusions from the workshop and a series of recommendations for future research on comparative research on international human rights bodies are outlined in this briefing paper.