With some 20,000 cases documented since 2008, Alkarama is recognised as one of the most active NGOs working with the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to exhort Arab governments to put an end to human rights violations and ensure the respect of their citizens’ rights and freedoms. “This report provides factual data about the work we have achieved in 2015. It also shows that Alkarama's mission to address the major human rights violations in the Arab World, such as summary executions, enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention, is still much needed and must continue to guide our actions in the future”, said Dr Mourad Dhina, Alkarama's Executive Director.

Human rights are a key concern in the region...

Alkarama sees that human rights violations have become a key concern in the region. Governments cannot ignore that turning a blind eye on the systematic violations of human rights can only lead to the failure of states with all that this entails, including mass migrations and the rise of terrorism. In this context, Alkarama also deplores that some Western States too often pretend to ignore this reality and sometimes lend support to dictatorships who dare to assert that their people are “not yet ready for democracy.”

... but the UN human rights system sometimes finds itself powerless in the face of abhorrent situations

Political and geostrategic interests of Governments too often result in empty promises, to the extent that victims and human rights defenders have expressed doubts about the reality of the universality of human rights. Human rights are too serious of a matter to be left solely in the hands of politicians!

The Arab revolutions of 2011 have so far failed to lead to the respect of civil and political rights

Five years after the Arab Spring, denial of civil and political rights of the people remains the source of most reported abuses. Alkarama is concerned that almost all Arab governments continue to regard human rights activists as “enemies” or “traitors”, deserving the worst forms of condemnation, often under the pretext of “terrorism”. Moreover, these governments continue to have a negative attitude towards the UN Human Rights Mechanisms, by refraining from implementing the recommendations of the Treaty Bodies and from collaborating with the Special Procedures, or even by refusing to accept the requests for visits of UN experts. Alkarama wishes to see these governments adopt a constructive attitude towards the UN Mechanisms and human rights defenders.

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