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Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa Challenging Repression Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa

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Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa Challenging Repression Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa C H A L L E N G I N G R E P R E S S I O N H U M A N R I G H T S D E F E N D E R S I N T H E M I D D L E E A S T A N D N O R T H A F R I C A CHALLENGING RHUMEAN RPIGHRTS DEEFESNDESRS IINOTHEN MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA CÔTE D’IVOIRE The Middle East and North Africa region covered in this book comprises: Algeria Libya Bahrain Morocco/Western Sahara Egypt Oman Iran Palestinian Authority Iraq Qatar Israel and the Occupied Saudi Arabia Palestinian Territories Syria Jordan Tunisia Kuwait United Arab Emirates Lebanon Yemen CHALLENGING REPRESSION HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA CHALLENGING REPRESSION HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA Published by Amnesty International Secretariat Peter Benenson House 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW United Kingdom © Amnesty International Publications 2008 Index: MDE 01/001/2009 ISBN: 978-0-86210-446-7 Amnesty International is a global movement of 2.2 million Original language: English people in more than 150 countries and territories, who British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data. campaign on human rights. Our vision is for every person A catalogue record for this book is available from the British to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration Library. of Human Rights and other international human rights instruments. We research, campaign, advocate and mobilize Cover photo, front: © Amnesty International to end abuses of human rights. Amnesty International is independent of any government, political ideology, Printed on 100 per cent recycled post-consumer waste paper economic interest or religion. Our work is largely financed by Lynx DPM, Oxfordshire, UK. by contributions from our membership and donations. All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not for resale. The copyright holders request that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for re-use in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. II CHALLENGING REPRESSION: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA CONTENTS /GLOSSARY IV 1/ INTRODUCTION 1 HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS 3 2/ POLITICAL CONTEXT 7 3/ OPPRESSIVE LAWS 16 ORDINARY LEGISLATION 18 EMERGENCY LEGISLATION 24 ANTI-TERRORISM LEGISLATION 27 4/ PATTERNS OF REPRESSION 30 ARRESTS, DETENTION AND IMPRISONMENT 30 ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES 32 DEMONSTRATORS ATTACKED AND PROSECUTED 34 PREVENTION OF INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATION 36 HARASSMENT AND INTIMIDATION 38 5/ HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS AT PARTICULAR RISK 44 MEDIA WORKERS 44 LEGAL PROFESSIONALS 53 WOMEN’S RIGHTS DEFENDERS 57 6/ DEFENDING ECONOMIC, SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS 62 WORKERS’ RIGHTS 62 CULTURAL RIGHTS 68 RIGHTS OF RELIGIOUS GROUPS 72 7/ DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS DURING ARMED CONFLICTS 75 IRAQ 75 ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES 78 8/ CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 86 AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S RECOMMENDATIONS 87 /ENDNOTES 91 GLOSSARY AHRLA Association for Human Rights and Legal Aid AISPP Association internationale de soutien aux prisonniers politiques (International Association for the Support of Political Prisoners) AMDH Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (Moroccan Association for Human Rights) ASVDH Association Sahraouie des Victimes des Violations Graves commises par l’Etat Marocain (Association of Victims of Grave Human Rights Violations Committed by the Moroccan State) Arab League League of Arab States DDDNC Damascus Declaration for Democratic National Change Declaration, the UN Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms EU European Union FIS Front Islamique du Salut (Islamic Salvation Front) GCC Gulf Cooperation Council ICCPR International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICESCR International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions ILO International Labour Organization NGO non-governmental organization OPT Occupied Palestinian Territories SJT Syndicat des Journalistes Tunisiens (Union of Tunisian Journalists) Special Representative Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Human Rights Defenders SSSC Supreme State Security Court (in Syria) UAE United Arab Emirates UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights UNRWA UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East IV CHALLENGING REPRESSION: HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICA 1/ INTRODUCTION Most state authorities in the Middle East and North Africa are hostile towards human rights defenders. National laws and actions by state agents seek to silence their voices, penalize their activities, and intimidate them into passivity. Rather than heralding their crucial role in promoting and defending universal – civil, political, economic, social and cultural – human rights, officials label these brave individuals as “subversives”, “traitors”, “trouble makers” and “collaborators with foreign entities”. This attitude has dire consequences for human rights defenders themselves and obstructs the realization of human rights generally for people across the region. The very existence and activities of human rights defenders are premised on the enjoyment of rights, such as the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly. In the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, however, these rights are curtailed or denied altogether. As a result, across the region activists are suffering violations of the very rights they are trying to defend. Some of the human rights organizations established in the region to promote freedom of association and other fundamental rights have been raided and closed down by the authorities, and their members have been threatened and prosecuted. Meanwhile, activists and journalists who seek to publicize human rights abuses face an array of repressive measures intended to silence them for exercising their right to freedom of expression. Lawyers who try to uphold the rights of their clients not to be tortured or arbitrarily detained, to have access to legal counsel and to receive fair trials, often themselves face similar abuses. People who demonstrate peacefully in support of demands for improved rights for women, workers and minority communities risk arrest, imprisonment, beatings or even assassination by government security forces simply for exercising their right to freedom of assembly. In the face of this continuing repression, however, human rights defenders remain active all across the Middle East and North Africa region, even in countries experiencing acute conflict or repression. Despite all the vicissitudes and obstacles standing in their way, they continue to make significant impact and help bring about much-needed change. Indeed, their commitment to universal human rights and their experiences in pursuit of these, some of which are included in this report, are nothing short of inspiring – and they demonstrate vividly the need for urgent action to protect their rights. For example, Hana Abdi, a young Kurdish women’s rights defender in Iran, is in jail there simply because of her human rights work. Kamal al-Labwani, a pro-democracy INTRODUCTION 1 activist, is set to remain in a Syrian prison until 2023 for voicing his beliefs. Fathi el- Jahmi, a government critic, is incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital in Libya despite a medical report that contradicted a court’s ruling that he was mentally unfit. Louisa Saker was heavily fined for taking part in a march demanding truth and justice for the families of thousands of people who were never seen again after their arrest in Algeria in the 1990s. Dr Matrouk al-Faleh, an academic and human rights activist, is once again behind bars in Saudi Arabia for writing about the persecution of other human rights defenders. Taiba al-Mawali, a human rights activist in Oman, spent six months in prison after she sent messages by phone and on the internet about an unfair trial. Saleh Kamrani, an Azerbaijani minority rights activist and lawyer in Iran, has been abducted from his office, imprisoned, banned from working as a lawyer, and repeatedly arrested. Musaad Suliman Hassan, a novelist and defender of the rights of Bedouins in Egypt, remains in jail despite several court orders for his release. Amnesty International is publishing this report in order to draw attention to and express its support for the courageous defiance of repression by these and many other human rights defenders in the Middle East and North Africa, and to encourage them in their work to protect and promote human rights. Using numerous case examples, it examines how the rights crucial to human rights defenders that are guaranteed under international human rights treaties and in most Constitutions and national laws are denied or restricted by other legislation, including emergency and anti-terrorism legislation. After reviewing the range of human rights violations suffered by human rights defenders, the report looks at certain categories of activists who are among those most targeted: media and legal professionals, women’s rights defenders, trade unionists, and those who promote the rights of cultural and religious minorities. The report also examines the dire circumstances facing human rights defenders in the context of armed
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