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Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice © 2017 Rights Owners All rights reserved worldwide Reproduction of excerpts or photocopying is possible provided there is a clear reference to the source. Dissemination of the Digital copy and uploading on websites is free as long as the content is not altered, and no material gain is achieved in any form. All queries on rights and licenses, including subsidiary rights, should be addressed to the Advisory Group via email: [email protected] The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Advisory Group, and does not entail any responsibility on their part. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Links contained in this publication are provided for the convenience of the reader and are correct at the time of issue. Reference to dollars ($) are to United States dollars, unless otherwise stated. Mention of commercial names and products does not imply the endorsement of the Report authors. References have, wherever possible, been verified. Publication website: http://www.arab4justicereport.net. Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice 3 Report Preparation Team The report “Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice” is a perusal of the present and a vision for the future. A group of Arab authors contributed to its preparation, while a board of advisors comprised of Arab thinkers contributed to enriching its material with ideas and opinions. A synergy of sundry and diverse expertise in research, analysis, and review made it come to fruition. Board of Main Advisors Farida Allaghi, Saoud Al-Mawla, Inam Bioud, Shafiq Al-Ghabra, Hayyan Haidar, Hana Humeidan, Hazem Ahmad Hosny, Fahmy Howeidy, Islah Jad, Taher Kanaan, Mudar Kassis, Maha Al-Khatib, Haytham Manna, Mohammad Al-Marzouki (Abu Yaarub), Amin Mekki Medani, Muhammad Saleh M Al-Musfir, Baqer Salman Al- Najjar, Ragia Omran, Mohamed El Hacen Ould Lebatt, Ali Oumlil, Malek Sghiri, Ridha Saidi, Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid, Fatima Sbeity Kassem, Kamal Khalaf Al-Tawil, Haifa Zangana, Arous Al-Zubir, Raghid El-Solh, Clovis Maksoud. Cover Designed by Ibrahim Ramdan, Inspired by an unsigned graphite on Muhammad mahmoud street in Cairo in 2011. Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice 5 Preface This copy of the “Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice” Report represents a second edition, as the first was issued in December 2016 and posted on the web page of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) for only one day. It was withdrawn twenty-four hours later. The story of this edition of the Report simulates that of the Report itself, albeit it falls short on impact and is less momentous. ESCWA had taken the initiative to prepare a report on the state of justice in the Arab region. Towards this end, ESCWA engaged a large team of distinguished experts hailing from several Arab countries, varying schools of thought and different generations. The Report was authored by experts from ESCWA in cooperation with external consultants. For over one year and after a series of meetings with the Advisory Board, appointed by ESCWA, to deliberate, discuss and comment on various drafts, the Report was finalized as it appears in its current version and under the foregoing title. The United Nations Secretariat did not deem to issue the Report bearing its logo, although the Report complies with the editorial guidelines mandated by the United Nations. This stance from the United Nations Secretariat was attributable to pressures exerted by countries that objected to the fact that the Report documents cases of oppression of Arab people and injustice by ruling elites. Chief among which is that inflicted upon the Palestinian people by the occupying Israeli State, which continues to exercise settler colonialism and to usurp the land from its indigenous population, a state that the Report describes as an apartheid state. The Report further condemns the Israeli State’s claim for legitimacy being the only state in the world whereby eligibility for naturalization is the individual’s specific religion. Nevertheless, despite pressures exerted, the United Nations Secretariat decided to grant the Advisory Board appointed by ESCWA the copyrights to issue the Report, but without the United Nations logo. The members of the Advisory Board met on 2 February 2017 in Beirut and unanimously decided to proceed with issuing the Report as it is. They were 6 Preface of the opinion that the reasons that gave rise to the prevailing political and economic conditions in the world and in the Arab region, which precipitated the need to study the state of justice in the Arab world, were the very same as those that triggered the decision of the United Nations Secretariat to ban and prohibit its issuance. While the members of the Advisory Board expressed their regret concerning this decision, they were, nevertheless, appreciative of the fact that they were granted copyrights to issue the Report. Their position was predicated on their conviction that the Report bears an exceptional significance at this juncture, in as far as its role in triggering a general societal discourse, in the Arab world and the world at large, around the issues it addresses. It would be difficult to reach a consensus regarding the entire contents of this Report and the individual arguments, analysis, and viewpoints it offers. Notwithstanding this, the agreement reached on the main titles it covers, the issues it addresses, and the facts it outlays necessitate a public debate and call for finding ways and means to redress the underlying causes of injustice, including oppression afflicted on Arab citizens and denying them their rights and freedoms, especially freedom of expression, which should be rigorously safeguarded. The conviction of the Advisory Board members regarding the critical importance of the Report, despite divergences in viewpoints regarding various parts thereof, and their respect for the intellect, perceptions, and integrity of the original team that authored the Report, led to their decision to publish the Report as is, once the UN logo and names of ESCWA staff members are removed. The Executive Secretary of ESCWA, Dr. Rima Khalaf, in her Preface which appears on the subsequent pages of this issue of the Report without bearing her signature though, paid tribute to three of the foremost Arab thinkers who witnessed the conception and need for this Report, but who had departed from our world before witnessing its issuance, namely, the novelist and critic Dr. Radwa Ashour, the Ambassador of Arabs, Dr. Clovis Maksoud and his Eminence the scholar Sayyed Hani Fahs. Fate had also decreed that this tribute would include a fourth who was among the main substantial contributors to the Report, the thinker Dr. Raghid El-Solh, whose death had shocked the Advisory Board on the morning of its meeting of 2 February 2017 and whose loss was at once poignant and disorienting. He enjoyed an enlightened mind and whose conscience was possessed with the issues, problems and concerns of the Arab world. We, the Advisory Board members, hereby avow to endeavor to uphold the values that he enshrined and the principles he had dedicated his life and fought for, as we have pledged to our colleagues who preceded him. Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice 7 The members of the Advisory Group (as distinct from the Advisory Board appointed by ESCWA), whose names are listed hereunder, have accepted the transmittance of copyrights from the United Nations to them as a group and have decided, in their capacity as copyright holders, to authorize the dissemination and publication of this Report in Arabic and in any other language it is translated into, freely and without any restrictions, for various purposes except for seeking material profit. They also decided that, in case they approve of publishing it through any medium that seeks profit, its proceeds should be dedicated to a humanitarian issue in the Arab world. It should be noted that the Advisory Group is not the author of the Report, although its members provided counsel and criticism during the course its preparation. This Group cannot but extend its overall appreciation to all those who made substantial contributions to the Report from ESCWA whose names appear in the first edition, in terms of concepts, substance, drafting, editing, proofreading and other technical issues. We further express our appreciation to all external consultants and experts who contributed to the manuscript, without whose inputs this Report would not have come to fruition. Ali Oumlil Haytham Manna Mudar Kassis Amin Mekki Medani Hayyan Haidar Muhammad Saleh M Al-Musfir Arous Al-Zubir Hazem Ahmad Hosny Mustapha Kamel Al-Sayyid Baqer Salman Inam Bioud Mohamed El Hacen Ould Al-Najjar Lebatt Fahmy Howeidy Islah Jad Ragia Omran Farida Allaghi Kamal Khalaf Al-Tawil Ridha Saidi Fatima Sbeity Kassem Maha Al-Khatib Saoud Al-Mawla Haifa Zangana Malek Sghiri Shafiq Al-Ghabra Hana Humeidan Mohammad Al-Marzouki Taher Kanaan (Abu Yaarub) Injustice in the Arab Region and the Road to Justice 9 Foreword A firestorm spreads across the Arab region; conflicts and civil wars wreak havoc on one third of its countries; sectarian strife tears its peoples apart; States surrender their sovereignty sometimes willingly other times by force; countries crumble in an Arab region moulded by others and violently imposed on its peoples.

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