The Arab human rights system: achievements and challenges

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe existence of an effective regional human rights system is of fundamental importance to the promotion and protection of human rights, as it provides accessible mechanisms for protection of human rights once national remedies have been exhausted, and it strengthens states’ responsibilities to respect and guarantee human rights. States tend to show more inclination to conform to regional initiatives than international ones, and this adds to the advantage of better enforceability to decisions of regional mechanisms over their international counterparts. This article identifies the major regional human rights protection systems, i.e. the African, the Inter-American and the European human rights systems as potential and established models to be considered by the League of Arab States (LAS) in moving forward with the creation of the Arab human rights system. The article examines the achievements and flaws of the current system and makes recommendations about effective change in the modality of LAS’s relationship with civil society organisations by setting forth mechanisms and unambiguous criteria based on transparency to ensure a permanent relationship across all its bodies.