An international conference of the Arab Human Rights movement, instigated by CIHRS, an independent Egyptian research organisation, was held in Casablanca from 23 - 25 April in the presence of more than one hundred national (operating both within Arab countries and from exile) and international Human Rights organisations [1].

Although, over the last 25 years, this part of the world has experienced substantial growth in the number of Human Rights organisations - the League, in Tunisia, has been in existence since 1977 - in most countries the Human Rights situation remains critical. The fact then that this meeting took place and that a declaration was adopted as a result of the discussions (the Declaration of Casablanca) represents a significant step forward in the struggle for Human Rights in the southern Mediterranean region.

The conference underwent several months of preparation by a planning committee and had the primary objectives of evaluating the Human Rights situation of countries in the region, assessing the activities of organisations working in this field and defining the main risks and challenges they faced. Seventeen working documents were drawn up and circulated among the participants prior to the conference (and substantially added to as a result of their reactions and criticisms [2]). They were then presented for discussion in workshops which were held successively over three days. As it is not possible to deal with the contents of these 17 documents here, or with the entire Declaration, we will simply address some of the more salient points.

Firstly, the Declaration takes a firm stance on the by now standard debate on universality and cultural idiosyncrasies, by reaffirming the commitment of the participants to the universality of Human Rights, as defined in the United Nations Charter, the 1948 Declaration and the body of international charters to this effect. It reads, «the only idiosyncrasy that counts is that which reinforces the dignity and equality of the citizens, enriches their culture and increases their participation in the running of public affairs». Patrick Baudouin, in his speech, professed the same conviction when he declared that «universality is not uniformity. It is, on the contrary, a recognition of difference - of differences». Moreover, the Declaration clearly rejects any use by Arab governments of national sentiment or the principal of sovereignty to avoid their contractual obligations to Human Rights, just as it denounces the political manipulation of Human Rights by certain great powers, in particular the United States. With this principal as their starting point, the participants defined several objectives for the Arab Human Rights movement, including campaigning for a reform of the United Nations system of protecting basic Human Rights, the repeal of both the 1994 [3] Arab Human Rights Charter and the Arab Convention on the fight against terrorism [4] , and the lifting of reservations expressed by all the governments to several international treaties and conventions, particularly the convention on the removal of all forms of discrimination against women (CEDAW).

The Declaration of Casablanca is strongly critical of the way in which the current world «order» operates and of the practice of «two weights, two measures» politics. Regarding the Middle East conflict, it recalls the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, the occupation of the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon and the embargo which is victimising Iraqi civilians.

Throughout it takes a clear position in favour of a peaceful solution to the conflict and is very specific (the rig ht to a Palestinian state, the right of the 1948 refugees to return, withdrawal from the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon). It spares neither the Palestinian Authority, urged to respect the division of powers, nor the authoritarian and despotic regimes in the region. A real turning point is that it addresses the question of minorities in the Arab world, denouncing «the policy of oppression and violence», «the wars of extermination», «the forced deportations and the enslavement practices» of which these minorities (the populations of southern Sudan, the Kurds etc.) are the victims, and maintains their right to self determination.

In this respect, it calls for an international conference to be convened on the Kurd issue under the aegis of the United Nations. Quite clearly, the problem of how human rights organisations relate to the question of Islamic politics, in the light of what happened in Algeria and other countries, was the subject of exhaustive debate. The Declaration of Casablanca makes a point of reaffirming the commitment of the participants to the bringing about of political change by peaceful means, calling on armed Islamic groups to end all violent action and urging governments to guarantee freedom of association and expression for all political movements, including Islamic. The President of the FIDH addressed this sensitive issue in his speech, suggesting that the reduction by peaceful means of Islamic fundamentalism should be a priority in this region : «the growth of fundamentalist Islamic politics poses a new threat to the establishment of universal rights. The terrorist element is part of this development, and security measures on their own will not be effective in countering it. Arbitrary responses to violence will only satisfy the extremists. On the contrary, the only effective and lasting response to Islamic fundamentalism is one which is based on respect for Human Rights, for all Human Rights (the right to life and security, as well as economic and social rights, the fight against corruption, political rights etc.). NGOs have an essential role to play in persuading States to adopt these policies».

In this way, the Declaration makes the fight for democracy the strategic central focus for the work of the Arab human rights movement, deeming «that the need to preserve the non-partisan character of the Arab Human Rights movement and its independence vis-á-vis political parties in no way contradicts its unremitting efforts to create a permanent climate of dialogue between Human Rights defence organisations and political parties. The aim of such a dialogue is to collaborate with a view to strengthening democratic reforms and respect for Human Rights, to build platforms to guarantee the safety of Human Rights and democracy, always bearing in mind the particular situation in each country». This is a new and significant change of direction, because it is not only about actively seeking the protection and promotion of Human Rights, but also about working with all political forces to bring their views closer together, move them towards a culture of Human Rights and work with them to elaborate pacts and charters which will enable them to deal with conflict peacefully, and mobilise, from a universalist principal, the entire body of social mechanisms to confront the challenges of development.

The other strategies contained in the Declaration deal with a wide range of topics (incorporating Human Rights values into the Arab-Muslim culture, Human Rights education, children’s rights, the protection of Human Rights defenders, etc.). However, a number of issues have been listed as priorites without being followed up by any significant plan or new approach to develop them (economic and social rights). They are entirely passed over in the Declaration, although they figure in the preparatory documents. Such is the case with the issue of immigration which no longer simply concerns migrant populations from the South who have settled in Europe, but affects the countries in the South themselves, a number of which now receive vast immigrant (the Gulf countries, Libya) or transient (Morocco, Tunisia) populations. Millions of people are affected by the current situation in the South but questions concerning the defence of their rights have been practically ignored. On the other hand, women’s rights have been dealt with at length in the Declaration which states «that real equality between the sexes depends on equal rights, but also requires a change of mentality and the elimination of stereotyped images of women. In particular, this will require a reform of the legislative system, starting with the rules on personal status, a revision of education programmes and a critical analysis of arbitration procedures». As well as the necessary revision of national legislature and the lifting of reservations on the CEDAW convention, the conference suggested that thought be given to «the possibility of establishing provisional quotas for women in national parliaments and their representative bodies, until conditions favoured the engagement of women and the practice of sexual equality in the application of political right ».

Driss El Yazami
Deputy Secretary General of the FIDH

Footnotes :
1. Among those represented were : FIDH, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Euromediterranean Human Rights Network. On behalf of FIDH, the President of the FIDH spoke at the opening session of the conference, after the Prime Minister of Morocco, addressing amongst other things, the question of Human Rights in Morocco.
2. Kamel Jendoubi (chargé de mission of the FIDH) presented a document on the question of immigration in Europe and the Arab countries, while Driss El Yazami had prepared one on the subject of « terrorism and freedom of conscience ». Other issues addressed included, in particular, the problem of minorities, universalism and idiosyncrasies, and relations with international organisations. All the contributions, as well as the conference proceedings, will be assembled in a report.
3. One of the main decisions made at the conference was to establish a working group whose task would be to draw up a preliminary new Arab Human Rights Declaration.
4. Adopted in April 1998, the Convention came into effect two weeks after the Casablanca Conference took place after being ratified by seven signatory countries.

(From La Lettre n°19, 24th June)