The Uncertain Future of Human Rights in the Arab Spring

by Faith Lemon, GSAS ‘11

Tahir Square Protests / Courtesy of Mahed Helal

“The people want the fall of the regime,” echoed for weeks last December on Avenue Habib Bourguiba in Tunis, and the Arab World was irreparably altered. The slogan has since spread infectiously throughout the streets of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), bringing with it the hope of democracy and a dubious promise of the realization of civil rights. The popularly-labeled “Arab Spring” has precipitated the overthrow of three dictators by largely nonviolent means, affecting the socio-political landscape of eighteen countries to date. The rhetoric surrounding most of the movements has primarily emphasized democracy and the ousting of totalitarian regimes and absolute monarchies. States’ failings to respect, protect and fulfill human rights obligations are also heavily cited as catalysts, along with related issues such as indignity and gross inequality.

While the motivating forces vary significantly throughout the national movements, the Arab Spring is frequently heralded as a victory for human rights. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, the movement has demonstrated that human rights are for “all of us, all of the time, everywhere.” Although the outcomes for nations involved are nuanced, and most demands remain unresolved, many of the pro-democracy movements across the MENA region have encouraged advances in human rights, particularly in the areas of civil and political rights, and access to remedies for victims of abuses. King Abdullah’s recent announcement that Saudi women will be allowed to exercise their right to vote and run for municipal office for the next term is attributed to the Arab Spring, as is the decision of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir not to seek re-election in 2015 and political reforms in Jordan and Morocco. The UN Human Rights Council recently recommended the reinstatement of Libya under the leadership of the Libyan Transitional Council, after the nation’s March suspension over the actions of former ruler Muammar al-Qadhafi. In Tunisia, elections are planned for 23 October 2011 and will be monitored by the Tunisian League for Human Rights, a civil society organization banned for the past 11 years after being dissolved by the totalitarian government of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. In the three transitioning nations—Tunisia, Egypt and Libya—the role of civil society is steadily increasing, representing an important facet of institution-building and the development of sustainable human rights protection mechanisms. The European Union’s recent launch of the SPRING program also includes €22 million earmarked for the development of civil society capacity and supporting transitions to democracy.

Despite these advances, however, thousands of lives have been lost in the Arab Spring. Hundreds of thousands more are now displaced as conflicts continue, increasing vulnerabilities to human rights violations. Recent reports reiterate that many demonstrators continue to be confronted by dramatic increases in state abuse. As entrenched despotic regimes—particularly in Yemen, Syria and Bahrain—struggle to regain and maintain control, rates of arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture, disappearances, censorship and other abuses have spiked in response to the demands of demonstrators. In Syria, where 2,700 people have been killed since March, a UN fact-finding mission has delineated a litany of state abuses such as murders, enforced disappearances and torture. According to a recent Amnesty International report, 88 Syrians died in custody in the first eighteen weeks of the uprising. This is many times higher than the yearly average, despite President Bashar Assad’s lifting of the state of emergency in April. In Bahrain, a military court recently tried dozens of medical professionals and teachers, handing down sentences ranging from three years’ imprisonment to the death penalty for their involvement in pro-democracy protests earlier this year. In Libya, an estimated 30,000 Libyans have died and at least 100,000 have become internally displaced by the civil war still gripping that nation, despite the ousting of serial rights violator Moammar Qadhafi. After the overthrow and prosecution of President Mubarak and his ministers, Egypt is currently the stage for renewed protest against the abuses of the interim military government, which has opened a “treason” investigation into Egyptian NGOs and sentenced 12,000 Egyptians in military courts in the last six months.

A summative evaluation of the Arab Spring as an impetus for durable democracy or improved human rights conditions in MENA remains elusive. Impunity prevails, and the fates of popular movements for democracy and dignity appear largely contingent upon the favor of an international community that is selective in its engagement. It is perhaps on the peripheries of the Arab Spring that clear victories for human rights can be observed, in places like Jordan and Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Sudan. Similarly, while the Arab Spring has seen an increase in the intensity and frequency of rights violations, it remains feasible that human rights will figure more prominently into the policy making agenda of governments that are successful in their democratic transitions. This development could be a platform for reconciliation and for developing the role of civil society as a watchdog and arbiter. The Vice President of the Maldives, Mohamed Waheed, summed up his hope in the future reiterating the “compatibility of Islam and human rights,” in a speech to the UN General Assembly and pledging a commitment “to promote understanding and tolerance.”

Published in RightsNews Volume 30, no. 1, November, 2011.
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