National Human Rights Institutions in MENA: A Reason for Hope?

• In Event: Human Rights Around the World

Abstract

Eighteen national human rights institutions (NHRIs) operate in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Some of them, such as Morocco's National Human Rights Council (1990) have been at work since the early 1990s and others such as Lebanon's National Human Rights Commission (2019) emerged in the 2010s.

This analysis offers the first comprehensive study of NHRIs in the greater MENA region, focusing on their emergence, structures, impacts, and challenges in three sections. In the first section, I explore how the creation of NHRIs was shaped primarily by external pressures and, to a lesser extent, by domestic dynamics. In the second section, I attribute the structural weakness of MENA NHRIs to their lack of independence and their limited mandates. In the third section, rather than dismissing MENA NHRIs as government puppets or glorifying them as a human rights panacea, I argue that they have achieved moderate gains. While NHRIs have helped to legitimize and increase awareness of human rights in a region where skepticism and cynicism of these rights run deep, they lack the necessary implementing powers to protect human rights, such as the ability to launch independent investigations into state violations.

After 40 years, it is clear that NHRIs lack the mandate and capacity to transform human rights in the MENA region. This is in part because they were not designed to create transformation, but rather to serve as part of an ecosystem, protecting and promoting human rights along with other groups, movements, and organizations. They have also been held back in the MENA region by authoritarianism, security sector dominance, and restrictions on civil society and NGOs. But this is not the entire story. Even in these restrictive environments, some MENA NHRIs have been able to modestly advance human rights in their states. However, if NHRIs want to realize their full potential they should secure greater independence from governments; strengthen the Arab Network for National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRI) to act as a forum for learning, support, and solidarity; and establish stronger connections with civil society organizations (CSOs).

Author

• Turan Kayaoglu, University of Washington, Tacoma