The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) has launched its 2023 annual report "Human Rights in the Middle East Region”, which summarises GCHR’s activities advocating on behalf of human rights defenders (HRDs), activists, academics, journalists, protesters and citizens so that they can exercise their human rights peacefully and free from oppression. In addition to documenting our advocacy efforts and activities, the report also covers the ways in which we have helped to strengthen the capacity of human rights defenders and other civil society actors working to peacefully promote and protect human rights throughout the MENA region.
At the outset, GCHR wishes to recognise and pay tribute to its local, regional and international partners, including United Nations experts, with whom it has continued to enjoy fruitful relationships in our mutual work to amplify and support the work of human rights defenders and civil society actors across the Middle East countries.
GCHR’s Executive Director Khalid Ibrahim said, "Once again we find that the level of repression of civil society activists and their organisations has not abated in the Middle East, where the authorities continue to ignore the international community’s recommendations to improve their human rights records, whether through UN mechanisms, or during events held in their countries such as COP28 or sporting events. Instead of taking the opportunity to open up civic space, respect public freedoms, and promote social justice, these repressive governments continue their efforts to dismantle the human rights movement and insist on rejecting any call for reforms or criticism coming from within or abroad.”
He added, "Yet courageous human rights defenders continue to do their legitimate and peaceful human rights activities, and with that, GCHR will continue to support them and enhance their protection in co-operation with many partners, to achieve our unified goal which is to strengthen the human rights movement in the region.”
Throughout 2023, GCHR, alongside its local partners and international allies, continued to play a vital role in ensuring that cases that might otherwise not receive the attention they deserve are brought to the fore in predominantly English-speaking media and advocacy circles, including at the United Nations Human Rights Council or events such as World Press Freedom Day. GCHR continued its work in coalition with partner organisations on campaigns for imprisoned HRDs including its co-founder Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja in Bahrain and Advisory Board member Ahmed Mansoor in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In 2023, GCHR issued 86 appeals and six urgent actions, joint statements and letters relating to WHRDs and HRDs across the region. GCHR also published four reports, either alone or jointly with partners, including joint submissions on the UAE and Saudi Arabia for their respective UN Periodic Reviews, its Annual Report, and a comprehensive report on challenges facing journalists in the MENA region. Furthermore, GCHR continued its longstanding work of regular reporting on the human rights situation in Iraq, publishing five Periodic Reports on violations of freedom of expression and assembly in Iraq and Iraqi Kurdistan.
GCHR continued to shed light on the harmful practices of sportswashing and greenwashing that many countries across the region engage in as an attempt to improve their image on the global stage. GCHR and 35 partners once again held the extremely successful Alternative Human Rights Expo II, an online event on 15 November 2023 ahead of the 28th session of the Conference of Parties (COP28) held from 30 November to 12 December 2023 in the UAE. It was part of a larger campaign surrounding the COP28 to highlight human rights violations in the UAE and surrounding countries, in an attempt to help free human rights defenders.
Part I of this report summarises GCHR’s thematic and country-specific campaigns, advocacy before international organisations such as the United Nations and legal advocacy. Part II highlights the various thematic and country reports published by GCHR over the past year. Part III summarises the practical support GCHR has provided to HRDs and civil society actors throughout 2023. Part IV provides "snapshots” of the human rights situation in each of the countries we work in across the MENA region and the report concludes with a regional human rights overview at Part V and recommendations for the coming year at Part VI.
source/ GCHR