The Arab Commission for Human Rights ( ar, اللجنة العربية لحقوق الإنسان / french: Commission Arabe des Droits Humains / ACHR) is an

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

non-governmental A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

organisation that was founded in 1998.

Founding

The Arab Commission for Human Rights is a

non-governmental organisation A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from g ...

founded on 17 January 1998 by 15 human rights activists from around the

, that bases its work in the 1948

Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the Human rights, rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN Drafting of the Universal De ...

(UDHR), the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) is a multilateral treaty adopted by the United Nations General Assembly (GA) on 16 December 1966 through GA. Resolution 2200A (XXI), and came in force from 3 January 197 ...

(ICESC), and the

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedo ...

(ICCPR). The ACHR claims to avoid any political affiliation. The ACHR aims to cover all human rights as being divisible in order to avoid the "western" vision of organisations of the "North" which limit their human rights advocacy to "arbitrary detention, judicial supervision,

enforced disappearances An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

, and

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

Leadership

The ACHR has a 15-member Board of Directors led by President Violette Daguerre from Lebanon. The Board includes Tunisian human rights activist and interim President of Tunisia

Moncef Marzouki Mohamed Moncef Marzouki ( ar, محمد المنصف المرزوقي; ''Muhammad al-Munṣif al-Marzūqī'', born 7 July 1945) is a Tunisian politician who served as the fifth president of Tunisia from 2011 to 2014. Through his career he has been ...

. Haytham Manna from Syria helped create the ACHR, becoming its spokesperson. He resigned from his role as ACHR spokesperson, while remaining a "non-office-holding" member, when in 2011 he helped found and take a leading role in the

National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change The National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change (NCC), or National Coordination Body for Democratic Change (NCB) ( ar, هيئة التنسيق الوطنية لقوى التغيير الديمقراطي ), is a Syrian bloc chaired by ...

in Syria.

2009 suspension from United Nations Economic and Social Council

In June 2008, Algerian human rights lawyer and activist

Rachid Mesli Rachid Mesli is a French Algerian human rights lawyer and activist, living in Geneva and acting as the Director of the Legal Department of Alkarama (Human rights organisation based in Geneva). In 1991, he became part of the defense lawyer team defe ...

spoke at a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

event in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

on behalf of the Arab Commission for Human Rights. Algeria complained that Mesli had been charged with terrorism in 1999, and on 26 January 2009, representatives from the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

and

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, along with other states, voted 18 to 0 (plus 1 abstention) to suspend the ACHR from the

United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC; french: links=no, Conseil économique et social des Nations unies, ) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields ...

(ECOSOC).

References

External links

ACHR web site
{{Authority control International human rights organizations Imprisonment and detention