On the 10th of December 2003, 55 years have passed on the universal declaration of human rights, the first international legal document to be concerned with human rights all over the world. Arabs & Muslims participated _with great care_ in the preparation of such declaration, with no objection from any Arab country.
The historical experience of the Arab world proves that denying the political & civil rights of peoples of the Arab world was the first step in ignoring the minimum guarantees for their economic, social & cultural rights. That’s because depriving people from their political & civil rights made them lose the ability to defend their economic, social or cultural rights, or even to call for them. In the absence of the right for peaceful gathering or the right to organize independent political & civil organizations & unions, & on times where there are poor or even no guarantees or freedoms of expression, peaceful gathering or striking, it’s difficult to find an ability to defend the other rights _either they are economic, social or cultural rights. As a result, there would be no balance between the state & the society, or between the rich & the poor, or even between the workers & the owners. Moreover, the absence of political & civil rights represents a precondition that justifies the continuous abuses of the collective right of religious & ethnic minorities, including collective massacres, slaughters & collective evacuation from Arab countries _either inside or outside it. In addition to this, the deprivation of political & civil rights acts as an obstacle even in front of the popular solidarity movement with the Palestinian rights, or rejection movements against the anti- Palestine international tactics or against the war on Iraq, or even hindering the participation in the international movement against the disadvantages of globalization.
Last & not least, this harsh deprivation of such rights, & continuous abuses of them for a long period of time, was the rationale behind continuous inhuman conditions of the Arab world, especially the Iraqis. Under these conditions, many people feel totally pessimistic that there is a possible for an internal change _a change that comes from inside.
The historical experience of many poor & developing countries in Africa, Asia & Latin America shows that the poverty of these societies wasn’t an obstacle against good achievements & accomplishments in the field of democratic rule & respect for human rights contrary to this, Arab countries who enjoyed high international standards of wealth & welfare are not in a better condition than poor ones regarding respect for economic, social, political, & civil rights. The material wealth of some of these countries didn’t help them except in being at a very poor position in the international reports concerning human development & high levels of corruption. The majority of the Arab countries lie in the lowest rank in the international classification for respecting human rights. These international reports don’t classify any of the Arab countries as a free country, or a country where there’s freedom of press! If the Arab countries represent 10% of the countries of the world, they represent around 30% of the countries where there’re no freedoms all over the world & this percentage rises to 35% in countries that are more despotic.
Although colonial forces have gone almost half a century ago _with the exception of Palestine & recently Iraq_ they left the colonial mentality of humiliating people by the logic that they are not prepared for modernization & self rule & that their religions deprive them of enjoying the same rights as do the citizens in colonial states ! With an Arab tongue, they are selling to us old western colonial ideas but with an Arab attractive cover.
The historical experience of the Arab world proved that after more than half a century on the occupation of Palestine, ignoring the obligations of the democratic regime & the respect for human rights, they were unable to go one step forward towards liberating Palestine. On the contrary, they lost the remaining part of the Palestinian land & parts of Egypt, Syria, Jordan, & Lebanon were occupied for several times. In addition to this, Iraq was occupied & there was such a retreat of the Arab world in all fields; economically, socially, culturally, & scientifically. Moreover, many Arab countries engaged in civil wars, internal wars, extended or temporary military bloody conflicts (as in Sudan, Algeria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iraq). These wars resulted in millions of deaths, in addition to millions of refugees, emigrants, injured & disabled. Prisons of the Arab world received millions of prisoners in less than half a century; most of whom belong to political groups that are against Israel & colonialism _old & new colonialism. A huge number of these prisoners died as a result of torture. Others totally disappeared & they were not found until now. Others were assassinated or killed in collective massacres or executed without trial, or with a trial that doesn’t follow the minimum international standards for a just trial. Finally, all the previously stated abuses _in addition to other factors_ gave the idea that the Arabs are the most ignorant people in the world, with no mentality. Accordingly, this facilitates the mission of Anti-Arabs on racial bases all over the world.
For all this, it is necessary to consider the missions calling for human rights respect as a superior national interest. A quick look at the various international reports in the latest few years _in various fields_ is enough to notice that the group of states enjoying the highest levels of development, production, education, & science, with the least levels of corruption Are the states that show the highest respect for human rights in the world, & enjoy the highest level of independence in their national decisions.
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