Arab states 'slow' to implement rights laws

Upheaval in the region has highlighted the issue of international humanitarian protocols and some Arab nations' disrespect towards it.

Radwan Bin Khadra, an Arab League official, said yesterday Arab countries could do more to adhere to international rights law.

ABU DHABI // The Arab Spring has tested Arab countries' commitment to international humanitarian agreements, said a senior Arab League official in the capital yesterday.

Radwan bin Khadra, the adviser to the secretary general and head of the legal department at the Arab League, said the upheaval in the region had proved that some Arab states had no respect for human rights or international humanitarian law to which they have all agreed to adhere.

The law requires countries to provide protection and assistance to all people affected by violence, and seeks to preserve the basic rights of those who are not participating in hostilities, included prisoners of war and the wounded.

"Since the beginning of 2011, the Arab world has gone through, and is still going through, very detailed testing of the extent of its respect for the international humanitarian law," he said.

But as the death toll continues to rise in some countries in the region, he said there was a need to follow up on the implementation of the international protocols, which were evidentially not being followed.

Only 14 countries, including the UAE, have so far established national committees to implement international humanitarian law. These committees co-ordinate with public and independent entities to ensure the law is observed, and prepare annual reports.

The chairman of the UAE committee, Dr Abdel Rahim Al Awadi, who is also the assistant foreign minister of legal affairs, said the challenges arising from the Arab Spring have proved that countries' compliance with the law needs to be monitored. He cited cased of humanitarian aid, including ambulances, being obstructed.

"In addition, we need to find more ways to protect victims ... and compensate those victims of armed violence," he said.

Gerard Peytrignet, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross's regional delegation in Kuwait, said efforts need to stepped up as it was clear now that "no country was immune to disturbances".

Mr bin Khadra said countries should work closely with the Red Cross, Red Crescent and the Arab League in sending humanitarian aid.

The comments were made at a meeting of the Arab government experts on international humanitarian law, which brought together legal advisers from 17 Arab states. The meeting will conclude tomorrow with the announcement of a new regional plan of action for this year and next.

He said that while laws were being drafted in some Arab states, the process of getting them in place was taking too long. "We want to resolve the slowness in some of the countries," he said.