ARAB COMMISSION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

Regional, national and international humanitarian and charitable non-governmental organizations face many problems related to the great changes in the world in the last two decades. Humanitarian organizations have lately expanded worldwide and further developed the concept of their role, internal structure and their relationship to political and civil societies on the local and international level.

The world has witnessed a great change to the concept of sovereignty and the right of intervention. Also, humanitarian organizations, based on voluntarism, have turned towards more professionalism, both in the North and the South. Unipolar globalization has re-established relations of domination and influence on the international level. Governments and various political groups have realized the importance of this phenomenon; and thus have attempted to influence, contain and employ it for their political and cultural purposes. Today this phenomenon represents one of the most difficult legal and civil formulas among the social, regional and international structures. 

However, despotic regimes view these organizations� independent efforts in providing relief to the disadvantaged and the vulnerable as exposing, directly and indirectly, their own faults. In western countries, in general, it is believed that the NGOs of the South build protective structures, which prevent the reproduction of western models. The big rise of Islamic humanitarian organizations has underscored a new dimension to these problems. In fact, most of these organizations get their program and financial strength from their societies, and hence they do not need to follow a western agenda to gain financial support or logistic aid. And hence the apprehension of many western governments towards this phenomenon and its political implications. 

 So, should all the organizations of the South be dependent and rely in their work on others? Is the existence of strong NGOs supported by their societies not more of a guarantee for safeguarding civil and peaceable structures of human societies? Do these organizations not have their own concepts and experiences that could enrich the NGOs of the North and may help liberate them from Northern-centrism? 

According to Northern humanitarian organizations, the 11th of September was a watershed. To Southern organizations, mainly Islamic ones, it was a catastrophe by all standards. In fact, the casual harassment turned into an unprecedented war waged by the American administration against all organizations of any Islamic shade. Exceptional laws and underhanded methods were used in this war to cover the false accusations, which affected many well-known organizations of high credibility and good reputation. This relentless war included freezing accounts and incomes, arbitrary labelling as terrorist, and continuous inspection (not clear what you mean by inspection) that disinclined crowds and shocked volunteers. Moreover, the Italian forces of Kosovo (IFOR), roughly, violated the European convention on human rights and fundamental freedoms by torturing some volunteers of one humanitarian organization.

The Islamic humanitarian organizations are exposed to an attack that reminds us of the McCarthy era in the United States, where accusation is the rule and the eradication of human rights is practiced under the protection of special laws, as well as, great inspection and control. Such acts scared people and inhibited their self-expression. These measures affect almost one billion Muslims, who have the right to choose their methods of work, platforms and ways of developing their organizations.

In this context rises the concern about the problem of the absence of co-ordination between humanitarian organizations in the North and the South. Such co-ordination is vital as a natural bridge between the mutual aims and functions of all humanitarian organizations.

To prevent political leaders from trampling over this fundamental base of the masses, we call for an international conference to bring together all humanitarian organizations whose principles are in agreement with the international humanitarian law, and those that consider the protection of humans from disasters as one of their main purposes. Also, international experts will be invited to the conference as well as other governmental organizations such as the I.R.C., UNESCO, UNICEF and W.H.O, including their regional branches and central administrations. 

The General Form of the Conference: 

The conference will be held in Paris on 9-10, January 2003. It will include about 200 humanitarian organizations (with roughly a half of the representatives from the North and the other from the South). Arabic, English and French languages will be used in the conference. 

Aims of the Conference: 

1-To study the main problems that humanitarian organizations face in this third millennium, especially globalization, the importance of dialogue between cultures and the role of humanitarian action to interact among peoples.

2-To deal with the structural and functional problems, such as professionalism, voluntarism, and the internal and external political attempts to include them, as well as the phenomenon of governments inventing unreal humanitarian organization.

3-To reflect an image of the Islamic humanitarian organizations through scientific studies and field research. Accordingly, to evaluate the benefits and services these organizations have offered to people on the local and international levels, mainly in the last two decades. Also, to show how these humanitarian organizations are subjected to oppression by the American administration, especially after the 11th of September and the consequences of this on humanitarian relief action. In fact, the attacks against such organizations would deeply affect Islamic and non-Islamic societies.

4-To stress the important role of humanitarian organizations that contribute in establishing the basic structure of human communities, as well as love and solidarity among people.

5-To emphasize the positive and efficient role of the humanitarian organizations, which offer assistance to the poor, the vulnerable, victims of war and disasters and others. Also, to establish forms of protection to facilitate the missions of these organizations in the field.

6-To reach special mechanisms to guarantee the protection of humanitarian and professional organizations from abuse and arbitrariness, especially in wars.

Also, to suggest a draft for a declaration to be issued by the United Nations General Assembly, similar to the declaration on the protection of human rights defenders. 

Practical Steps: 

1-To establish a preparatory committee of nine members for the conference.

2-To receive the agreement of the humanitarian organizations to participate in the conference through sending letters, which present the aims, general forms and the suggested program of the conference. Also, to send invitations to the intended organizations.

3-To appoints certain researchers to submit studies about humanitarian work in three countries: Egypt, Afghanistan and Palestine.

4-To fully study the media coverage of the conference in a specialized way, because the success of the conference will rely on its publicity and the dissemination of its results. 

The Main Axes of the Conference: 

1-To discuss the results of unipolar globalization on humanitarian organizations through co-opting, employing and intervention. The war of former Yugoslavia and Kosovo can be taken as an example.

2-To present full field studies on the positions of humanitarian organizations in selected countries such as Afghanistan, Palestine and Egypt, in order to enrich the knowledge of the participants.

3-To evaluate the Islamic humanitarian organizations and their ability to offer humanitarian services in times of war and peace. Also, to hear two examples of organizations that stand with and three examples of organizations that stand against, then to give the chance to the American Justice Department to clarify its point of view. 

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