Council of the League of Arab
States, Arab Charter on Human Rights,
The Governments of the member States of the League of Arab States
Preamble
Given the Arab nation's belief in human dignity since God honoured it
by making the Arab World the cradle of religions and the birthplace of
civilizations which confirmed its right to a life of dignity based on freedom,
justice and peace,
Pursuant to the eternal principles of brotherhood and equality among
all human beings which were firmly established by the Islamic Shari'a and the
other divinely-revealed religions,
Being proud of the humanitarian values and principles which it firmly
established in the course of its long history and which played a major role in
disseminating centres of learning between the East and the West, thereby making
it an international focal point for seekers of knowledge, culture and wisdom,
Conscious of the fact that the entire Arab World has always worked
together to preserve its faith, believing in its unity, struggling to protect
its freedom, defending the right of nations to self-determination and to
safeguard their resources, believing in the rule of law and that every
individual's enjoyment of freedom, justice and equality of opportunity is the
yardstick by which the merits of any society are gauged,
Rejecting racism and zionism, which constitute a violation of human
rights and pose a threat to world peace,
Acknowledging the close interrelationship between human rights and
world peace,
Reaffirming the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well as the provisions of the
United Nations International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Cairo Declaration on Human Rights
in Islam (4)
In confirmation of all the above, have agreed as follows :
Part I
Article 1
(a) All peoples have the right of self-determination and control over
their natural wealth and resources and, accordingly, have the right to freely
determine the form of their political structure and to freely pursue their
economic, social and cultural development.
(b) Racism, zionism, occupation and foreign domination pose a
challenge to human dignity and constitute a fundamental obstacle to the
realization of the basic rights of peoples. There is a need to condemn and
endeavour to eliminate all such practices.
Part II
Article 2
Each State Party to the present Charter undertakes to ensure to all
individuals within its territory and subject to its Jurisdiction the right to
enjoy all the rights and freedoms recognized herein, without any distinction on
grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, national
or social origin, property, birth or other status and without any
discrimination between men and women.
Article 3
(a) No restriction upon or derogation from any of the fundamental
human rights recognized or existing in any State Party to the present Charter
in virtue of law, conventions or custom shall be admitted on the pretext that
the present Charter does not recognize such rights or that it recognizes them
to a lesser extent.
(b) No State Party to the present Charter shall derogate from the
fundamental freedoms recognized herein and which are enjoyed by the nationals
of another State that shows less respect for those freedoms.
Article 4
(a) No restrictions shall be placed on the rights and freedoms
recognized in the present Charter except where such is provided by law and
deemed necessary to protect the national security and economy, public order,
health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others.
(b) In time of public emergency which threatens the life of the
nation, the States Parties may take measures derogating from their obligations
under the present Charter to the extent strictly required by the exigencies of
the situation.
(c) Such measures or derogations shall under no circumstances affect
or apply to the rights and special guarantees concerning the prohibition of
torture and degrading treatment, return to one's country, political asylum,
trial, the inadmissibility of retrial for the same act, and the legal status of
crime and punishment.
Article 5
Every individual has the right to life, liberty and security of
person. These rights shall be protected by law.
Article 6
There shall be no crime or punishment except as provided by law and
there shall be no punishment in respect of an act preceding the promulgation of
that provision. The accused shall benefit from subsequent legislation if it is
in his favour.
Article 7
The accused shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty at a lawful
trial in which he has enjoyed the guarantees necessary for his defence.
Article 8
Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person and no one
shall be arrested, held in custody or detained without a legal warrant and
without being brought promptly before a judge.
Article 9
All persons are equal before the law and everyone within the territory
of the State has a guaranteed right to legal remedy.
Article 10
The death penalty may be imposed only for the most serious crimes and
anyone sentenced to death shall have the right to seek pardon or commutation of
the sentence.
Article 11
The death penalty shall under no circumstances be imposed for a
political offence.
Article 12
The death penalty shall not be inflicted on a person under 18 years of
age, on a pregnant woman prior to her delivery or on a nursing mother within
two years from the date on which she gave birth.
Article 13
(a) The States parties shall protect every person in their territory
from being subjected to physical or mental torture or cruel, inhuman or
degrading treatment. They shall take effective measures to prevent such acts
and shall regard the practice thereof, or participation therein, as a
punishable offence.
(b) No medical or scientific experimentation shall be carried out on
any person without his free consent.
Article 14
No one shall be imprisoned on the ground of his proven inability to meet
a debt or fulfil any civil obligation.
Article 15
Persons sentenced to a penalty of deprivation of liberty shall be
treated with humanity.
Article 16
No one shall be tried twice for the same offence.
Anyone against whom such proceedings are brought shall have the right
to challenge their legality and to demand his release.
Anyone who is the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall be
entitled to compensation.
Article 17
Privacy shall be inviolable and any infringement thereof shall
constitute an offence. This privacy includes private family affairs, the
inviolability of the home and the confidentiality of correspondence and other
private means of communication.
Article 18
Everyone shall have the inherent right to recognition as a person
before the law.
Article 19
The people are the source of authority and every citizen of full legal
age shall have the right of political participation, which he shall exercise in
accordance with the law.
Article 20
Every individual residing within the territory of a State shall have
the right to liberty of movement and freedom to choose his place of residence
in any part of the said territory, within the limits of the law.
Article 21
No citizen shall be arbitrarily or unlawfully prevented from leaving
any Arab country, including his own, nor prohibited from residing, or compelled
to reside, in any part of his country.
Article 22
No citizen shall be expelled from his country or prevented from
returning thereto.
Article 23
Every citizen shall have the right to seek political asylum in other
countries in order to escape persecution. This right shall not be enjoyed by
persons facing prosecution for an offence under the ordinary law. Political
refugees shall not be extraditable.
Article 24
No citizen shall be arbitrarily deprived of his original nationality,
nor shall his right to acquire another nationality be denied without a legally
valid reason.
Article 25
Every citizen has a guaranteed right to own private property. No
citizen shall under any circumstances be divested of all or any part of his
property in an arbitrary or unlawful manner.
Article 26
Everyone has a guaranteed right to freedom of belief, thought and
opinion.
Article 27
Adherents of every religion have the right to practise their religious
observances and to manifest their views through expression. practice or
teaching, without prejudice to the rights of others. No restrictions shall be
imposed on the exercise of freedom of belief, thought and opinion except as
provided by law.
Article 28
All citizens have the right to freedom of peaceful assembly and
association. No restrictions shall be placed on the exercise of this right
unless so required by the exigencies of national security, public safety or the
need to protect the rights and freedoms of others.
Article 29
The State guarantees the right to form trade unions and the right to
strike within the limits laid down by law.
Article 30
The State guarantees every citizen's right to work in order to secure
for himself a standard of living that meets the basic requirements of life. The
State also guarantees every citizen's right to comprehensive social security.
Article 31
Free choice of work is guaranteed and forced labour is prohibited.
Compelling a person to perform work under the terms of a court judgement shall
not be deemed to constitute forced labour.
Article 32
The State shall ensure that its citizens enjoy equality of opportunity
in regard to work, as well as a fair wage and equal remuneration for work of
equal value.
Article 33
Every citizen shall have the right of access to public office in his
country.
Article 34
The eradication of illiteracy is a binding obligation and every
citizen has a right to education. Primary education, at the very least, shall
be compulsory and free and both secondary and university education shall be
made easily accessible to all.
Article 35
Citizens have a right to live in an intellectual and cultural
environment in which Arab nationalism is a source of pride, in which human
rights are sanctified and in which racial, religious and other forms of
discrimination are rejected and international cooperation and the cause of
world peace are supported.
Article 36
Everyone has the right to participate in cultural life, as well as the
right to enjoy literary and artistic works and to be given opportunities to
develop his artistic, intellectual and creative talents.
Article 37
Minorities shall not be deprived of their right to enjoy their culture
or to follow the teachings of their religions.
Article 38
(a) The family is the basic unit of society, whose protection it shall
enjoy.
(b) The State undertakes to provide outstanding care and special
protection for the family, mothers, children and the aged.
Article 39
Young persons have the right to be afforded the most ample
opportunities for physical and mental development.
Part III
Article 40
(a) The States members of the League's Council which are parties to
the Charter shall elect a Committee of Experts on Human Rights by secret
ballot.
(b) The Committee shall consist of seven members nominated by the
member States Parties to the Charter. The initial elections to the Committee
shall be held six months after the Charter's entry into force. The Committee
shall not include more than one person from the same State.
(c) The Secretary-General shall request the member States to submit
their candidates two months before the scheduled date of the elections.
(d) The candidates, who must be highly experienced and competent in
the Committee's field of work, shall serve in their personal capacity with full
impartiality and integrity.
(e) The Committee's members shall be elected for a three-year term
which, in the case of three of them, shall be renewable for one further term,
their names being selected by lot. The principle of rotation shall be observed
as far as possible.
(f) The Committee shall elect its chairman and shall draw up its rules
of procedure specifying its method of operation.
(g) Meetings of the Committee shall be convened by the
Secretary-General at the Headquarters of the League's Secretariat. With the
Secretary-General's approval, the Committee may also meet in another Arab
country if the exigencies of its work so require.
Article 41
1. The States Parties shall submit reports to the Committee of Experts
on Human Rights in the following manner :
(a) An initial report one year after the date of the Charter's entry
into force.
(b) Periodic reports every three years.
(c) Reports containing the replies of States to the Committee's
questions.
2. The Committee shall consider the reports submitted by the member
States Parties to the Charter in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 1
of this article.
3. The Committee shall submit a report, together with the views and
comments of the States, to the Standing Committee on Human Rights at the Arab
League.
Part IV
Article 42
(a) The Secretary-General of the League of Arab States shall submit
the present Charter, after its approval by the Council of the League, to the
member States for signature and ratification or accession.
(b) The present Charter shall enter into effect two months after the
date of deposit of the seventh instrument of ratification or accession with the
Secretariat of the League of Arab States.
Article 43
Following its entry into force, the present Charter shall become
binding on each State two months after the date of the deposit of its
instrument of ratification or accession with the Secretariat. The
Secretary-General shall notify the member States of the deposit of each
instrument of ratification or accession."
Footnotes
(1) The Charter was adopted by the Council of the League of Arab
States by its resolution 5437 (102nd regular session) on 15 September 1994. The
original text may be obtained from the League of Arab States, Permanent
Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, 9 rue du Valais, CH-1202 Geneva.
(2) Translation by the United Nations, obtained from the Centre for
Human Rights in Geneva. A French translation made by Mohammed Amin AI-Midani
has been published in RUDH, Vol. 7 (1995), p. 212 ff.
(3) The 22 member States of the League of Arab States are : Jordan.
United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Tunisia, Algeria, Djibouti. Saudi Arabia, Sudan,
Syrian Arab Republic. Somalia. Iraq, Oman. Palestine, Qatar, Comoros, Kuwait,
Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Egypt, Morocco, Mauritania, Yemen.
(4) Adopted on 5 August 1990.