Group raps Lebanon, Jordan for mistreating Palestinians
Human Rights Watch: Lebanon disregarded plight of refugees living in 12 Palestinian camps.
By Reuters Tags: Israel newsThe governments of Jordan and Lebanon failed to adequately protect the rights of Palestinians, a new report by the group Human Rights Watch charged on Tuesday.
Some governments in the Middle East suppressed efforts to promote human rights and failed to take measures to protect the rights of migrant workers in 2009, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
The group said in its annual report released in Beirut countries such as Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia missed opportunities on women's rights while human rights activists in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen paid a heavy price for their activities.
Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen failed to tackle frequent incidents of torture. It accused Yemen of committing violations in the civil war in the north and the social unrest in the south.
Lebanon disregarded the plight of some of 200,000 registered Palestinian refugees living in 12 Palestinian camps, it said.
"The year 2009 was one of the missed opportunities for women and migrants in the region," Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said. "For human rights defenders, their small space for maneuvering shrank even further."
The rights group urged Saudi Arabia to release long-term detainees or try them in fair proceedings, dismantle the system of male legal guardianship over women and to stop discriminating against its Shi'ite citizens.
Human Rights Watch called on Jordan to stop stripping those of Palestinian origin of their Jordanian nationality.
The group said Arab countries responded weakly to calls to curb violence against women. Perpetrators of "honor killing" in Jordan and Syria still benefit from legal provisions that mitigate their punishments.
It said domestic abuse went largely unpunished in Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Women in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Saudi Arabia cannot confer their nationality either on foreign spouses or their children.
It called on Lebanon to amend its citizenship law to ensure all Lebanese women, regardless of the nationality of their husbands, can pass on citizenship to their children and husbands.
Hundreds of thousands of women from Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia and the Philippines work as maids in Arab states, many of which exclude domestic workers from protection in their labor laws.
The rights group said some governments adopted some measures to reduce the abuse but did not enforce them. It said migrant domestic workers faced exploitation and abuse by employers, including excessive work hours, non-payment of wages and restrictions on their liberty.
The group said Syria must form a commission to address the human rights grievances of the Kurdish minority which it said is subject to systematic discrimination, including the arbitrary denial of citizenship to an estimated 300,000 born in Syria.
"Middle Eastern governments need to recognize that the rights of minorities, refugees and stateless persons need greater protections," Whitson said.
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And it is clear he is not happy with the Settlers or their fanatic Rabbis.
"Yes, it is much easier to acuse israel than to accept these homeless people after 60 years of exile and suffering." - Amos What about the ones - the vast majority - living within Gaza, Judea and Samaria? Is there situation the product of Arab nations or Israel which has occupied those territories for over 40 years? I see, in your universe Amos, Israel has not been occupying Gaza and the West Bank since 1967, the "Arabs" have.
Pals may suffer, so they say , but women suffer more wherever Islam arrives.
"IF the Palestinians want to be treated with a descent life, they need to come live under the terrible occupation they publicly condemn. Arabs never had it so good, until the terrorist majority made life unbearable for the descent ones benefiting from Jewish compassion and humanity." Im glad at least you admit collective punishment is being employed. Thats a step in the right direction. Now that you have said it I hope that you can freely admit it in the future and cease supporting these acts.
Its disgusting! This is even more the reason why they must be able to return to their homeland just as the Jews did. They need a place where they can be safe and not persecuted or treated less. The ROR must be given to these people just as the Jewish people were given this chance. Its about time something should be done. Their homes should be returned or compensated to where they dont have to live in tents or camps. These are humans!
... there are suddenly calls among British and Irish left-wing organizations to boycott Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia for their mistreatment of women and Palestinians.
"Mirror Mirror On The Wall Who Treats Pals The Best Of All?" - Lavi The USA. They can become Citizens of the United States. Full citizens, not second rate. As for the middle east, no one treats the Palestinians decently.
Isn't Human Rights Watch a rabidly pro-Arab anti-Semitic organization dedicated to destroying Israel? Watching the rabid right and loony left respond to this article will be fun.
HRW attacks Israel about as often as a dog barks. It is not newsworthy every time! For HRW to notice anything that is going on in the Arab or Iranian dictatorships is extremely rare, so Haaretz was quite right to report it as a news item.
finally, one report condemning the arab states who treat the pals worse than dogs. My, oh my, how rare. Their Gaza brothers live better than they.
HRW¨s reports on the treatment of Palestinians by other Arabs are not new, however the world media chooses to ignore them while it obsesses about the treatment the Palestinians get from Israel. Is there a double standard at play here? You bet - It's the same double standard that applies to many who post in Haaretz against Israel while keeping mum in regards to the treatment of Palestinians at the hand of their Arab brethren. Especially when Palestinians do not pose a real and present threat to them. Many have pointed out that this double standard reeks of anti-semitism. The obsession the world has with Israel certainly points to this. Not only on the matter of HRW's reports but also on the sheer ignorance they show regarding other people's claims of nationhood. Re: The Kurds, the Saharawis, etc.
You complain that Haartez did not report on HRW's reports on Israel regarding the palestinians. Perhaps it is because those reports and others, true or false, fill most of the newspapers ad nauseum every day. The mistreatment of Palestinians at the hand of their Arab brethren is terrible. More Palestinians have died at their hands than at the hands of the IDF. By the tens of thousands!
time human rights watch woke up to NO human rights in muslim countries !
It is the fact that the said countries failed to adequately protect the rights of Palestinians (Jordan and Lebanon of all places!). The rest, as they say, is political opportunism and hypocrisy.
Maybe they realize there are alot of large human rights violations in the Arab world and will actually report on them and follow up on them.
"Mddle Eastern governments need to recognize that the rights of minorities, refugees and stateless persons need greater protections," Whitson said." Jews are a (tiny) minority in the Middle East and they were stateless until recently. Middle Eastern governments should do their best to respect and protect Israel as a state for minorities, instead of trying to destroy it because it is not Islamic.
IF the Palestinians want to be treated with a descent life, they need to come live under the terrible occupation they publicly condemn. Arabs never had it so good, until the terrorist majority made life unbearable for the descent ones benefiting from Jewish compassion and humanity.
At last HRW has noticed that the governments of Israel's neighbours and enemies aren't very nice people and cannot be trusted. Yet these are the very people that HRW and other groups take at their word when they accuse Israel of every nastiness under the sun. Gullible or sinister? THREE CHEERS FOR ISRAEL!!!
Not Lebanon, not Jordan nor Kuwait nor Saudi Arabia ... But let the Palestinians make true peace with the Israelis and the answer will be clear.
living in these brother countries, and at present fourth generation in these countries, they are still considered and treated as foreigners and refugies by their own brothers. no rights and no chance of improvement and all this just in order to be able to condemn Israel for all and every injustice resulting from this situation. Yes, it is much easier to acuse israel than to accept these homeless people after 60 years of exile and suffering.
at huamnrightswatch.gov , 2010 World report that includes criticism of Israel among many other countries Arab and not Arab . Why does Haaretz , "intentionalY' exclude on reporting on the Israeli criticism???? Not very good reporting principles.
Newspaper only reports on segments of the Huamn Rifgts Watch annual report . There is no mention of Israel???? Israel is part of this report and the report is not very flattering. How come no mention of criticism of israel?? Is it an oversight or blatant intent???? Not very good reporting. Arabs are the most critical of Arab regimes . Arabs yearn for freedom from tyrannical rulers and the yoke of Israeli occupation......