Support Our Mission With A Single Or Recurring Donation

Donate Today

Follow:

Facebook-f
Twitter
Instagram
Linkedin
Youtube
Search
Close
  • English
  • العربية
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • DAWN’s Culprits Gallery
  • International Actors
    • DAWN’s Advocacy
    • USA
  • Democracy In Exile
  • Experts
  • Latest
Menu
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • DAWN’s Culprits Gallery
  • International Actors
    • DAWN’s Advocacy
    • USA
  • Democracy In Exile
  • Experts
  • Latest
Donate

Restraint, Humility And Integrity In U.S. Policy

October 3, 2020
in International Actors, USA
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

For decades, U.S. policy toward the Middle East has contributed to massive violations of human rights and international humanitarian law and has suppressed attempts at democracy and accountability. Through military, financial and diplomatic support, the United States is propping up autocratic regimes that oppress their people, while invoking the goal of “promoting human rights and democracy” to justify direct and indirect military interventions and broad, punitive economic sanctions.

When I got to America, I asked myself why do these people like to have freedom but they don’t like for people in the Middle East to have freedom?

-Hossam al-Motaim, Egyptian democracy activist

DAWN’s foreign policy recommendations are guided by the principle, Do No Harm. As a first step, the U.S. should cease its support of governments that engage in systematic and widespread human rights abuses, including torture, attacks against civilians, repression of freedom of expression and squashing of political dissent. U.S. policy makers should also exercise humility in determining what is “best” for Arab countries and avoid interventions aimed at regime change. U.S. policy should be guided by international law and the insights of human rights activists and political dissidents from the region – the very people who have suffered as a result of U.S. support for oppressive regimes. In taking proactive measures, the U.S. should act multilaterally wherever possible.

Principles for U.S. Policy:

  1. Follow international law.
  2. Demand human rights compliance from all actors, whether friends or foes.
  3. Act multilaterally.

First, follow the law.

The U.S. should abide by its obligations under human rights law and the laws of war in its conduct in the Middle East. This would start by ending its own violations, such as indiscriminate attacks in the war against ISIS that have harmed civilians in Syria and Iraq or drone strikes that have killed scores of civilians in Yemen. It should end its involvement in abusive armed conflicts by providing, for example, intelligence support or targeting assistance. It should end military sales, training and support to states or armed groups responsible for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other widespread and systematic human rights abuses. And it should end domestic abuses such as systemic racism, intrusive surveillance, and unlawful counter-terrorism practices that serve as a bad example for others to follow.

“As members of April 6 [Egyptian democracy] movement, we looked to the USA as the house of democracy, the house of freedom, the house of justice. But American military intervention and human rights violations have caused great harm to our public and personal lives.”

 –Mohammed Kamal, Egyptian democracy activist and DAWN research assistant

The U.S. should also take legislative and diplomatic action to strengthen its own compliance with human rights and the laws of war, also called international humanitarian law. Congress should expand the Leahy Law, which bans arms transfers to specific military units implicated in serious abuses, to more broadly ban arms transfers to governments responsible for widespread and systematic abuses; it also should eliminate the “national security” exception that has allowed the State Department to exempt itself from the Leahy requirements even in the limited and narrow circumstances in which Congress has sought to enforce them. It should enact the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act, introduced in the House of Representatives in February 2020, to end security assistance, governmental and commercial arms sales and law enforcement exchanges for governments involved in the most serious abuses of human rights and the laws of war. The United States should also ratify and implement a number of international treaties, including the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, the Mine Ban Treaty, the Convention against Cluster Munitions, Protocols I and II of the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

Second, be consistent.

The decades-long U.S. approach of selective human rights interventions in the region has undermined American credibility, and it invites skepticism about even the most principled solo U.S. efforts to press for human rights reforms. So long as the U.S. provides financial, military and diplomatic support to regimes that jail and torture human rights activists, criminalize dissent and massacre political opponents, actions taken against “non-allied” human rights abusing states will be seen as political score-settling. The U.S. can’t credibly sanction China, Iran or Venezuela for crushing protests, for example, when it rewards Egypt and Israel with military support, despite their extensive record of widespread, deadly attacks on protesters. Targeted sanctions against individual wrongdoers that avoid punishing entire populations, such as those authorized by the Magnitsky Act, have the potential to be effective, but only if they are reformed to target human rights abusers consistently, without regard to whether they act on behalf of countries that are U.S. allies.

Arab tyrants love it when people outside treat them the same. They say, “We represent the people; the people love us; we are the people.” We’re just playing into their narrative when we fall into that trap, including with overly broad sanctions.

 -Abdallah Alaoudh, Saudi political dissident and DAWN Research Director for Saudi Arabia and the UAE

Third, don’t go it alone.

The U.S. should build and participate in genuine coalitions for multilateral engagement in the region. A multilateral approach presents a better opportunity for lasting human rights improvements with ongoing, mutual accountability. The exercise of diplomatically engaging in a multilateral process would in itself enhance international cooperation and strengthen global norms, as well as making the United States a more reliable, respected, and effective actor in the region. The U.S. should support reforming the UN Security Council, to enhance its capacity to respond to mass atrocities. It should strengthen, not undermine, multilateral vehicles for diplomatic and judicial intervention in human rights abuses such as the UN General Assembly, the International Criminal Court and the UN Human Rights Council. The United States also can reward states implementing reforms or strengthening institutions to improve rights protections by, for example, targeted financial assistance, but even such rewards are better delivered as part of a multilateral fund that can better avoid political selectivity. 

Recommendations for the U.S. Government:

Abide by international law and existing U.S. human rights law in its engagements in the Middle East and North Africa, including by:

  • Ceasing unlawful attacks on civilians; recording and publicizing information about civilians killed or injured in American military attacks; compensating civilians unlawfully or mistakenly killed or injured by U.S. attacks;
  • Ceasing participation in military conflicts with parties credibly documented to have committed widespread and systematic laws of war violations;
  • Suspending military sales and assistance to states or armed groups credibly implicated in widespread and systematic violations of human rights or international humanitarian law.

Affirm and expand commitments to international law, including by:

  • Ratifying and implementing the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, the Mine Ban Treaty, and the Treaty to Ban Cluster Munitions;
  • Expanding Leahy Law regulations banning arms transfers to include states, not just military units, implicated in serious human rights abuses, without waiver;
  • Enact the Stop Arming Human Rights Abusers Act.

Reestablish and expand U.S. participation in multilateral processes for the promotion of human rights and democracy in the Middle East, including by:

  • Rejoining the United Nations Human Rights Council and supporting its work;
  • Ending punitive measures against the staff of the International Criminal Court and ratifying the Rome Statute to become a member of the court;
  • To the extent possible, shifting democracy promotion funds and efforts to a multinational or global entity.
Tags: arming dictatorsDAWndemocracy for the arab world nowEgyptEgypt human rightsHuman rights abusershuman rights abusesJamal Khashoggi.saudi arabiathe middle eastUnited StatesWashington DC
المقال السابق

Saud al-Qahtani

المقال التالي

Rights Groups to Washington Institute: Don’t Create PR Platform for Saudi Foreign Minister

مقالات ذات صلة Posts

Norwegian Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Soreide talks to the media outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the Norwegian Government believing that Russia is behind a cyber attack on the Norwegian Parliament, in Oslo, on October 13, 2020. - A cyber attack was detected in August 2020, when Norway announced hackers had attacked the parliament's email system, gaining access to some lawmakers' messages. (Photo by Orn E. BORGEN / NTB / AFP) / Norway OUT (Photo by ORN E. BORGEN/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
Advocacy

Norway Should Reveal the Identity of 10 Saudis Who Asked for Diplomatic Immunity

On December 22, 2020, in a letter to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Democracy for the Arab World...

by DAWN
December 24, 2020
WILMINGTON, DE  November 24, 2020:  President- elect Joe Biden introduces his cabinet member nominees at the Queen in Wilmington, DE on November 24, 2020.  The President- elect along with Vice President- elect Kamala D. Harris introduced Antony Blinken for Secretary of State, Jake Sullivan as National Security Adviser,  Alejandro Mayorkas for Secretary of Homeland Security, Avril Haines for Director of National Intelligence, John Kerry as Special Presidential Envoy for Climate, and Linda Thomas-Greenfield for U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.  (Photo by Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Democracy In Exile

Don’t Expect Biden Administration to Change Fundamentals of US Middle East Policy

Last July, then presidential candidate Joe Biden, responded to the release of Egyptian-American medical student Muhammad Amashah after his...

by Joel Beinin
December 22, 2020
Palestinian children take part in a candle-light vigil in Gaza City on November 25, 2009 to call for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Israel is refusing to free a group of Palestinian prisoners serving life terms or long sentences demanded by Hamas in exchange for a captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who is being held by militants in Gaza, officials close to the talks on a deal said. Both Hamas and Israel earlier this week reported progress in the negotiations, which have been mediated by Egypt and Germany, but downplayed reports of a quick deal. AFP PHOTO/MOHAMMED ABED (Photo credit should read MOHAMMED ABED/AFP via Getty Images)
Advocacy

Together We Must Protect and Support WHRDs in Middle East and North Africa

Amal al-Moallimi is the new Saudi ambassador to Norway and only the second female Saudi ambassador.

by DAWN
December 10, 2020
International Actors

Biden Must Block Trump’s Arms Sale to the UAE

It will escalate a regional arms race and strengthen a regime guilty of war crimes and other human rights...

by Sarah Leah Whitson
December 10, 2020
المقال التالي

Rights Groups to Washington Institute: Don’t Create PR Platform for Saudi Foreign Minister

TOPSHOT - Fighters of the UAE-trained Security Belt Force, dominated by members of the the Southern Transitional Council (STC) which seeks independence for south Yemen, ride atop a tank in Yemen's southern coastal town of Shuqrah, east of the city of Aden, on August 27, 2019. - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates renewed a call earlier this week for peace talks between Yemen's government and southern separatists, urging a ceasefire following deadly clashes. (Photo by - / AFP) (Photo by -/AFP via Getty Images)

Is the UAE Bringing the Israelis into Socotra?

January 17, 2021
TUNIS, TUNISIA - JANUARY 24:  Protesters congregate outside the formerly feared Interior Ministry on Avenue Habib Bourguiba on January 24, 2011 in Tunis, Tunisia. Protesters from the countryside and the hamlet of Sidi Bouzid, the town where the 'Jasmine Revolution' started, walked through the night to descend on the prime minsiters office where they tore down razor wire barricades.  (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Tunisia 10 Years After the Arab Spring: A Success Story Threatened by UAE and Saudi Arabia

January 15, 2021

DAWN Demands Release of Report on Jamal Khashoggi’s Murder in Lawsuit against DNI

January 15, 2021

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Anonymous Interviews
  • Anonymous Interviews Egypt
  • Anonymous Interviews Saudi Arabia
  • Anonymous Interviews UAE
  • Cases
  • Cases Egypt
  • Cases Saudi Arabia
  • Cases UAE
  • Countries
  • Culprits
  • Culprits Egypt
  • Culprits Saudi Arabia
  • Dawn’s Advocacy
  • Democracy In Exile
  • Egypt
  • Feature
  • Human Rights
  • International Actors
  • Press Release
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Uncategorized
  • US – Egypt
  • US – Saudi Arabia
  • US – UAE
  • USA

SUPPORT OUR MISSION

Donate Today

About Us

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights for all of the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Support Us

Donate Now

Newsletter

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Linkedin
Youtube

© DAWN All rights reserved. | Website Design by KRS Creative.

DONATE TODAY