The Governments of the memberStates of the League of Arab States

Preamble

Given the Arab nation's belief inhuman dignity since God honoured it by making the Arab World the cradle ofreligions and the birthplace of civilizations which confirmed its right to alife of dignity based on freedom, justice and peace,

Pursuant to the eternal principlesof brotherhood and equality among all human beings which were firmly establishedby the Islamic Shari'a and the other divinely-revealed religions,

Being proud of the humanitarianvalues and principles which it firmly established in the course of its longhistory and which played a major role in disseminating centres of learningbetween the East and the West, thereby making it an international focal pointfor seekers of knowledge, culture and wisdom,

Conscious of the fact that theentire Arab World has always worked together to preserve its faith, believing inits unity, struggling to protect its freedom, defending the right of nations toself-determination and to safeguard their resources, believing in the rule oflaw and that every individual's enjoyment of freedom, justice and equality ofopportunity 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 closeinterrelationship between human rights and world peace,

Reaffirming the principles of theCharter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, aswell as the provisions of the United Nations International Covenants on Civiland Political Rights and Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the CairoDeclaration on Human Rights in Islam (4)

In confirmation of all the above,have agreed as follows :

PartI

Article 1

(a) All peoples have the right ofself-determination and control over their natural wealth and resources and,accordingly, have the right to freely determine the form of their politicalstructure and to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

(b) Racism, zionism, occupationand foreign domination pose a challenge to human dignity and constitute afundamental obstacle to the realization of the basic rights of peoples. There isa need to condemn and endeavour to eliminate all such practices.

PartII

Article 2

Each State Party to the presentCharter undertakes to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subjectto its Jurisdiction the right to enjoy all the rights and freedoms recognizedherein, without any distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, language,religion, political opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or otherstatus and without any discrimination between men and women.

Article 3

(a) No restriction upon orderogation from any of the fundamental human rights recognized or existing inany State Party to the present Charter in virtue of law, conventions or customshall be admitted on the pretext that the present Charter does not recognizesuch rights or that it recognizes them to a lesser extent.

(b) No State Party to the presentCharter shall derogate from the fundamental freedoms recognized herein and whichare enjoyed by the nationals of another State that shows less respect for thosefreedoms.

Article 4

(a) No restrictions shall beplaced on the rights and freedoms recognized in the present Charter except wheresuch is provided by law and deemed necessary to protect the national securityand economy, public order, health or morals or the rights and freedoms of others.

(b) In time of public emergencywhich threatens the life of the nation, the States Parties may take measuresderogating from their obligations under the present Charter to the extentstrictly required by the exigencies of the situation.

(c) Such measures or derogationsshall under no circumstances affect or apply to the rights and specialguarantees concerning the prohibition of torture and degrading treatment, returnto one's country, political asylum, trial, the inadmissibility of retrial forthe same act, and the legal status of crime and punishment.

Article 5

Every individual has the right tolife, liberty and security of person. These rights shall be protected by law.

Article 6

There shall be no crime orpunishment except as provided by law and there shall be no punishment in respectof an act preceding the promulgation of that provision. The accused shallbenefit from subsequent legislation if it is in his favour.

Article 7

The accused shall be presumedinnocent until proved guilty at a lawful trial in which he has enjoyed theguarantees necessary for his defence.

Article 8

Everyone has the right to libertyand security of person and no one shall be arrested, held in custody or detainedwithout a legal warrant and without being brought promptly before a judge.

Article 9

All persons are equal before thelaw and everyone within the territory of the State has a guaranteed right tolegal remedy.

Article 10

The death penalty may be imposedonly for the most serious crimes and anyone sentenced to death shall have theright to seek pardon or commutation of the sentence.

Article 11

The death penalty shall under nocircumstances be imposed for a political offence.

Article 12

The death penalty shall not beinflicted on a person under 18 years of age, on a pregnant woman prior to herdelivery or on a nursing mother within two years from the date on which she gavebirth.

Article 13

(a) The States parties shallprotect every person in their territory from being subjected to physical ormental torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They shall takeeffective measures to prevent such acts and shall regard the practice thereof,or participation therein, as a punishable offence.

(b) No medical or scientificexperimentation shall be carried out on any person without his free consent.

Article 14

No one shall be imprisoned on theground of his proven inability to meet a debt or fulfil any civil obligation.

Article 15

Persons sentenced to a penalty ofdeprivation of liberty shall be treated with humanity.

Article 16

No one shall be tried twice forthe same offence.

Anyone against whom suchproceedings are brought shall have the right to challenge their legality and todemand his release.

Anyone who is the victim ofunlawful arrest or detention shall be entitled to compensation.

Article 17

Privacy shall be inviolable andany infringement thereof shall constitute an offence. This privacy includesprivate family affairs, the inviolability of the home and the confidentiality ofcorrespondence and other private means of communication.

Article 18

Everyone shall have the inherentright to recognition as a person before the law.

Article 19

The people are the source ofauthority and every citizen of full legal age shall have the right of politicalparticipation, which he shall exercise in accordance with the law.

Article 20

Every individual residing withinthe territory of a State shall have the right to liberty of movement and freedomto choose his place of residence in any part of the said territory, within thelimits of the law.

Article 21

No citizen shall be arbitrarily orunlawfully prevented from leaving any Arab country, including his own, norprohibited from residing, or compelled to reside, in any part of his country.

Article 22

No citizen shall be expelled fromhis country or prevented from returning thereto.

Article 23

Every citizen shall have the rightto seek political asylum in other countries in order to escape persecution. Thisright shall not be enjoyed by persons facing prosecution for an offence underthe ordinary law. Political refugees shall not be extraditable.

Article 24

No citizen shall be arbitrarilydeprived of his original nationality, nor shall his right to acquire anothernationality be denied without a legally valid reason.

Article 25

Every citizen has a guaranteedright to own private property. No citizen shall under any circumstances bedivested of all or any part of his property in an arbitrary or unlawful manner.

Article 26

Everyone has a guaranteed right tofreedom of belief, thought and opinion.

Article 27

Adherents of every religion havethe right to practise their religious observances and to manifest their viewsthrough expression. practice or teaching, without prejudice to the rights ofothers. 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 tofreedom of peaceful assembly and association. No restrictions shall be placed onthe exercise of this right unless so required by the exigencies of nationalsecurity, public safety or the need to protect the rights and freedoms of others.

Article 29

The State guarantees the right toform trade unions and the right to strike within the limits laid down by law.

Article 30

The State guarantees everycitizen's right to work in order to secure for himself a standard of living thatmeets the basic requirements of life. The State also guarantees every citizen'sright to comprehensive social security.

Article 31

Free choice of work is guaranteedand forced labour is prohibited. Compelling a person to perform work under theterms of a court judgement shall not be deemed to constitute forced labour.

Article 32

The State shall ensure that itscitizens enjoy equality of opportunity in regard to work, as well as a fair wageand equal remuneration for work of equal value.

Article 33

Every citizen shall have the rightof access to public office in his country.

Article 34

The eradication of illiteracy is abinding obligation and every citizen has a right to education. Primary education,at the very least, shall be compulsory and free and both secondary anduniversity education shall be made easily accessible to all.

Article 35

Citizens have a right to live inan intellectual and cultural environment in which Arab nationalism is a sourceof pride, in which human rights are sanctified and in which racial, religiousand other forms of discrimination are rejected and international cooperation andthe cause of world peace are supported.

Article 36

Everyone has the right toparticipate in cultural life, as well as the right to enjoy literary andartistic works and to be given opportunities to develop his artistic,intellectual and creative talents.

Article 37

Minorities shall not be deprivedof their right to enjoy their culture or to follow the teachings of theirreligions.

Article 38

(a) The family is the basic unitof society, whose protection it shall enjoy.

(b) The State undertakes toprovide outstanding care and special protection for the family, mothers,children and the aged.

Article 39

Young persons have the right to beafforded the most ample opportunities for physical and mental development.

PartIII

Article 40

(a) The States members of theLeague's Council which are parties to the Charter shall elect a Committee ofExperts on Human Rights by secret ballot.

(b) The Committee shall consist ofseven members nominated by the member States Parties to the Charter. The initialelections to the Committee shall be held six months after the Charter's entryinto force. The Committee shall not include more than one person from the sameState.

(c) The Secretary-General shallrequest the member States to submit their candidates two months before thescheduled date of the elections.

(d) The candidates, who must behighly experienced and competent in the Committee's field of work, shall servein their personal capacity with full impartiality and integrity.

(e) The Committee's members shallbe elected for a three-year term which, in the case of three of them, shall berenewable for one further term, their names being selected by lot. The principleof rotation shall be observed as far as possible.

(f) The Committee shall elect itschairman and shall draw up its rules of procedure specifying its method ofoperation.

(g) Meetings of the Committeeshall be convened by the Secretary-General at the Headquarters of the League'sSecretariat. With the Secretary-General's approval, the Committee may also meetin another Arab country if the exigencies of its work so require.

Article 41

1. The States Parties shall submitreports to the Committee of Experts on Human Rights in the following manner :

(a) An initial report one yearafter the date of the Charter's entry into force.

(b) Periodic reports every threeyears.

(c) Reports containing the repliesof States to the Committee's questions.

2. The Committee shall considerthe reports submitted by the member States Parties to the Charter in accordancewith the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article.

3. The Committee shall submit areport, together with the views and comments of the States, to the StandingCommittee on Human Rights at the Arab League.

PartIV

Article 42

(a) The Secretary-General of theLeague of Arab States shall submit the present Charter, after its approval bythe Council of the League, to the member States for signature and ratificationor accession.

(b) The present Charter shallenter into effect two months after the date of deposit of the seventh instrumentof 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 dateof the deposit of its instrument of ratification or accession with theSecretariat. The Secretary-General shall notify the member States of the depositof each instrument of ratification or accession."

Footnotes

(1) The Charter was adopted by theCouncil of the League of Arab States by its resolution 5437 (102nd regularsession) on 15 September 1994. The original text may be obtained from the Leagueof Arab States, Permanent Delegation to the United Nations in Geneva, 9 rue duValais, CH-1202 Geneva.

(2) Translation by the UnitedNations, obtained from the Centre for Human Rights in Geneva. A Frenchtranslation made by Mohammed Amin AI-Midani has been published in RUDH, Vol. 7(1995), p. 212 ff.

(3) The 22 member States of theLeague 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.

Source : University of Minnesota Human Rights Library