State Dept. 2005 Human Rights Violations: Jordan, Egypt, UAE

On March 8, 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice delivered opening remarks on the release of the State Department's 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Under Secretary Paula Dobriansky also gave remarks at the special briefing. Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor Barry F. Lowenkron gave a statement and answered questions.


The report entitled "Country Reports on Human Rights Practices" is submitted to the Congress by the Department of State in compliance with sections 116(d) and 502B(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 (FAA), as amended, and section 504 of the Trade Act of 1974, as amended. The law provides that the Secretary of State shall transmit to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, by February 25 "a full and complete report regarding the status of internationally recognized human rights, within the meaning of subsection (A) in countries that receive assistance under this part, and (B) in all other foreign countries which are members of the United Nations and which are not otherwise the subject of a human rights report under this Act." We have also included reports on several countries that do not fall into the categories established by these statutes and that thus are not covered by the congressional requirement.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/index.htm

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven semi-autonomous emirates, with an estimated resident population of 4.5 million, of which only 21 percent are citizens. The seven emirate rulers constitute the Federal Supreme Council, the highest legislative and executive body. The Council selects a president and vice president from its membership; the president, in turn, appoints the prime minister and cabinet. In November 2004 the Council selected Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Ruler of Abu Dhabi Emirate, as head of state for a five-year term. Traditional rule in the emirates generally is patriarchal, with political allegiance defined in terms of loyalty to the tribal leaders, to the leaders of the individual emirates, and to the leaders of the federation. There are no democratically elected institutions or political parties. There are no general elections; however, citizens may express their concerns directly to their leaders through traditional consultative mechanisms, such as the open majlis, or council. A consultative body, the Federal National Council (FNC), consists of 40 advisors appointed by emirate rulers for two-year terms. The civilian authorities generally maintained effective control of the security forces.

The government's respect for human rights remained problematic. The following human rights problems exist or were reported:


• no citizens' right to change the government and no popularly elected representatives of any kind
• flogging as judicially sanctioned punishment
• arbitrary detention
• incommunicado detention permitted by law
• questionable independence of the judiciary
• restrictions on civil liberties--freedom of speech and of the press, and assembly
• restrictions on right of association, particularly for human rights groups
• restrictions on religious freedom
• domestic abuse of women, sometimes enabled by police
• trafficking in women and children
• legal and societal discrimination against women and noncitizens
• corruption and lack of government transparency
• abuse of foreign domestic servants
• restrictions on and abuses of workers' rights.

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61701.htm