NOUAKCHOTT DECLARATION: CREATION OF NETWORK OF ARAB NATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTIONS

The participants of the 7th Annual Meeting of Arab National Human Rights Institutions announced the creation of the Network of Arab National Human Rights Institutions. This annual meeting was held on 27 - 28 April 2011 in Nouakchott, Mauritania. It was devoted to discuss the "Role of NHRIs in the follow-up of the implementation of the treaty bodies’ recommendations".

This meeting was organized by the Mauritanian National Human Rights Commission, in collaboration with the Moroccan National Human Rights Institution (CNDH), the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Development Programme. The participants agreed at the end of this meeting on the creation of a network of Arab national human rights institutions. The Mauritanian National Human Rights Commission was entrusted with the preparation of the network’s draft statutes and by-laws, in collaboration with the other participating institutions. The Arab national human rights institutions will tackle these drafts later on.

Several recommendations were made, including the need to strengthen cooperation and interaction of these Arab national institutions and treaty bodies, mainly in relation to the participation in the preparation of national reports and in the monitoring and publication of treaty bodies’ concluding observations.

A CNDH delegation, chaired by CNDH President Mr. Driss El Yazami, took part in this 7th annual meeting. The opening session of this meeting was held on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. It was chaired by the President of the Mauritanian National Human Rights Commission and attended by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Speaking on this occasion, Mr. Driss El Yazami stated that "the future of the Arab human rights dialogue depends on the creation of an institutional instrument that ensures the implementation of the outcome and recommendations of the dialogue’s meetings". Given the experience of Arab national human rights institutions, it is time to have a network that gathers all these institutions, he said. The creation of this network is not an objective by itself. We should have clear objectives. We should, for instance, strengthen cooperation and coordination, exchange experiences, urge Arab States to ratify international conventions, give priority to some persisting issues in Arab countries (like immigration, human rights, cultural identity, etc.) and redefine relations with the United Nations system, he said.

Several sessions were scheduled during this 7th Annual Meeting of Arab National Human Rights Institutions. One of these sessions, chaired by Mr. Mustafa Raissouni, Advisor to CNDH President, was devoted to discuss "the role of NHRIs in the process of the Universal Periodic Review". Mr. Raissouni highlighted the contribution of the former Advisory Council on Human Rights (first version of the National Human Rights Council) in the process of the Universal Periodic Review. He indicated that the number of conventions signed by Morocco has been increasing since the creation of the Advisory Council in 1990.

The Quatrain National Human Rights Commission suggested hosting the 8th Annual Meeting of Arab National Human Rights Institutions. Morocco suggested devoting the theme of this 8th meeting to "immigration and trafficking of persons".

The networks of national human rights institutions created so far are: the Network of African National Human Rights Institutions (NANHRI), chaired by the Moroccan National Human Rights Council since 2009, the European Group of National Institutions for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, the Asia Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions and the Network of National Human Rights Institutions in the Americas.