Secretary-General of ANNHRI:Cooperation Between National Institutions,Civil Society is Imperative in Light of Challenges Facing Human Rights

Tunisia, November 06 (QNA) - HE Secretary-General of the Doha-based Arab Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ANNHRI) Sultan bin Hassan Al Jamali said that the existing cooperation between the national institutions and the civil society remained an exigent requirement in light of the challenges, violations and crimes that compromise human rights, noting the weight represented by the civil society through its active presence in the general life, His Excellency pointed out that national institutions came to complement this system to further undertake their role in promoting human rights, especially that they have a broad mandate, expertise and mechanisms through which they can effectively address these matters capitalizing on its unique site in proximity to the government entities within human rights system, which would have influential aspects in largely specified fields and large-scale perspective. This came during his inaugural remark delivered before the regional and annual Anabtawi 32 training course held in Tunisia which is organized by ANNHRI and Tunisia-based Arab Institute for Human Rights entitled: "Enhancing participation and protecting civic space and human rights defenders in the Arab region". His Excellency added that one of the indicators of the countries' advancement is the consideration of the reality of civic space as one of the objective indicators to measure the enjoyment of rights, indicating that the civic space constitutes a mirror to the extent of how of human rights are promoted, pointing out that the engagement of ANNHRI in organizing this course comes within the framework of building the relationships and promoting communication and understanding between the national human rights institutions and civil society and contributing to supporting and defending the civil society in pursuit of enhancing the civic space, because the broader civil society is, the more rights are promoted and protected. HE Al Jamali expressed his hope to develop a cooperation and partnerships that would enhance the civic space in the Arab region to further accelerate the pace of promoting and protecting human rights, considering the human rights activists and defenders as an integral part of the civil society, including the non-governmental organizations NGOs, bar associations, student associations, academic institutions, bloggers and charitable organizations, members and cadres of national human rights institutions. His Excellency added that they are working closely for the sake of better future and are seeking to achieve justice, equality and respect for human dignity, indicating that all those who are actively working in these organizations and associations in pursuit of defending and protecting the rights are considered human rights defenders, especially the assaults are inflicted upon them in the context of their rights activities. (QNA)