The last session of the conference gave the floor to human rights activists from various countries in the Middle East and North Africa region to describe the severity of the human rights violations in their countries, and voice their demands to the international community and the Arabic League.

Activists from Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, and Sudan reported on their countries’ situations and needs.

Syrian political and human rights activist Hazem Nahar briefed the participants on the situation in his country and expressed concern over escalating human rights violations.

The conference’s seventh session focused on tackling corruption as part of addressing past violations. UNDP’s regional Center advisor for Civil Society and Social Policies Marwan Abisamra moderated the session and initiated the discussion by highlighting the selective distribution of revenues among the people of the Arab world countries. Abisamra added that alongside institutional reform, corruption is a pivotal issue in the region. “How to fight corruption?” asked Abisamra.

In the first session of the second day, Ziad Abdel Tawab, deputy director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights, described the impact of the Mubarak trial in Egypt and the increasing pressure the military rulers are putting on human rights activists through military courts. Some 12000 civilians have been prosecuted by the military courts in legally flawed proceedings, in which the rights of defendants are not ensured. “The promise of Mubarak trial was a carrot, but the military is using the stick of its courts to crack down on the activists,” asserted Tawab.

Magdy Andel Hameed devoted the introduction to drawing attention to the ongoing human rights abuses taking place against activists by the military authorities in Egypt. He posed several questions to the panelists which sought to define the crimes of the past, the time periods that reparations can be applied to, and transitional justice measures to deal with crimes committed against women.