Human rights in the Middle East

The Cyrus Cylinder is a proclamation by Persian king Cyrus the Great, who ruled much of the Middle East. Its advocacy of religious freedom across the Achaemenid Empire has been claimed as the first declaration of human rights.[1]

Human rights in the Middle East have been shaped by the legal and political development of international human rights law after the Second World War, and their application to the Middle East. The 2004 United Nations Arab Human Development Report[2] (AHDR) claimed that although Arab-Islamic tradition does hold unique importance for ideas of human welfare, History has proven that "they were not sufficiently prevalent in society to foster a culture based on a political contract, and allow for the legitimacy of differences of opinion, dialogue and transfer of power."[2] Issues of the validity of democracy in the region and human rights are at the very centre of the challenges facing Middle Eastern society today.[3]

  1. ^ Curtis, John; MacGregor, Neil (2013), The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia: A New Beginning for the Middle East, British Museum, ISBN 9780714111872, It is often referred to as the first bill of human rights as it appears to permit freedom of worship throughout the Persian Empire and to allow deported people to return to their homelands.
  2. ^ a b "Arab Human Development Report 2004: Towards Freedom in the Arab World" (PDF). 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-06-14. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  3. ^ "Human Rights In The Middle East: Questions Of Compatibility And Conflict". www.e-ir.info. 30 March 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2016.