The killing of Palestinian protesters by Israeli forces in Gaza and the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in a Saudi Arabian consulate glaringly illustrated the unaccountability of Middle Eastern and North African states that resorted to lethal and other violence to repress dissent. The crackdown on civil society actors and political opponents increased significantly in Egypt, Iran and Saudi Arabia. In all, dozens of women human rights defenders there were targeted for advocating women’s rights or protesting against violence against women or sexual harassment. Across the region, authorities used arbitrary detention, excessive force against protesters and administrative measures to restrict civil society. Despite the repression, 2018, like 2017, saw limited positive developments at a legislative and institutional level with respect to women’s rights and violence against women. Developments in Lebanon and Tunisia raised faint hopes of the beginnings of change in the general situation in which same-sex sexual relations are criminalized across the region; however, authorities in these and other countries arrested and prosecuted people for their real or perceived sexual orientation. Armed hostilities in both Iraq and Syria decreased. As a result, fewer civilians were killed, but many continued to suffer the impact of serious violations, including war crimes, committed by all parties to the conflicts in Libya, Syria and Yemen particularly, as well as the devastating humanitarian situations that arose from or were exacerbated by their actions. Significant developments aimed at addressing pastviolations occurred in Lebanon and Tunisia. Ethnic and religious minorities faced persecution by states and armed groups in countries including Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. There were some positive developments at a legislative level in Morocco, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with respect to migrant and/or domestic workers, but workers in these and other countries continued to face exploitation and abuse and sub-Saharan migrants, as well as refugees and asylum-seekers, were subjected to a widespread crackdown in Maghreb countries. Restrictions on access to water for drinking and other household use in marginalized communities in Iran, Iraq and Tunisia raised concerns about discrimination and fuelled protests. Across the region, government measures in the name of security led to arbitrary detention and unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment, denaturalization and border control orders, as well as, in Egypt, the use of banned weapons and extrajudicial executions. There were some limited positive developments with respect to the death penalty, but high numbers of individuals continued to be executed in Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, many after being sentenced to death in unfair trials. The political crisis in the Gulf that started in 2017 continued to impact the human rights of thousands of individuals living across the region, separating families and disrupting education.
