Cairo: The United Arab Emirates signed the Arab charter on human rights at the Arab league headquarters on Tuesday, becoming the thirteenth signatories of the blueprint.
On instructions of Foreign Minister Shaikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE ambassador in Egypt and permanent Representative at the Arab League, Ahmed Al Mail inked the document in the presence of top Arab league officials.
He said the move underlines the UAE's care for human being as the cornerstone of development and respect for its dignity.
The 53 article charter reaffirms the principles the Islamic Sharia and Arab values, the charter of the United Nations and the universal declaration of human rights, as well as the provisions of the United Nations international covenants on civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights and the Cairo declaration on human rights in Islam.
Article (2) of the charter reads: '' Each state party to the present charter undertakes to ensure to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction the right to enjoy all the rights and freedoms recognised herein, without any distinction on grounds of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status and without any discrimination between men and women.
''The states parties shall protect every person in their territory from being subjected to physical or mental torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. They shall take effective measures to prevent such acts and shall regard the practice thereof, or participation therein, as a punishable offence," another article says.
The charters also covers rights of women, workers and people with special needs as well as their educational and cultural rights.
