Human rights in the Middle East
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 (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." 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. Legal framework International obligations In 1948 Egypt, Iran and Pakistan signed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Saudi Arabia did not, arguing that it "failed to take into consideration the cultural and religious context of non-Western countries." The Cairo Declaration of Human Rights in Islam was adopted by 45 member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in August 1990. This declaration undermines many of the rights the UDHR guarantees allowing all the member states to abide by a set of human rights based