The lack of progress in ending the civil strife in Algeria, the on-off weapons inspections and comprehensive sanctions regime in Iraq, and the nearly moribund negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority dominated the headlines about the region and generated largely negative human rights consequences. But what went largely unnoticed was the steady erosion of freedoms of expression and association. In addition, other basic rights were not respected in most countries in the Middle East and North Africa and the pattern of violations persisted or worsened. There were disappointingly few discernible improvements in longstanding problems such as arbitrary arrest, torture, disappearances, and the death penalty.

The international attention that was finally paid to Algeria?s ongoing internal conflict did not prevent the killing of thousands of men, women, and children, and continued growth of the number of ?disappeared? persons. In Iraq, sanctions combined with government policies continued to have a devastating impact on the welfare of civilians. In September, then-U.N. humanitarian aid Coordinator Denis Halliday stated that 4,000 to 5,000 children were dying unnecessarily every month due to the impact of sanctions because of the breakdown of water and sanitation, inadequate diet and the bad internal health situation. The military conflict in occupied south Lebanon again yielded violations of international humanitarian law and civilian casualties, as did the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the occupied territories. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Libya, and Syria remained civil society wastelands, where the exercise of freedom of association and expression was completely beyond reach. In Tunisia, the government sought not only to present its own version of human rights and democratization but employed repressive and sometimes brutal measures to muzzle Tunisian human rights activists who tried to portray a truer picture.

To the entire report