When protesters took to the streets more than 15 years ago in what would become the Arab Uprisings, calls for justice in the face of decades of human rights abuses, corruption, and impunity were at the heart of these movements. In the years since, advocates across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region have remained steadfast in their mission, while developing innovative and creative ways to pursue justice. Faced with the horror of the Assad regime and with no real pathways for justice before the national system, Syrian advocates turned to universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction to bring cases before foreign courts. In Lebanon, lawyers teamed up with investigative journalists to map the assets and funds of individuals complicit in the 2019 financial crisis, holding people like former central bank governor Riad Salameh to account. In Egypt, attorneys leveraged strategic litigation in the country’s constitutional court and in fora like the African human rights system to challenge a protest law, sexual violence, and more. Yet the environment in which this work takes place is hostile. Across the region, justice advocates face retaliation, lawsuits designed to silence or intimidate them, and surveillance, all while confronting a global failure within the international order.
As part of the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy’s (TIMEP) programming, “The Arab Uprisings 15 Years On: More Than A Moment,” join us on Thursday, September 10, from 10:00 to 11:30 AM EST for the online event “The Path to Justice 15 Years Since the Arab Uprisings: What’s Next?”. Speakers Mariana Karkoutly, Habib Nassar, Ghida Frangieh, and Hussein Baoumi, moderated by Obai Kurd Ali, will explore key questions: Looking back over the last 15 years, what have the MENA region’s justice advocates achieved? What tools, strategies, and mechanisms have they developed or adapted in response to an increasingly challenging domestic and international context, and what lessons have they learned? As we look to the future, how should MENA justice advocates reimagine and work toward the pathways to justice in their respective countries and across the region?
Speaker profiles:
Mariana Karkoutly
Mariana Karkoutly is Syrian activist, legal practitioner, and researcher. She is a PhD fellow and associated researcher with the MeDiMi project on human rights crimes, norm entrepreneurs, and universal jurisdiction in Germany. She is the co-founder and Investigation Program Director at Huquqyat, a Syrian civil society organization founded by women lawyers and legal practitioners, where she works on legal accountability for international crimes in Syria. Mariana is also a member of the Justice Rapid Response roster and serves on the boards of Huquqyat and the Guardians of Equality Movement.
Ghida Frangieh
Ghida Frangieh is a lawyer and researcher based in Lebanon. She is the head of the Strategic Litigation Unit at The Legal Agenda, a law and society organization with offices in Beirut and Tunis. She is also a founding member of the Lawyers’ Committee for the Defense of Protesters in Lebanon. Ghida obtained a master’s degree in applied human rights from the University of Aix-Marseille in France in 2006.
Habib Nassar
Habib Nassar is a lawyer and transitional justice and human rights practitioner with more than 20 years of experience. Originally from Lebanon and Brazil, he is currently working with the EU Facility on Justice in Conflict and Transition on accountability in Afghanistan. He served as Chief of the Victim Participation and Family Support Section at the UN Independent Institution on Missing Persons in Syria (IIMP), was Director of Policy and Research at Impunity Watch, and held several positions at the International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ). He has worked extensively on transitional justice across the MENA region, collaborating with civil society, victim groups, governments, and UN agencies. Habib has also taught transitional justice and human rights at Hunter College in New York and serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Transitional Justice and the Journal of Human Rights Practice. He holds an LL.M. from New York University, a master’s degree in international law from Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), and a law degree from Université Saint-Joseph in Beirut.
Obai Kurd Ali
ModeratorObai Kurd Ali is the Legal Unit Manager at TIMEP and specializes in international human rights law, with 10 years of experience in the Syrian conflict. He can apply the law to complex and sensitive contexts involving victims and communities, duty-bearers, and other stakeholders to achieve effective accountability and sustainable justice. Obai is skilled in leadership and team management, agreement facilitation, dealing with stakeholders from different backgrounds, and organizing joint efforts to achieve goals and shared interests. Obai holds an LL.M. with distinction in Human Rights, Conflict, and Justice from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London (2021). In addition, he holds an LL.B in Syrian national Law from Damascus University (2014). Obai has also been awarded the Chevening Scholarship for youth leaders from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office.
Hussein Baoumi
Hussein Baoumi is an independent consultant specializing in MENA foreign policy and EU-MENA relations. He previously served as a Deputy Regional Director at Amnesty International’s MENA program, where he worked extensively on justice and the rule of law across MENA, especially in Egypt. Hussein is a former Bassem Sabry Fellow at TIMEP. He has published various articles and reports about criminal justice in Egypt, including on the administration of injustice by elements of the Egyptian judiciary and state.