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Browsing Click here to discover all issues of the GCHRJ by Author "Ait Youssef, Iasmin"
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    The 17 October 2019 protests in Lebanon: Perceptions of Lebanese and non-Lebanese residents of Tripoli and surroundings
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Dahrouge, Elias ; Nammour, Jihad ; Lotf, Ahmed Samy ; Abualroos, Karim ; Ait Youssef, Iasmin ; Al-Burbar, Eman ; Al-Salafi, Azal ; Alsheikh Ali, Rana ; Arbi, Chiraz ; Benyahya, Khawla ; Bhatti, Sarah ; Cavalluzzo, Francesco ; Comaro, Elena ; Daniaud, Elise ; El-Zein, Jamal ; Fares, Asmaa ; Hosta Cuy, Elena ; Lavigne Delville, Solene ; Maaninou, Nouha ; Olea Corral, Andrea ; Pannunzio, Marta ; Ramdani, Adel ; Salloum, Hazar ; Werf, Charlotte : van der ; Yousef, Nedaa
    Starting from 17 October 2019, Lebanon had witnessed an unprecedented wave of mass protests and mobilisation across its territory. This so-called Thawra came to question the state’s social contract, which is built on a peculiar political system: sectarian con-sociationalism. Characterised by institutionalised clientelism and systemic corruption, coupled with an unprecedented economic crisis, the system recently showed its limits. Tripoli is Lebanon’s second-largest and most deprived city. Yet, it hosted the largest protests across the country, aptly referred to as the ‘bride of the revolution’. To better understand the city’s dynamics in this respect, field research was conducted there in January 2020. Using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the study reflects on Tripoli’s residents’ perceptions about the protests. Beyond focusing exclusively on the city’s Lebanese residents, it gives some important insights into its vulnerable Syrian and Palestinian refugee inhabitants. The study also demonstrates that, surprisingly, Tripoli’s citizens have nuanced perceptions about these protests. It reveals through charts how divergence in some of these perceptions depends on conditions such as employment, sex, age and nationality. Finally, it gives some tangible insights into Tripoli’s level of mobilisation, engagement, and inclusion of women in the wave of protests. Key words: Middle East; Lebanon; mobilisation; protests; refugees
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    A contradictory 2019 in the Arab world: The heralds of a second Arab Spring in times of increased vulnerability and upgraded authoritarianism
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2020) Ait Youssef, Iasmin ; Alsheikh Ali, Rana ; Comaro, Elena ; Diana, Elise ; Lavigne Delville, Solène ; Maaninou, Nouha ; Pannunzio, Marta ; Werf, Charlotte : van der
    During the year 2019 mass mobilisations broke out throughout the Arab region, with protestors calling for regime change and denouncing mismanagement, corruption and the lack of basic services and human rights in countries as diverse as Algeria, Sudan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt. In some cases they were violently opposed and quelled; in others they brought about a transitional process. These democratic processes and authoritarian reactions were accompanied by an important case of democratic consolidation in Tunisia and peaceful transfer of power in Mauritania. Some observers saw in these movements the sparks of a second Arab Spring, while others noted an upgrading of authoritarianism, through different repression techniques against protesters, activists and civil society organisations. Security forces and tribunals have been used for repression, but so have new constitutional and legislative texts that have shifted the balance of power in favour of the executive and the military. The repression of cyberspace was extended through new technological tools that allow for the monitoring, tracking and silencing of dissenting voices. Beyond these two opposing dynamics, the socio-economic situation in many countries across the region deteriorated, increasing the vulnerability of groups such as women, children, stateless persons and refugees. The socio-economic situation has also provided several local, national, regional and international actors with a means to exercise economic violence that typically impact on the most vulnerable, depriving them of their most basic human rights or allowing them only conditional access to these rights. Key words: democratisation; authoritarianism; cyber control; socio-economic violence; refugees; protests, human rights; Arab Spring; oppression; arrests
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    Decades of wars in Iraq and Yemen and the protracted displacement crisis: The impact on women and children
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2022) Ait Youssef, Iasmin ; Wangle, Kai
    Decades of armed conflict in Iraq and Yemen have forced millions of Iraqis and Yemenis to flee their homes, with most of them becoming displaced within their own countries. When displacement decreases living standards, increases protection needs, reinforces harmful gender stereotypes and perpetuates socioeconomic disadvantages, women and children, who make up 80 percent of the world’s Internally Displaced Person (IDP) population, are particularly vulnerable. Unlike refugees, who cross an international border, IDPs do not benefit from special protection under international law, leaving individual states as the most important actors in upholding the rights and meeting protection needs of IDPs. For this reason, both Iraq and Yemen have adopted national policies addressing internal displacement based on the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement, a non-binding set of standards which outline the protections available and establish best practice regarding IDPs. This paper seeks to examine the main impacts of internal displacement on women and children in Iraq and Yemen in four key areas: (1) security, (2) health, (3) education and (4) livelihood; it outlines how poor outcomes in each adversely affect the others and increase the likelihood of displacement becoming chronic. It further seeks to analyse the two countries’ respective national policies on internal displacement and the humanitarian response through their impacts in the above areas on the most vulnerable IDP communities, namely women and children. It finds that while the countries’ respective IDP policies are a vital first step in addressing the issue, the ensuring of protection needs and rights of IDPs in Iraq and Yemen will require more resources, stable administration, corridors for humanitarian aid and for both countries to hold themselves to their own commitments.