An Egyptian human rights organization has told the United Nations that defeating the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria can better be achieved by democratization and ensuring the basic rights of the population at both countries rather than relying on military force.
The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies told the UN Human Rights Council that “ensuring accountability for grave violations is necessary to counter violent extremism and terrorism,” and that “extremist thought is thriving in the shadow of decades of despotism, authoritarianism, brutal suppression, and the denial of legitimate political and economic rights”.
The organization’s statement came as it made an intervention on Monday during the UNHRC’s session discussing the annual report of the Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms while Countering Terrorism.
The organization added that the focus on military tactics and security solutions alone in handling the infamous militia had proven to be “an abject failure”, as it put it.
It warned that Islamic State and its likes would continue to mushroom “without genuine reform of the current authoritarian policies of governments in the region.”
