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Chapter 4 The Northern ner Marvin G. Weinbaum There is much to distinguish among the three countries of the northern tier of the Middle East. The governments of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan draw on different sources for their legitimacy. Despite predominantly Muslim populations, the three societies are varied in the ideologies that guide their leaders and inspire their publics. They have distinctive problems in sustaining domestic order and providing for national security. The very different economic assets of the three also pose separate challenges in providing for the well-being and enlightenment of their citizens. Yet among the features they share is that each confronts formidable issues of human rights. Abuses of human rights are, of course, hardly recent developments in Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. The histories of the three countries are replete with examples of ethnic, religious, and sectarian discrimination and violence against national minorities. Although the scale of abuses by the state against particular groups, or among groups in society, was often great, most of them went unrecorded or even unnoticed. More recently, as U.S. State Department Country Reports demonstrate, the international community has forced greater attention to a human rights agenda and to claims and evidence ofviolations. Above all, allegations against the state for treatment of the Kurdish minority in Turkey, Baha'is andJews in Iran, and Hazaras (among other ethnic groups) in Afghanistan, are aired widely inside and outside these countries. The treatment of women in Muslim Iran and Afghanistan, particularly the latter, has drawn special notice. State actions are less likely than in the past to be ignored or condoned as falling within sovereign rights and thus outside the reach offoreign criticism . The behavior of domestic groups against one another, with or without the state's imprimatur, is also subject as never before to outside scrutiny. While direct foreign intervention has thus far occurred only rarely-U.S. military action in Afghanistan being only tangentially on behalf of human rights-the legal and moral bases for external monitoring have been established , along with precedents for internationally imposed sanctions. Ifacross 72 Marvin G. Weinbaum the region progress on human rights issues seems evident, there have also been some setbacks. In some cases, violations of human rights in the countries studied here result from private acts or come about because the institutions that enforce order are unable to halt them. No doubt many of the prejudicial behaviors against social minorities are not abetted by state action. But more often, they take place with the tacit approval of state authorities. In the cases of Turkey, Iran, and Mghanistan, the states themselves have been major agents of human rights abuses, often by providing a legal basis for violations and frequently by directly denying or withdrawing basic rights. More indirectly, the authorities make no effort to arbitrate differences among individual and social groups that raise human rights issues. Nor do any of the three countries give groups in civil society entirely free reign to expose human rights violations or publicize their complaints without restrictions. Changing global attitudes about human rights reflect in no small part a diminished tolerance of cultural relativist arguments to exonerate human rights abuses. While historical and religious explanations for policies and practices are often appreciated, critics have increasingly been unwilling to accept the view that there are no applicable universal standards. Nonetheless , reproaches from abroad are still often countered with pleadings of distinctiveness based on religion, culture, and national heritage across the countries of the Middle East's northern tier. The experiences of this region also raise the question of whether there might be an implicit hierarchy in rights, allowing for lesser observance of some protections in favor offuller achievement of those rights with greater priority. The need to choose reflects the reality that rights may come into conflict and, however regrettably, the goal ofrealizing all those desired freedoms within a particular time frame may be impossible to achieve. The focus on human rights in the region falls, as it does elsewhere, mainly on minority, sectarian, and women's rights, and the rights of the criminally accused. Child labor abuses and lack ofaccess to educational opportunities are often frequently included. Some would further expand the definition to encompass hunger and malnutrition-if within the power of national authorities or anyone else to prevent. Allegations may, then, be raised against international actors as well as domestic ones. The issue, familiar with respect to Iraq, was raised in recent years in connection with alleged negative humanitarian consequences...

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