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By Sara Elghobashy December 28, 2009 An Egyptian human rights organization has revealed that Arab governments have been engaging in violations that include torture, extra-judicial executions, and repressive laws, while blocking reforms that guarantee their citizens basic rights. The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies says that rights have deteriorated significantly over the past year as governments continue to restrict freedom of the press, suppress human rights activists and discriminate against religious minorities.  The 230-page report compiled by the Cairo-based organization contained findings on 12 countries, but singles out Egypt and Syria as two of the leading offenders - Egypt for its practice of torture and Syria for its treatment of human rights activists. The report also blamed Arab countries for flaunting the limited progress they’ve made in women’s rights in an attempt to evade addressing other issues, in addition to using national sovereignty to avoid confronting accusations of human rights violations in the UN. But perhaps the most important (and most obvious) finding by the report is that the Middle East lacks a “peaceful rotation of power through representative politics,” to the point where “clean and competitive elections remained a dream in most countries covered by this report.” Without fair elections and representative governments, how are we to expect any significant change? The Arab world is plagued with dictatorships that suppress the voice of anyone that disagrees with the ruler or ruling party. Those in power do everything from restricting the press to rigging elections and torturing and killing dissidents. As long as these governments continue to maintain control in this manner without being held accountable by the international community, things will only become worse, or remain the status quo at best.  The CIHRS report is receiving international attention since the independent organization is recognized by larger human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Hopefully, this will bring more focus on the abuses experienced by Arab citizens and somehow lead to progress on human rights in the Middle East. Sources: AP, The Guardian Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/blog_detail/arab_countries_blasted_for_their_human_rights_abuses-nid911885107/