SECTION IV A transnational and international framework: human rights beyond borders

This chapter examines conflict between and within rival human rights transnational advocacy networks (TANs) over political and civil rights in Middle East and North African (MENA) states at the U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC). Since the HRC’s 2006 creation, domestic and international human rights NGOs initiated and/or deepened their U.N. advocacy as a result of political opportunities at the HRC’s new mechanism, Universal Periodic Review (UPR). 1 Although most NGOs at the UPR/HRC are critical of government practices, a surprising number appear sympathetic to governments-even governments that openly abuse human rights.