The United States and other Western governments must accept the new reality that Islamists have emerged to fill the power vacuum in the Arab world after a wave of popular uprisings, Human Rights Watch said in its annual report Sunday.
The New York-based group also urged Islamist parties, which have emerged as the biggest winners in recent elections in Tunisia and Egypt and are expected to fare well in Libya, to respect the rights of women and religious minorities, saying they cannot “pick and choose” when it comes to human rights.
Islamist parties are “genuinely popular” in the Arab world, said HRW’s executive director, Kenneth Roth, warning that “ignoring that popularity would violate democratic principles.”
“Being a political Islamic government should not be a reason to turn a government into a pariah,” Roth told reporters in Cairo, where the group released its annual report.