Local non-government organizations (NGOs) have welcomed the finalized plan of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to set up a human rights panel in the region. A statement released by the GCC General Secretariat last week stated that the foreign ministers of the GCC member states have endorsed the plan for the regional commission, which will be the first regional body of its kind in this part of the world. The Human Rights First Society (HRFS), an unlicensed NGO in Saudi Arabia, welcoming the setting up the GCC human rights panel, said in a press statement that the panel should have “independent and impartial experts as members and employees to be chosen from NGOs and human rights defenders.” The NGOs here said the panel should be constituted on the basis of gender equality and inclusion of all religious minorities, political factions, and ideologies within the six member
