«Sexuality, Imperialism and Human Rights in the Middle East and North Africa» While using Middle Eastern and North African history from the 18th century to the present as a case study, this paper examines whether universal human rights are the continuum of the colonial civilizing mission, as assert some scholars, among which Joseph Massad, Talal Assad and Abdullahi An-Naïm. Western imperialism was based on the premises of Western superiority on one hand, and the duty to civilize the rest of the world on the other. If women’s status, defined through sexuality, appears as an indicator of this superiority, in turn, the infliction of pain and suffering appears as a necessary evil to civilize. Through intertwined historical accounts of regional politics with the foundation, birth and development of international law of human rights, this paper explores the relationship between sexuality, colonial experiences, and human rights discourses, on focusing mainly on the issues of sexuality on one hand, and pain and suffering on the other. The paper is divided into three parts. Part One, International Law and Regional Colonization, goes back to the origins of the entanglement of the sexuality issue with the colonial question in the MENA. It examines the historical context that gave birth to International Law, the authors of this law, and its principles in terms of sexual and racial hierarchization. Examples drawn from the MENA colonization balance the theoretical content in each section. Part II, United Nations and Regional Decolonization, is concerned with the United Nations as the main international institution, which is formally responsible for human rights worldwide. Tracing back the foundation of this organization to the expansion of European capitalism, this part examines whether the UN structure has transcended the colonial sexual and racial hierarchization, through the analysis of the MENA decolonization program within the UN. Part III, International Law of Human Rights (ILHR) and the Equality of Sovereign States, is concerned with human rights discourses. Seminal human rights narratives will be juxtaposed to primary sources in ILHR on one hand, and to some practices of this law in the MENA on the other. The conclusion debates whether the ILHR has escaped the sexual and racial hierarchization.