CAIRO: The Forum of Independent Human Rights Organizations presented on Wednesday its report, “Human Rights in 100 Days”, a review of the human rights situation in Egypt between Feb. 20, 2010 and June 1, 2010.
The report comes two days ahead of Egypt’s next appearance at the United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism, when states’ human rights records are reviewed by HRC member states.
On Feb. 19, 2010 Egypt accepted 119 recommendations and delayed consideration of 25 others until Friday’s session, when the review’s final report would be adopted.
“Human Rights in 100 Days” documents human rights violations committed in the period between the Egyptian government’s appearances at the HRC and describes violations of freedom of religion and belief, freedom of association, and freedom of opinion and expression amongst other areas.
Members of the Forum held a press conference Wednesday to present the report.
Moataz El-Fegeiry, executive director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), said that the nature of inter-state relations at the HRC prevents the UPR from being a tool for putting pressure on governments. Reform, he continued, is contingent on “the government’s will to put in place a program of reform in cooperation with the United Nations and international community”.
“We rule out other states putting pressure on the Egyptian government, which enjoys the support of the Arab, African and Islamic blocs,” El-Fegiery said.
“We’re trying to use the UPR mechanism for our interests but without genuine political will and pressure from the media, civil society, labor groups and political parties it will not lead to any significant political reform.”
The CIHRS director described consultation sessions between the government and local NGOs held recently as “placing more importance on appearance than substance” and said that they are only conducted “so the government can say to the international community ‘we consult civil society’”.
“What good do these consultations do if there is no clear government plan to implement recommendations?” El-Fegeiry asked.
“What good are they if the government also comes to these consultations from a defensive position? A position of justifying human rights violations, attacking NGOs and casting doubt on their findings,” he continued.
El-Fegeiry said that four factors account for human rights violations in Egypt: The continuing policy of allowing public officials and members of the police who commit violations to escape justice; the continuing state of emergency; the erosion of the rule of law and of the principle of citizenship; and the inability of civil society and the political opposition to pursue their activities freely.
The CIHRS director made reference to the Shoura Council elections and the violations which took place during them, describing it as a “test run” for what would happen during the upcoming parliamentary elections.
El-Fegeiry also called on European officials to stop encouraging the Egyptian government to pass the counter-terrorism law it is currently drafting, and which the government says will replace the state of emergency.
“It is clear to us that the new law will resemble the state of emergency and in fact make the state of emergency permanent. Unfortunately, western states continue to support the passing of this law despite the fact that we all know that Egypt has had a terrorism law since 1992 that is applied in a way that violates human rights,” El-Fegeiry said.
Gamal Eid, director of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) at whose Cairo headquarters the press conference was held, described violations of freedom of opinion and expression committed during the period covered by the report.
Eid referred to statements made by Minister of Legal Affairs Mofid Shehab to the HRC in February in which he said that Egypt has no prisoners of conscience and that no bloggers are being detained under the emergency law.
“Mosaad Abu Fagr and Hany Nazeer are in prison. Neither of them have any connection with drugs or terrorism — one of them is secular and the other’s Christian,” Eid said.
Abu Fagr and Nazeer, both bloggers, have been detained under the emergency law without charge since 2007 and 2008 respectively.
Eid also described the case of Ahmed Mostafa, a 21-year-old blogger who was tried in a military court in connection with something he had written on his blog “less than a week after Shehab made these statements at the HRC.”
Eid said that even though Mostafa’s case was thrown out of court, “the message was delivered. There are some areas you will not dare go near.”
