Head of the parliamentary Human Rights Committee Mohamed Al-Sadat addressed a letter to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in which he urged the latter to hold a meeting with members of the committee, according to a statement issued from Al-Sadat’s office on Monday.
“On the occasion of the issuance of the annual report from the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), which monitors human rights conditions and announces related recommendations, I’m honoured to ask your Excellency to call for a meeting with the head of NCHR and its members,” the letter read.
The meeting will include members of the Human Rights Committee of the parliament and specialists from non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in order to discuss recommendations and observations of the annual report. The president’s vision regarding current human rights conditions will also be addressed, the letter added.
The message was sent to Al-Sisi in conjunction with a new draft law introduced by the Human Rights Committee regarding the independence of the NCHR, according to agreements and charters that Egypt has signed.
Recently, the local NGO Maat for Peace and Development called on the Egyptian government to honour its commitments to the human rights stated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 1966.
Meanwhile, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that an Egyptian diplomat, Ahmed Fathallah, won a seat at the UN Human Rights Committee.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes the announcement to be a victory and an indicator of Egypt’s success in supporting human rights. Spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zaid said this served as a strong message to all “sceptics that condemn the status of human rights in Egypt.”
However, one day prior to the elections, Egypt was criticised for the deterioration of human rights conditions during the general debate of the Human Rights Council’s 32nd session in Geneva.
Statements made on Egypt by the United States and United Kingdom delegations shed light on a number of issues, in particular state restrictions on civil society and freedom of expression, resulting in the arrest of peaceful political dissidents,
