Egypt’s National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) on Wednesday said it was shocked that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has postponed the anti-torture conference in Cairo scheduled for September following rights groups’ backlash against Egypt’s human rights record.
The regional conference titled ‘Defining and Criminalising Torture in Legislation in the Arab Region’ was postponed after all necessary preparations and arrangements were made to provide the best environment for the event, which could have contributed to improving human rights in Egypt and the Arab world, the NCHR said in a statement.
On Tuesday, the UN said it had chosen to postpone the conference after “growing unease in some parts of the NGO community with the choice of location” due to alleged human rights violations in Egypt.
