Rights experts say they are observing the state of human rights in a post-Mubarak Egypt closely, and agree that for any improvement to occur, a set of laws needs to be introduced, amended or repealed.
Under Mubarak’s rule, Egypt was continuously under attack for human rights violations to suppress political dissent by targeting bloggers and journalists, cracking down on protests, the arbitrary detention and torture of political activists. Egypt was criticized for discrimination against Copts, the maltreatment of refugees as well as denying women basic rights.
Heba Morayef, Human Rights Watch researcher in the Middle East and North Africa division, said that while commitments have been made by the new Cabinet and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, a timeframe is yet to be set for meeting these commitments.
She explained that releasing political detainees for example would be a positive indicator. Prosecuting those responsible for killing protesters during the January 25 Revolution would also be an indicator, she added.
Human rights organizations, she continued, need to watch closely the prosecution of Ministry of Interior officials. “It is still unclear what they will be charged with … the extent of their prosecution will be an indicator of the extent of commitment.”
This sentiment was also shared by Hafez Abou Saeda, secretary general of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), who was optimistic that human rights conditions in Egypt can improve.
“Prosecuting all those who violated human rights during the January 25 Revolution will be a good indication that no one can escape punishment,” he said.
Reforming laws
Human rights experts also agreed that a list of laws needs to be reformed. Morayef cited the law pertaining to trade union formations, saying it needed to allow independent trade unions to be established, as well as the law pertaining to registering NGOs.
Articles pertaining to forming political parties and banning demonstrations, that have been topics of controversy recently, were also on Morayef’s list who said that the latter needed to be repealed altogether.
Last week, the Cabinet approved a bill penalizing “some protests, sit-ins and gatherings,” by imprisonment or a fine that can reach LE 500,000. Cabinet Spokesman Magdy Rady said that the protests in question are those that use violence, vandalize public property, obstruct people from reaching their jobs or obstruct the flow of traffic.
Earlier this week, Human Rights Watch released a statement urging the Cabinet to revoke the ban on strikes.
“This virtually blanket ban on strikes and demonstrations is a betrayal of the demands of Tahrir protesters for a free Egypt, and a slap in the face of the families whose loved ones died protesting for freedom,” Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, said in the statement.
On Monday, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces announced changes to the laws governing political parties, removing restrictions on establishing parties. The principles, objectives, programs and policies of political parties shouldn’t contradict with the general principles of the constitution, according to the amendments.
One sentence that stipulated that parties based on exploiting religious sentiments can’t be established was removed from the law.
However, these amendments were not well received with analyst Nabil Abdel Fattah, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, saying they “haven’t done much to organize or revive Egypt’s political parties.”
Karima Al-Hifnawy, member of the Kefaya Movement and the National Association for Change, described the amendments as “cosmetic.”
Besides amending some articles in the constitution, Abu Saeda suggested the introduction of a Bill of Rights guaranteed by international covenants, which would include a set of laws that cannot be annulled by the president.
Abu Saeda also believed that raising awareness on respecting human rights would also make room for improvement.
Egypt is currently a signatory of several international human rights agreements including the United Nations’ International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights, the United Nations’ Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
Dissolving State Security
Human rights abuses were directly associated with State Security Investigations that had always been accused of systematic torture to suppress dissent against Hosni Mubarak’s government. Earlier this month, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces dismantled the apparatus, replacing it with a National Security Agency aimed at combating terrorism in accordance with the constitution as well we International Human Rights Law.
While Morayef said the apparatus’ dissolution was significant, reform needed to go far beyond that.
“We need to know the scope of this new agency … we need to see if surveillance of activists will stop, this is still not clear,” she said.
Morayef stressed that restructuring the Ministry of Interior as a whole was necessary, since State Security was only a part of the ministry.
Abu Saeda was also cautious about the new National Security Agency, saying it depended on who would be operating it. He said the new agency should respect human rights and be under judicial as well as the public prosecutors’ supervision.
Abu Saeda also raised concerns regarding torture allegations against the army. He explained that these allegations needed to be verified and if investigations proved that violations occurred, whoever was responsible should be prosecuted.
In its 29th communiqué, the military promised to “take all necessary measures to check the accuracy of allegations by female protesters” who claimed they were subject to virginity tests by military doctors after they were arrested by the army on March 9.
Moreover, last week, unidentified army leaders promised to investigate allegations of torture by Military Police after rights groups issued a joint statement condemning comments by their chief General Hamdy Badeen denying the allegations.
