By Salama Ahmed Salama In a few days, the world will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Criticism of human rights violations in Arab countries has reached a crescendo, with individual incidents and everyday crimes deliberately exaggerated to tarnish Egypt's record. No interests, however, are served by the ridiculous campaign in which official and unofficial bodies have been mobilised to damage the reputation of human rights groups in Egypt, undermine their integrity and defame their members on charges of spying or serving foreign countries. Now that the storm has subsided, it seems fairly clear that the report published by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) about the events in the village of Al-Kosheh (which revealed police misconduct, but dismissed any link between the events in the village and allegations of religious persecution), has infuriated certain state authorities. Had these authorities bothered to use their common sense and political clout, they would have relied on the report to defuse international outrage and give the lie to the allegations made by parties living abroad regarding the situation of Copts in Egypt. Instead, they sought scapegoats from among citizens who volunteer to improve their country's reputation in the human rights arena, and to refute many charges which, were it not for their efforts, would otherwise have reeled out of control. As the Al-Kosheh story was exploding, however, news about funds donated from abroad to certain non-governmental organisations, including the EOHR, was suddenly released. Whatever the ethical implications of the principle of obtaining funds from foreign sources, the fact remains that the state itself accepts funds from foreign donors provided they are unconditional and subject to control by the State Accounting Authority, and provided they are not spent to realise personal gains. In such matters, the decisive factor in determining the fine line between suspect and honourable intentions must be the citizen's conscience. The EOHR's membership includes several individuals who may well be among the best people in the country, and it is totally outrageous to accuse them of treason, or, for that matter, of any charge which undermines the country as a whole and reduces its population to nothing more than a gang of mercenaries. Everyone, not just those who launched this campaign, knows that numerous social and civil projects targeting children, women, the environment, the handicapped, and the poor receive government funds, fleshed out by foreign funding. In fact, domestic information offices affiliated to a state authority are recipients of assistance from foreign sources not to mention the most visible examples of investment projects and foreign assistance provided to businessmen. Given the importance of the role of human rights organisations in Egypt, and the sensitive nature of their work, which by definition deals with domestic and security questions (their goal being to guarantee Egyptian citizens fair and equal treatment, and the full exercise of their political rights), it may be time to establish a supreme advisory council for human rights organisations. Such a council would represent governmental, non-governmental and civil bodies concerned with human rights, and would channel assistance to these organisations. The council would be responsible for the investigation of complaints with respect to the human rights situation, and would take the measures necessary to serve the interests of Egyptian citizens and serve justice too. Today, numerous thinkers and writers are calling for the modernisation of the Egyptian political system. Such an objective could be achieved, one would suppose, by enhancing awareness, consolidating pluralism and encouraging the civil society to assume its responsibilities. These steps would allow Egypt to move into the 21st century. But we can never achieve these goals if we undermine human rights organisations in Egypt, restrict their activities or raise doubts about their members' integrity.
