Human rights in Egypt are once again the subject of debate, reports Mohamed Abdel-Baky Speaking in Cairo last week, US Assistant Secretary for Democracy, Human Rights and Labour Michael Posner was noticeably cautious. Senior officials within the White House were carefully watching how the top US official responsible for "democracy promotion" would address the sensitive issue without straining relations with the Egyptian government, a vital ally in the region. Posner's visit to Cairo, part of his first tour of the region, comes ahead of next month's publication of The State of Human Rights in the World. "We have had meetings with Egyptian officials from various ministries, judges, members of the National council of Human Rights, activists and bloggers," Posner said at a press conference in Cairo. For some officials in Washington, Posner's visit was successful. He seemed to woo all sides, the Egyptian government, civil society and the US embassy in Cairo. "I believe he passed a hard test on his first trip to Egypt. Many people here were observing him," an American source in Washington told Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity. "He said what the activists wanted to hear, saying that Egypt has human rights problems. At the same time he insisted that democracy could not be imported," said the source. Posner sent a clear message to the Egyptian government about US policy on democracy promotion by asserting that "change occurs from within." "We come here not to tell this government or any government how you have to do it. Our goal is to enrich and enliven and create more opportunity for a whole debate within Egypt among Egyptians who are concerned about their country," Posner explained. According to the source, Posner's visit to Egypt was initially scheduled for the first week of November but was cancelled due to objections by the US embassy in Cairo. "He was supposed to visit Cairo and meet human rights activists in the first week in November but the embassy disagreed with his proposal as his meetings with activists might send conflicting messages to the Egyptian officials," said the source. Posner disagreed with US embassy officials in Cairo in an interview published in Politico, an American daily, after his visit to Egypt. "The US has to be able to do multiple things at the same time, whether in Egypt or China or anywhere, we have to be able to treat Egypt as a friend in the peace process and security matters and a place where we also have an interest in promoting human rights and opening up society for more democratic process," he said. Tamara Wittes, US deputy assistant secretary of state and director of the Middle East Partnership Initiative, will visit Cairo this week for meetings with Egyptian officials. Meanwhile, members of Washington's pro-democracy groups have criticised the state of human rights in Egypt. In its annual report Freedom House, a US based non-profit organisation, classified Egypt as a "not free" country. On a scale of one to seven -- with seven the lowest -- Egypt was ranked at six on political freedoms, and five on civil liberties. "The Middle East remained the most repressive region in the world, and some countries that had previously moved forward slipped back from 'partly free' to the 'not free' category," the report concluded. Richard Eisendorf, director of the Middle East division at Freedom House, told Al-Ahram Weekly that there was no change in Egypt's ranking from last year though there had been both positive and negative developments. Eisendorf said that the freedom of citizens to express themselves in private and the ability of newspapers and bloggers to present diverse points of view had both been assessed in compiling the report. "However, the restrictions on potential presidential candidates to run for elections, limits on domestic and international observers to transparently observe elections and the cancellation of judicial supervision of elections, also weighed in the assessment of Egypt," he added. Mohamed Abdellah, chairman of the National Democratic Party Foreign Relations Committee, described the report as "part of a systemic campaign that undermines the progress Egypt has made in political reform and human rights". He added that Egypt has made positive moves in opening up the political system and freedom of speech. "We still need more reforms. It is not an open-end process but a gradual, long time job," he said. Abdellah added that Freedom House and other international groups' reports build on facts provided by Egyptian advocacy groups that have a limited understanding of the reform process taking place in Egypt. "They come to Egypt every year and meet the same people who give them the darker side of the picture. Freedom House and the other international groups should reconsider their methodology in assessing reform in Egypt in their future reports," recommended Abdellah.
