The National Council for Human Rights' periodic review triggers the usual mixed reactions, reports Mohamed El-Sayed The National Council for Human Rights last week sent its periodic report to the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. Covering the period from 2006 to 2009, the report details the human rights implications of legal, constitutional, civil, political, economic, social and cultural developments in Egypt. While the introduction of the concept of citizenship to the constitution, strengthening parliament's monitoring role and granting women greater representation in parliament were all hailed, the report voiced concerns over plans to enshrine the proposed anti-terrorism law in the constitution. "The proposed amendment renders the anti- terrorism law immune to any challenge, even in cases where its regulations might contradict articles 41, 44 and 45 of the constitution guaranteeing individual freedoms," the report said. It also criticised the powers the amendment grants the president who will be free to refer alleged terrorism cases to the court of his choosing, including military courts, which could potentially "hamper the right to a fair trial". Despite the fact that the government pledged in 2005 to end emergency laws in force since 1981 it has so far failed to honour its promise. The report characterises the ongoing state of emergency as "undermining human rights guarantees". The report also called on the government to issue a unified law regulating places of worship and introduce new legislation promoting equal opportunities and banning discrimination. Currently 70 crimes on the statute books potentially carry a capital sentence. The report underlined that such promiscuity is counterproductive and called for capital crimes to be far more narrowly defined. It also noted that changes in the law were needed if torturers were not to continue to get away with their crimes. Touching on the independence and sovereignty of the judiciary, the report noted that "the government must respect court rulings", adding that "the NCHR calls for more guarantees to end executive interference with the procedures of the judiciary". It also recommended that all exceptional trials be halted, but especially cases in which civilians appear before military courts. While acknowledging several improvements in prison conditions the report characterises the general situation of the detained as "far below international standards as far as crowdedness, food and healthcare are concerned". The right to freedom of expression featured prominently. "Punishments are still administered to journalists in some publishing cases and a number of editors-in-chief were subject to prison sentences that were later replaced by fines," it noted, before recommending all such sentencing be dropped. It also drew attention to the need for a freedom of information law and of amending criminal procedures in order to limit the grounds on which cases can be brought against intellectuals, writers and journalists. The difficulties political parties face when applying for licence were highlighted. "The political parties law 40/1977 and its amendments, and the Political Parties Committee place constraints on the freedom to form political parties. Since it was established three decades ago the committee has rejected 75 applications from would-be political parties." The report conceded that "essential defects marred presidential, parliamentary and municipal council elections in a manner that [negatively] impacted turnout, popular participation, integrity and their reflection of political and social forces". The NCHR recommended the reintroduction of proportional representation in order to "encourage political parties, women, young people and Copts to take part [in elections]". The report also recommended that election supervision be overhauled in light of the flaws that marred the last municipal council elections when there was no direct judicial supervision of ballot boxes. On the economic front the report pointed out that the government had succeeded in increasing growth rates in recent years and in widening the base of people who benefit from subsidised commodities as well as health insurance. Nevertheless, the report notes "an increase in poverty rates and unemployment as well as difficulties in accessing quality education... and proper, up-to-international standard healthcare regardless of income". The report also drew attention to the conditions of slum areas in which more than 10 million people live. The NCHR report met with mixed reactions. While some observers saw it as a positive step towards acknowledging human rights violations in Egypt from a body that was established by the government in 2003 and is affiliated with the Shura Council, other human rights activists and organisations think the report falls far short of representing reality. The Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR) has sent its own report to the High Commissioner for Human Rights in which it stresses that "human rights conditions in Egypt are suffering from severe deterioration, largely because of the emergency law and shortcomings in legislation concerning the use of torture. Human rights activists criticise the report for failing to mention security interventions, including forced disappearances, and for glossing the reasons behind the deterioration in health and education services. "The report focused on legal texts and its vision of future legislation while failing to mention violations committed in spite of existing laws," said Magdi Abdel-Hamid, head of the Egyptian Association for Community Participation Enhancement. "Despite the fact that the report mentioned poverty, it failed to spot the National Council for Wages' ineffectiveness as far as determining a minimum wage is concerned," says Khaled Ali, director of the Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights. The report also turned a blind eye to the constraints put on establishing professional syndicates, according to Ali. "In addition, the report ignored the privatisation of education which has led to glaring inequalities when it comes to education opportunities." A coalition of 49 civil society organisations has issued a parallel report including recommendations for improving human rights conditions in Egypt. The report will also be sent to the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Hossam Badrawi, member of the NCHR and one of the three authors of the report, told Al-Ahram Weekly that the report was "the most serious about human rights in Egypt issued in the past 30 years, for it introduced new methods of reform". Insisting that the report had not restricted itself to legislation, he said it "covers political, economic, cultural and social rights... all aspects of human rights in Egypt". "The first criterion in compiling the report," Badrawi continued, "was to compare the reality of human rights to the stipulations included in the conventions to which Egypt is a signatory, as well as the voluntary commitments that Egypt has made." Badrawi drew attention to a section of the report calling for the retraining of security personnel who, for three decades now, have been accustomed to working under emergency provisions. "We have officers and generals who have spent their entire careers working under an emergency law which has no ceiling. When the government introduces a new [anti-terrorism law], it needs to retrain them," he points out. But how bound is the government likely to be by recommendations contained in the report? "I'm the lead author of the report and at the same time a member of the [ruling] National Democratic Party's Policies Committee," says Badrawi. "The report was thoroughly discussed in the NDP, and human rights issues will be included in the citizenship debate at the party's annual convention." The government is currently preparing its own periodic report on the status of human rights which is due to be sent to the International Human Rights Council next month. A meeting bringing together representatives from civil society organisations, the NCHR and Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Moufid Shehab was held last week to reach a consensus on the key points to be included in the government's report. "The committee agreed on including most of the recommendations voiced by representatives of civil society organisations and the NCHR in the report," said Shehab. Reports submitted by Egyptian organisations will be discussed by the UN Human Rights Council in February. The Egyptian government is expected to declare in May the recommendations it will abide by.
