Mona El-Nahhas reviews the National Council for Human Rights' fifth annual report During a press conference held last week at the headquarters of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), the council's fifth annual report was launched. The report, which mainly covers political, economic, cultural and social rights in Egypt through 2008 including the first quarter of 2009 is, say human rights activists, balanced. Ahmed Abul-Magd, NCHR's deputy chair, told journalists gathered at the press conference that he was keen to send copies of the report to state officials so that they can respond to the incidents of human rights violations it contains. The report already includes, in an appendix, a letter written by Interior Minister Habib El-Adli in response to allegations of torture committed by state security personnel. In five chapters the 329-page report outlines the council's plan to improve human rights by cooperating with state institutions, non- governmental organisations and international bodies and itemises the council's own attempts to deal with the complaints it receives. The report stressed that 2008 and the first quarter of 2009 witnessed "noticeable political movement" towards ending rights abuses. Nonetheless, it criticised the continued imposition of emergency laws, in place for 28 years now. Security concerns can no longer be allowed to outweigh legal ones, the report warned. It also lamented the pace of democratic reform and highlighted the "deteriorating" levels of political participation, citing the weak turnout during parliamentary, presidential and municipality elections. The report notes that 70 per cent of the complaints submitted were economic and just 9.1 per cent involved violations of political rights, and recommended greater attention to policies alleviating poverty. It also recorded several seemingly new phenomena, among them an increase in incidents of sexual harassment and the dramatic rise of crimes, especially murder. The report urged an end to the trial of civilians before military courts which, it said, fail to meet minimum international standards of fairness. It also highlighted continued abuses by the security apparatus, including the torture of suspects and their detention without informing relatives of their whereabouts. The report expressed alarm at incidents in which the homes of Bahaais in Upper Egypt were burned, and the victims expelled from their home villages under the pretext of their own protection. The report also recommended that the unbiased application of citizenship rights was the only lasting answer to sectarian clashes between Muslims and Copts. A better balance between security concerns and individual rights must be struck, it said, suggesting that the experience of developed nations be examined in order to set sensible perimeters. A special section was dedicated to the council's 25 recommendations, among them ending the state of emergency and improving the conditions of prisoners and detainees. The council argued that there must be full judicial supervision on prisons, police stations and all other places of detention. The council also urged that articles 126 and 129 of the penal code, which concern the use of torture, be amended and argued for the speedy implementation of President Hosni Mubarak's promise to abolish custodial sentences for publication offences. "Unlike previous reports, this year's came close to the position of the majority of independent NGOs," says Hossam Bahgat, director of the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights. "We noticed a significant improvement in the methodology used and in the quality of research." "The report, although drafted by a government body, managed to tackle sensitive issues like the increase in torture in police stations, the rise in the persecution of bloggers and journalists and ongoing tensions between the security forces and Bedouins in Sinai." "The council's reports on these issues are completely at odds with statements delivered by senior state officials on the topic of human rights in Egypt," Bahgat noted. Although he welcomed the report in general, Bahgat criticised the chapter dedicated to economic rights as being "weak". "It did not provide in-depth analysis of the structural causes of economic inequalities. It is just a compilation of statistics and surveys," he said. Nor is he hopeful that the report's recommendations will be taken on board by the government. "Ironically, the state founded the council in 2004 purportedly to safeguard human rights, yet it has consistently turned a deaf ear to its recommendations," he says.
