The knee-jerk rejection of any criticism of Egypt's human rights record is misguided, writes Doaa El-Bey The US State Department's annual report on human rights practices for 2007 noted that the Egyptian government's record of respect for human rights remained poor, with serious abuses continuing in many areas. Predictably, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected all criticism contained in the report. The Egyptian position, says ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki, is clear and non-negotiable. "Egypt regards such remarks as attempts by various parties to interfere in Egypt's domestic affairs. As a consequence they cannot be taken as objective comment." Such a blanket rejection of criticism, argues Hafez Abu Seada, the secretary-general of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, is neither a useful nor practical response. Human rights, he argues, are now an international responsibility. "Respecting human rights is no longer a domestic affair relating to the sovereignty of each state. Reports, whether prepared by the UN, the European parliament or the US State Department, reveal facts in the hope of improving human rights." Rather than rejecting criticism, regardless of the source, it would be more constructive to review such reports and work out ways of dealing with the issues raised. "The practices mentioned in the report are not state policy," says Abu Seada. "I see no reason why the state should not itself criticise them." The report accuses Egypt of limiting its citizens' right to change their government and of unnecessarily continuing a state of emergency that has been in place almost continuously since 1967. It cites numerous cases of the abuse and torture of prisoners and detainees by security forces and incidents of unlawful killings. It provides dates, times, names and places for these crimes, and in many cases the sources for the information, which include bodies such as the Egyptian Organisation for Human rights (EOHR) and Egyptian newspapers like Al-Masry Al-Yom. "The diversity of the sources lends the report yet more credibility," says Abu Seada. The report adds that cases of unlawful killing by the security forces from 2005 and 2006 remained unresolved, and that the deaths of 19 prisoners in custody in 2005 have yet to be investigated. It notes that while, in the last 12 months, press reports of individual cases of torture have resulted in court ordered compensation payment is often withheld and hundreds of cases remain pending at the State Council. Officers found guilty of torturing prisoners often receive sentences that fail to reflect the seriousness of their crimes: the report cites the case of Imad El-Kebir, a Cairo minibus driver assaulted and sodomised by police officers Islam Nabih and Reda Fateh. While the two officers could have faced up to 15 years in prison for their actions they received the minimum sentence of three. The report also raised concerns over the state of prisons and detention centres. During 2007, the EOHR and the Human Rights Association for the Assistance of Prisoners (HRAAP) reported deteriorating conditions in prisons, overcrowding, lack of medical care, hygiene, food, clean water and ventilation. Tuberculosis is widespread and many prisons remain closed to the public. It also cast light on the practice of arbitrary arrest and detention as police and security forces continued to conduct large- scale arrests, detaining hundreds of individuals without charge, and on the use of the emergency law to try non-security cases in military courts. The EOHR estimates that between 12,000 and 14,000 individuals remain in prison without being charged and despite release orders issued by the courts. The case of Ayman Nour was cited as an example of the state's continued detention of political opponents. In July the State Council Court of Administrative Justice rejected his request for parole on health grounds. The report also highlighted discrimination and violence against women and mentioned that though the government repeatedly expressed its commitment to the protection of children, in practice little, if any, progress had been made in eliminating female genital mutilation or offering rights to children with foreign fathers. In addition, the government has failed to address the plight of the growing number of street children or decisively tackle child labour. It points out that there are no laws in place to prevent discrimination against people with physical or mental disabilities or guarantee their access to education, health care and other state services. Discrimination against people with disabilities, particularly mental disabilities, remained widespread, and government-run treatment centres that exist are poor. On a positive note the report commended the release in April of the last 40 members of Al-Jamaa Al-Islamiya still in prison. They were freed as part of the government's continuing policy to release detainees in return for their pledging to renounce violence. In May, the minister of interior ordered the release of 300 members of the banned group Al-Takfeer wal-Hijra (Excommunication and Immigration) after they agreed to renounce violence and continued to release members of Islamic Jihad throughout the year. In March, the Supreme Judicial Council approved the appointment of 31 female judges and chief judges, all of whom were assigned to family courts. Judge Tahani Al-Gebali, appointed to the Supreme Constitutional Court by a presidential decree in 2003, is the only female judge in a higher court.
