The fifth annual report of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) said 2008 witnessed a number of new negative phenomena, topped by the uncontrollable behavior in the Egyptian street and the accompanying increase in cases of individual and collective sexual harassment, in addition to an increase in violence, murder and attempted murder, is unusual in the Egyptian society. The report that was announced at a press conference yesterday criticized the continued state of emergency and the security influence over human rights issues. It pointed out that political reform on the legislative and institutional levels has not reached the degree hoped by the Egyptian society, which is still suffering from a low level of political participation, as evidenced by the low turnout in presidential, legislative and local elections.
The report also said this period witnessed achievements, excesses and contradictions in a complicated process of human rights in the Egyptian society. There is a noticeable positive political mobility, but the state of emergency is still declared.
The human rights situation in the Egyptian society over the past year was reflected in the complaints the NCHR received from people. 70% of these complaints were about the social and economic sufferings and 9.1% on violations of civil and political human rights. The report rejected the court-martials under the emergency law because this lacks the conditions of justice according to international standards. It criticized the illegal practices in taking hostages to force the wanted to give themselves up and detaining the suspected at unknown places without informing their families or lawyers. It also criticized the disappearance of the detainees.
The report stressed that many people were shocked when Baha'i families in Upper Egypt were attacked and expelled from their villages under security protection, warning that this increases fanaticism and intolerance, and harms the citizenship that is guaranteed by the Constitution and protected by law.
The sectarian tension between the Egyptian people turned many of the normal social clashes into sectarian sedition threatening the society's unity and peace. The solution is to establish the rights of citizenship, equality and equal opportunities.
The report called for giving special attention to Sinai and solving the economic and social problems suffered by its inhabitants. It also called for building a bridge between the security and political solutions, and promoting development plans in Sinai. The report stressed that maintaining the homeland's security is not inconsistent with protecting human rights, as there should be a balance between the two, like in the developed societies.
The report called for canceling the state of emergency and immediately improving the living and health conditions of prisoners, respecting their dignity. For his part, Ahmed Kamal Abul Magd, the NCHR deputy chairman, said he is responsible for delaying the issuance of the report to introduce some amendments to it. He seriously criticized the media for their continuing criticism of NCHR and its activities, saying: "There is a third type of flu, namely the excitement flu. What the newspapers call scoops is, in fact, a sort of silliness." This raised the ire of a large number of attendees.
