CAIRO: The United States expressed its regret for the absence of any Egyptian female element on the newly appointed committee charged with proposing amendments to the Egyptian constitution, as women also protested for change and participated in the revolution that brought the possibility of change to Egypt, it said in a statement on Saturday. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said on Twitter, “Women protested for change. And excluding them from the Committee on the Constitution represents a ‘cause for concern.'” The Supreme Military Counsil, which took charge of the country after Hosni Mubarak resigned as president on February 11, appointed a committee of jurists to amend certain articles of the Constitution. The committee consists of eight members, headed by Tarek Beshry, the former President of the Council of State. A lawyer and former member of the Muslim Brotherhood, Sobhi Saleh, is also on the committee. The committee to defend the rights of Copts also criticized the formation of this committee, condemning the non-representation of Christians. The committee said they will announce the widely anticipated reforms to the nation by Sunday, MENA news agency reported. The articles to be reformed include Article 76, determining the terms of presidential nominations; Article 77, on the length of the presidential term; Article 88, which organizes judicial supervision of elections; and Article 179, which gives the country's president the power to refer any terrorism suspect to be tried by any court of law mentioned in the Constitution, which opens the door to military trials for civilians. 63 rights organizations signed a joint statement condemning how the committee ignored all qualified women. “Advancing with a committee like this triggers fears and suspicions with regards to the future of Egypt and the transitional phase, which Egypt is currently witnessing after the 25th of January Revolution,” the statement read. “This issue poses a critical question with regards to democracy and the main aims of the revolution, which were initially spelled out as equality, freedom, democracy and participation of all citizens,” it added. BM
