CAIRO: Boutros Boutros Ghali, President of the semi-governmental National Council for Human Rights, expressed his non-objection to allow international and local organizations to monitor the presidential elections. He said that this position had “already been called for by the council in many similar occasions and the Council had already emphasized this in its published reports.” Ghali said that this does not detract from or violate the sovereignty of the state, “in light of globalization as well as the United Nations has established a separate department especially to monitor the elections in many countries of the world and some Egyptian figures monitored these elections.” He said in statements to the state-owned MENA news agency that the representatives of the press and foreign correspondents “are already practicing their media role in Egypt and can monitor any elections in Egypt, which gives credibility and confidence to the international community and proves that the elections are fair and transparent.” Ghali stressed the right to demonstrate and strike as a human right, however, he added that “it must be exercised according to international standards and to be disciplined in terms of the time and place and should not be allowed to harm the interests and rights of citizens.” He also confirmed the importance of the independence of the Council as a national institution, which was established in accordance with the decision of the United Nations conference in Vienna in 1993, and the Paris Principles for Human Rights, which organizes the work of these councils. He explained that the resolutions of the United Nations stated that “these councils or national institutions for human rights should be established in the states to provide advice and consultancy to governments to promote and improve the situation of human rights and the elimination of violations, and therefore the Human Rights Council of Egypt offers advice in accordance with international standards and in the forefront of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
