CAIRO: President of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, strongly condemned lashing as a form of punishment, deeming it "a violation of international law. "We need to work harder on combating this sentence, the former United Nations Secretary General said at the opening of a workshop titled "Freedom from Torture in the Context of Anti-terrorism Policies, which was held on the premises of the council in collaboration with the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims, reported the local press. Ghali specifically referred to the recent Saudi verdict to imprison two Egyptian doctors for 15 and 20 years respectively, in addition to receiving 1,500 lashes each. Dr Raouf Amin, 53, was convicted of giving an unidentified princess morphine to relieve her pain following a riding accident, which allegedly induced her addiction to the drug. According to Boutros-Ghali, the lashing sentence violates the universal declaration for human rights and other international human rights treaties and agreements. He has reportedly urged the Saudi Arabian Human Rights Organization to react and work on stopping the sentence the Egyptian doctors received. Human rights activists, however, were disappointed at the role Boutros-Ghali is playing in the case. "We're sorry that Boutros-Ghali limited his role in the case to only contacting the human rights organization but he hasn't contacted the Saudi king or any other body, said Naguib Gobrael, head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights Organization, which is handling the case of the two doctors. "If there aren't any new developments in the case within the upcoming weeks, we'll have to take it to international court. The maximum punishment according to Sharia [Islamic law] is 80 lashes and anything more than that is a torture crime, he explained, adding that Saudi Arabia is a UN member state which has to abide by the Universal Declaration for Human Rights. The cases of the two Egyptian doctors have caused a public outcry, however, according to Gobrael, "There are a number of other cases regarding Egyptians in Saudi Arabia which we are trying to draw attention to. "There is a 17-year-old man who has received a one-year sentence in prison and 300 lashes. Another pharmacist received one year in prison and 1,200 lashes. In addition, there are many female Egyptian doctors in the Kingdom who are constantly subjected to sexual harassment, he said.
