CAIRO: The Egyptian National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) will present the findings of its latest annual review to the United Nations' Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR) in February 2010 in Geneva, according to Hafez Abou Seada, member of the NCHR as well as the independent Egyptian Organization for Human Rights. An NGO s report will also be presented prior to the discussion session on human rights in Egypt in the past four years. Yet the presented version of the NCHR report will be slightly modified, said Abou Seada. In its annual report launched last May, the NCHR called for an end to the state of emergency, eradicating torture, the issuance of a freedom of information law, reconsidering the electoral system and reforming the NGO S law. It also requested the improvement of prisoners conditions as well as that of other detainees held under emergency law. The report further called for intensifying visits by public prosecutors to prisons and places of detention including police stations, which was already achieved, according to the report, during 2007 and 2008. Emphasizing the concept of citizenship rights, the report requested the issuance of a unified law for the construction and renovation of places of worship citing its role in decreasing sectarian tension. The council should work on a draft law of equity of chances and the prohibition of discrimination, the report said. This will be the basis for combating corruption and one of the most important guarantees of justice and citizenship rights. According to the report, a committee of experts is preparing a unified law to criminalize human trafficking under the supervision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the field of freedom of expression, the report called for issuing a freedom of information law, reconsidering laws concerning lawsuits filed against writers and journalists as a tool of intellectual terrorism and putting a general policy for dealing with bloggers to encourage youth participation in political and cultural life. However, the report was criticized by Gamal Eid, head of the Arabic network for human rights information (ANHRI), for confining the state of human rights in Egypt to certain problems like the state of emergency and torture. As always, the report ignored central issues like the increasing number of cases of escaping from punishment, kidnapping, repeated political arrests, attacking NGOs and actio popularis cases, Eid told Daily News Egypt. The report says that there are minor problems and the government is dealing with them; these aren t simple mistakes, torture and limiting freedom of expression are major concepts in Egyptian policy, he added According to Eid, human rights NGOs are almost done with a report that demonstrates the deteriorating human rights conditions in Egypt and stresses the lack of political will to improve the situation. The report called for reconsidering the electoral system by applying the rational rosters system and to reconsider the cancellation of judicial supervision of elections, voting by national ID number and giving Egyptians abroad the right to vote. It also requested the revision of a law concerning the formation and establishment of civil organizations and organizing peaceful demonstrations. The report only discussed issues that the NCHR dealt with while we as NGOs have a broader agenda, Abu Seada told Daily News Egypt. Abu Seada said that the NGO report tackles more issues with more depth including the right of organizing peaceful demonstrations and modifying prison laws to match international standards. There are some improvements. For example there is an ongoing cooperation between NGOs and the government in the field of modifying school curricula as well as increasing the co-operation between universities in creating awareness about human rights, Abu Seada added. The ICHR decisions aren t binding, but they publicize the image of the country internationally which is reflected on bilateral relations and co-operation agreements, Eid said. Eid said that unfortunately governments support each other in praising the conditions of human rights before the ICHR so that the favor is returned when it is their turn.
