CAIRO: In an online video published Wednesday night, presidential hopeful and former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei called for drafting a bill outlining basic human rights to which every citizen is entitled. “This is the best solution in order to eradicate all controversy and anxiety,” he said in the video. ElBaradei said that everyone is entitled to the right of freedom of religion and expression and other rights without risking arrest, torture or facing military trials. “These are basic human rights which Egypt has signed on in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” he pointed out, adding that Egypt has also signed many other agreements — stating that every Egyptian has the right and liberty of religion, expression, assembly and association — the majority of which are not implemented. “What I want to do is place all these rights in a document for basic human rights which cannot be amended. You can change the constitution, the law but not this document,” said ElBaradei in the video. He said the document would be presented to the people, so — in case of consensus — there would be no concerns about the political future of Egypt. “When in the future we become a civil state or a presidential or parliamentary state, no one will worry, as they know at the end that all their basic rights are secure and can never be jeopardized or changed,” he explained. ElBaradei added that a person can be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood or a leftist, but no one can disagree on preserving the dignity of the Egyptian and the right to freedom of expression. “If this bill is made it will be a great step forward,” he said. Similar bills exist in all democratic countries, he added, dismissing the argument that Egypt should not copy other countries on the pretext that such issues are “specific” to each country. “However, our poverty is not specific; the respect of the Egyptian person's dignity is not specific.” “These are the rights of a human because he is human,” he concluded.
