GENEVA - Egypt has pledged to start revising a set of laws and approve new legislation to give a further boost to human rights in accordance with international conventions and commitments, which the Cairo Government has approved and agreed upon, officials said Friday. Attending meetings of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council, the officials said that the Egyptian Government would start working on issuing laws on non-governmental organisations (NGOs), preventing human trafficking, combating gender discrimination, as well as protecting the rights of the handicapped. The Government would also complete its studies on anti-terrorism and the unified house of worship code bills, they said according to Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA). The anti-terror bill, which replaces the 29-year-old emergency laws, has been drafted to suit national security demands while preserving the basic freedom and human rights of Egyptians, the officials added. The Cairo Government, they added, will also hold periodical meetings with NGO members, promote the culture of human rights in schools and revise the definition of torture in the Egyptian Penal Code. It has also pledged to investigate the possibility of joining some human rights conventions, which Egypt has not signed up yet, they added. Members of the the International Federation of Human Rights have welcomed these pledges.
