CAIRO: Amnesty International did not witness any human rights violations while monitoring Egypt's first day of elections yesterday, according to Said el-Hadady, head of the organization's monitoring team. "There were no acts of violence threatening the rights of voters during the electoral process," said Hadady The Amnesty International team arrived in Egypt a few days ago to monitor any human rights violations or incidents of violence in Egypt's first elections after the January 25 Revolution. The team, which visited 25 polling stations yesterday, consisted of 5 people from Britain, Norway, France, Jordan and Egypt, said Hadady. He added that "the organization's mission is not only to monitor the electoral process but also to ensure that voters are not harassed or coerced in any way." He continued to say that "the atmosphere in these elections is very different from the parliamentary elections in 2010." Amnesty International will only issue reports concerning the electoral process in Egypt if there are clear abuses and violations, he pointed out. But he assured that "if there are any developments of concern during the different stages of the electoral process, we will issue a report.” An official with the National Council for Human Rights said that the Council received 400 complaints regarding administrative irregularities in the electoral process.
