In six chapters and some 300 pages the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) released its fourth annual report last month.
Out of a total 6677 complaints, 1099 came from Cairo residents. Giza came second with 469, Alexandria with 453, and South Sinai came last with 400 complaints. The largest portion of complaints, some 2825, covered socio-economic curtailed rights, while 2156 reported complaints regarding political and civil rights.
The response by various government bodies to the complaints was disproportionate. Last year 53.5 per cent of the complaints were accorded replies from the authorities concerned, against 63.1 per cent in the previous year. The prosecutor general came first in responding to people’s complaints, as he responded to all but one of the complaints.
Torture
The report expressed grave concern over the humiliation and torture suffered by suspects held in police stations. It cited a host of testimonies by people who were subject to torture; in some cases torture led to death. The council called for advancing legislative mechanisms which stress immediate accountability when crimes of torture are committed. The State fell short, the report declared, of making the required amendments to laws of criminal procedures so as to ameliorate the conditions of remanding suspects in custody.
As for the situation in prisons, it remains bleak. Maltreatment and the absence of proper healthcare resulted in unrest in Damanhur and Tanta prisons, with the prisoners threatening to go on hunger strike. Prisons of Abu-Zaabal, Wadi Natrun and the New Valley are in no better shape. The NCHR recommended that the mandate of the prosecution be stretched to cover prisons, which are now exclusively supervised by the Interior Ministry.
Alarming
The NCHR reported a remarkable setback in freedom of expression, and condemned the excessive use of the right to prosecution against journalists. Some 500 lawsuits were brought against journalists last year, the report said, practically impeding them from properly fulfilling their duties.
The anti-terror bill, expected to be passed over the coming few months, came under fire, with the NCHR warning that it could be used to undermine freedoms and rights. The report thus stressed that human rights organisations should have a say on the bill before it is referred to Parliament.
The fact that some defendants in political cases were referred to military courts drew criticism, with the report sounding an alarm and stressing that, in cases not related to military affairs, people have the right to be tried in ordinary courts.
The NCHR lamented the fact that there are so many people with different political affiliations are still detained without trial. Many of these detainees, the council reported, were university students who posed no threat whatsoever to social peace and stability. The situation in Sinai, where people were subject to maltreatment and torture following the eruption of unrest, is no less bleak. The report stressed the failure on the side of the government to deal with the residents’ grievances in relation to socio-economic shortcomings.
Freedom of belief
The report cited 35 complaints to the NCHR from Christian families who claimed their daughters had left home and were forced to convert to Islam. The complaints were referred to the Interior Ministry which investigated the cases and reported that the women had voluntarily converted to Islam and got married to Muslims. On the other hand, some Muslim families complained to the council that their daughters had left home and were forced to convert to Christianity, but the Interior Ministry replied that these claims were untrue.
The council received 29 complaints of violations of religious freedoms. Indicative among these complaints was that sent by Christian inhabitants of Awlad Mohamed village in Assuit. They were prevented from practising their religious rites either directly or indirectly through rejecting applications to restore their church.
Five complaints concerning sectarian violence were received. In the village of Ayat, a baseless rumour that a house was to be transformed to a church led to the burning of Copts’ homes and the looting of their shops and properties. Christians, for their part, had to defend themselves through using knives and guns. Hence dozens on both sides were injured. The report stressed the shortcomings on the part of security apparatuses in dealing with the problem and other similar instances.
Twenty one complaints were submitted to the NCHR by Baha’is who were denied computerised ID cards citing their religion. Since government authorities rejected dealing with them unless they had computerised IDs, the situation impeded their assuming posts in the government or fulfilling military service. Worth noting, however, is that a recent court ruling has granted Baha’is the right to computerised ID cards with an empty religious box.
International condemnation
In several instances last year Egypt came under fire from the international community regarding the situation of human rights. The government’s response to international criticism, the report declared, was marred by double standards and lack of objectivity; a stereotypical response was to accuse foreigners of meddling in Egyptian internal affairs. The NCHR said Egypt should abide by the commitments it bound itself to before the international community. Egypt should respect press freedom, allow women empowerment, and lift the state of emergency, among other things.
The NCHR report recommended issuing a unified law for building places of worship, and criticised the government’s “unjustified foot-dragging” in the matter.
The report stressed the relevance of the law in enhancing citizenship rights, and called for purging the legislative system of articles which may, directly or indirectly, lead to discrimination. It advocated alleviating restrictions on political activities, and called for new legislation to govern practising political rights, recommending a quota for women in Parliament and allowing Egyptian expatriates to cast their ballots in Egypt’s elections.