Egypt contests Washington report on human rights abuses

CAIRO – 5 March 2017: Cairo has contested Washington’s Report on Human Rights Practices for 2016, which listed a number of problems in Egypt including excessive use of force by security services, discrimination against minorities, torture and inhumane treatment and government inconsistency in dealing with human rights abuses.

“American reports on human rights stem from internal considerations and reflect the American point of view and are not linked to Egypt’s legal commitments,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Abu Zeid said in a statement published on the ministry’s official Facebook page on Saturday.

“The human right status in Egypt abides by clear constitutional commitments and is being monitored by national Egyptian institutions,” the statement said.

The report, issued by the U.S. Department of State, focused on events that took place in 2016 in over 200 countries worldwide.

“The Human Rights Reports are used by the U.S. Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches as a resource for shaping policy and guiding decisions, informing diplomatic engagements and determining the allocation of foreign aid and security sector assistance,” Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson wrote in the report’s preface.

According to the report, the most significant human rights abuses in Egypt include excessive use of force, such as unlawful killings and torture, the use of military courts to try civilians, disappearances, harsh prison conditions, arbitrary arrests, harassment of some civil society organizations, limits on religious freedom, official corruption, limits on civil society organizations, child abuse, trafficking in persons and child labor.

The report also tackled attacks by terrorist organizations against schools, places of worship and public transportation throughout the year.