Egypt’s ‘Pardon Committee’ major step towards human rights development: MP Tarek El-Khouly

CAIRO – 12 December 2022: Tarek El Khouly, member of the Presidential Pardon Committee and deputy of the Foreign Relations Committee in the House of Representatives for The Coordination Committee of Party's Youth Leaders and Politicians (CPYP) said that the formation of the Presidential Pardon Committee and its reactivation last April, was major step and effort towards developing the human rights situation

He added that president Abdel Fattah al Sisi used his constitutional powers to Bardon imprisoned youth who were proved not to be involved in any terrorist acts, and giving them an opportunity to return to reintegrate into society.

El-Khouly added that the exerted efforts, reflects the state’s will to develop the human rights file, as one of the comprehensive development goals of the state.

On November 25, The Egyptian authorities released a new group of 30 pretrial detainees as per a decision by the Public Prosecution.

Tarek El-Khouly, published photos on his social media pages for the release of the new batch.

Since President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi activated the committee, more than 1,000 pretrial detainees have been released and several convicts received presidential pardons.

The Presidential Pardon Committee, formed in 2016 and reactivated by Sisi in April, aims to release young prisoners of conscience and reintegrate them into society.

Khouly previously explained to Egypt Today the criteria that the recently revived committee’s work is based on to prepare pardon lists.

“Our work while preparing the pardon lists and choosing names conform to two criteria; first, they must not be part of a terrorist group and second, they must not have engaged in violence and bloodshed crimes,” Khouly said.

He added that all those who do meet these criteria have the chance of being included in the pardon lists.

Khouly affirmed that the committee receives pardon requests via many avenues, including through the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) and the human rights committees of the House of Representatives and Senate.

In addition, the committee receives pardon requests through the National Youth Conference website, Khouly added.