Foreign correspondents' requests to cover election approved

CAIRO – 12 March 2018: The National Election Authority (NEA) has approved all the requests of foreign correspondents to cover the 2018 presidential election, Diaa Rashwan, head of the State Information Service (SIS), said on Monday.

On January 26, Rashwan said that a list of 650 foreign correspondents was sent to the NEA for approval. The list included 530 residents who are certified by the government press center, and 120 visitors who represent other nations, he added.

Rashwan stressed that foreign media channels are easily deceived by fabricated news, as they aren’t familiar with the truth of events happening in Egypt. He also warned that some specific foreign media channels promote terrorism by looking at terrorists from a humanitarian perspective.

Rashwan also confirmed that a press conference headed by Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marwan will be held at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club in Cairo on Tuesday night. The meeting aims to discuss a report Egypt sent to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Egypt shows its efforts on HR to UN High Commissioner

CAIRO – 9 March 2018: Minister of Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marwan has submitted Egypt’s voluntarily biannual report regarding its human rights efforts to the UN High Commissioner.

On Wednesday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry strongly denounced U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al-Hussein’s annual report that included "false allegations" of political rights violations in Egypt.

The ministry condemned the "fabricated incidents" stated in Hussein’s report that was submitted to the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday, criticizing the "pervasive climate of intimidation" in Egypt ahead of the upcoming presidential election.

The Foreign Ministry expressed its astonishment at mentioning the 2018 election in the report, based on information described by Hussein himself as "alleged”, the statement read.

Egypt rejects any attempt to cast doubt on the credibility and integrity of the forthcoming presidential election without providing any evidence or substantiated information, the statement added.

Hussein claimed that former Egyptian potential candidates were "pressured to withdraw" and that "independent media outlets [in Egypt] have been silenced."