Permanent higher committee for human rights to be established in Egypt

CAIRO – 1 September 2018: The Egyptian government approved a draft resolution regarding the formation of a permanent higher committee for human rights during a meeting on Wednesday with Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly.

As various western reports and human rights activists generally accuse Egypt of human rights abuses, this committee will focus on handling and responding to any accusations against Egypt with respect to its human rights record.

This human rights committee will also be concerned with following up on Egypt’s implementation of international human rights obligations and agreements that are done on a global level. It will also be in charge of preparing reports, proposing policies and suggestions on how to handle issues of human rights.

The decision comes in accordance with instructions from the president to take action at both institutional and executive levels as a way to promote human rights and basic freedoms on the national level alongside constitutional rights.

With respect to what ministry will chair the new committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received the highest number of votes and so it is now respectively responsible for chairing the higher committee for human rights.

Egypt often faces many accusations on human rights abuses, as recently, according to an article published by the Human Rights Watch, they stated that Egyptian authorities are using counterterrorism laws to prosecute journalists and activists.

Regardless, the war against terrorism and implementation of the permanent higher committee for human rights are two separate things for Egypt.

Sisi has previously affirmed that Egypt will continue its efforts to maintain human rights and basic freedoms in parallel with confronting terrorism and protecting its national security from current dangers threatening the region in his meeting with the President of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) Mohammed Fayek, back in October 2017.