Cairo deplores US report on Egypt’s human rights record

CAIRO – 15 March 2019: Egypt deplored the US State Department’s annual report on human rights practices in 2018, saying “Egypt does not recognize the grounds on which such reports are based.”

“The section on Egypt in this report, and other similar reports, is based on unreliable data and reports that are provided by non-governmental entities and organizations motivated by adverse political positions,” said Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affiars Spokesperson Ahmed Hafez in a statement on Thursday.

U.S. annual report on Egypt’s human rights records described the presidential election held in March 2018 as “unfair competition.” The report said that the human rights violations in Egypt include unlawful or arbitrary killings, “forced disappearances, torture, arbitrary detention, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions, arbitrary arrest and detention, political prisoners, arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy.”

The Egyptian spokesperson said that the US report neglected Egypt’s efforts to advance the conditions of human rights in a comprehensive manner.

“It [the report] also did not refer to the huge steps taken in the field of religious freedom and towards enhancing the principle of citizenship as well as providing economic and social rights to all citizens.,” Hafez said, adding “the report did not include references to many of the monitoring mechanisms stipulated by the Constitution and the law for Egyptians to deal with, and verify, any rights violations in a framework of complete independence and transparency and out of pure national interest.”

On March 7, 2019, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) held a seminar on terrorism and human rights in Egypt in Geneva, on the sidelines of the 40th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

In his speech at the 40th session of the UNHR, EOHR Head Hafez Abu Saada discussed the impact of terrorism and extremist thoughts on the freedom of religion in the Middle East.

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi stressed in all his speeches addressing the national and international ‎public opinion that fighting terrorism is a human right that needs to be protected. During the launch of ‎the first World Youth Forum (WYF) in Sharm El-Sheikh in 2017, Sisi