AOHR addresses public liberties in Arab, African states

CAIRO – 23 April 2019: The Arab Organization for Human Rights has spoken about the public liberties in the Arab and African countries, on sidelines of the non-governmental forum of the African Commission on Human Rights held in Sharm El-Sheikh.

Alaa Shalaby, head of the AOHR has explained the danger of the armed conflicts in Libya, Sudan and Somalia, as well as the danger of the restrictions imposed on the public liberties, when it is added to the bad economic and social situation, leading to public protests and reform uprising.

The revolutions managed to achieve progress in the liberties situation on the ground, but without amending relevant legislation, leading to further problems, Shalaby said.

In this regard, he praised Egypt’s efforts, saying that the country has taken a different way through the past year and half, as local organizations have exerted pressure to amend the law and put an end to the funding cases. He urged the international organizations to work in partnership with the honest and experienced organizations, to defend human rights.

Also, the speech of Head of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) Hafez Abu Saada focused on three main axes, represented in the challenges facing the freedom of the NGOs, solving the crisis regarding the NGOs law, and the case of the foreign organizations.

Abu Saada reviewed the current efforts of the AOHR throughout the past years to hold accountable and punish those involved in torture crimes. He referred to the efforts to limit death sentences through a project that the AOHR is set to implement within two years.

Member and researcher in the AOHR Heidi Ali has presented a brief of an annual report on restrictions on the liberties in the nine countries participating the forum between 2016 and 2018.

Secretary-general of the AOHR in Libya Abdul Moneim al-Horr spoke about the situation of liberties in Libya, explaining in this regard the national division, armed conflict, the domination of the illegal groups, the and absolute absence of public liberties.

He also referred to targeting media personnel and human rights activists in the country, affirming that the progress of the human rights cannot be furthered when war and instability prevail a country.

Abdel Elah Abdel Salam, coordinator of La Coordination Maghrébine des Organisations des Droits Humains (CMODH) (aka the Coordination for Maghreb Human Rights Organization) spoke about the growing restrictions imposed on media and organizations during the past years.

He also reviewed restrictions imposed on l’Association Marocaine des Droits Humains (AMDH) (the Moroccan Association for Human Rights).

President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi received the African Commission on Human and peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) delegation in Cairo Monday, where he urged them to “closely observe” the situation in Egypt.

Headed by Soyata Maiga, ACHPR heard a preview by Sisi about the developments and efforts exerted over the last few years to improve economic, social, service and living standards.

The president emphasized that promoting human rights is one of Egypt’s priorities in Vision 2030.

On Saturday-Monday, ACHPR held a forum in Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss detention, combating torture and ill-treatment.

The forum also tackled issues of displacement and immigration, activating the economic and social rights, protecting the minorities and promoting cultural freedoms.

Over 120 participants from 70 Egyptian, African and international organizations are participating in the forum.

The organizations include the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, the Arab Organization for Human Rights, the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the International Federation for Human Rights.

Moreover, the forum focused on the importance of the role played by the civil society in boosting and enriching human rights in Africa, as well as a number of main issues related to the democratic transaction in several countries including Algeria and Sudan.