Egypt stresses constitution grants freedom of expression, laws against violations

CAIRO – 15 November 2019: Egypt, its laws and constitution grants the right to protest and express, however, violations, vandalism and rioting cannot be allowed, Egyptian Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Omar Marwan has told AFP in an interview.

Marawan further stressed that some so-called human rights organizations are relying on their reports on the testimonies and tales of people of certain trends and agendas.

During the interview, Marawan also stressed that Muslim Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi had died a natural death in the courtroom.

“Morsi died in the courtroom in front of everybody,” Marawan told AFP, rejecting a statement issued last week by an independent panel of UN experts.

However, according to Marawan, the general prosecution is still investigating his death and will announce the results as soon as they are reached.

Morsi, who belonged to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, was overthrown after a year in power following a popular uprising.

Marwan told AFP that UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard had “committed a violation” of UN rules of engagement.

This, he said, was because she had requested details from the Egyptian authorities on Morsi’s detention conditions, giving them 60 days to respond, but then went ahead and issued her statement “without waiting for the correct information from the authorities”.

“That is a violation.”

He said he would leave it up to UN authorities to determine whether or not she should be asked to resign.

“They are hearing witnesses about what happened and they are waiting for the technical results,” he said, adding that the authorities would “publish the results of the investigation.”

According to Marawan, the Egyptian government adheres to its international human rights commitments, pointing out to the implementation of several recommendations adopted by the previous Universal Periodic Review session in 2014.

Earlier, the Egyptian parliament's foreign relations committee said that Egypt has been the target of systematic campaigns to tarnish the country's image with respect to human rights.