Joint Statements

The Egyptian government is often forced to recognize past abuses in the course of putting a pretty face on future ones, as aptly illustrated by a presidential decree issued on May 11 that extended the State of Emergency for another two years. This time, the Prime Minister and parliamentarians with the ruling party swore that the Emergency Law would only be applied in terrorism and drug cases, implicitly admitting that it has been applied much more broadly over the last 29 years, despite repeated denials by the…

Tomorrow, Saturday the 22nd of May 2010 at 9 a.m. Ahmed Seif, director of the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, Gamal Eid, director of the Arab network for human rights information and Amr Gharbeya, human rights activist and blogger will present in front of the Khalifeh court of misdemeanor, in case no. 8260/2009 to face charges by judge Abdel Fattah Murad of defamation, threat and misuse of communication tools. It is noteworthy that the charges against the three defenders by Judge Murad were restricted to defamation and threat.…

After three decades of continuous renewal of the emergency state as well as national and international advocacy by the Egyptian government for the necessity of  maintaining the emergency state to combat terrorism and drug dealing, the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) finally disclosed its real vision of what constitutes terrorism and how to combat it. Terrorism from the point of view of the ruling party is not limited to armed actions or even violent actions, but includes also peaceful demonstrations such as the 6th of…

UPDATE: Bahaa was released on Thursday April 15 after paying 5000 EGPs bail. The public attorney for North Cairo refused to refer Bahaa Saber for forensic examination without giving plausible reasons. The obvious reason is the wish of the prosecution to wait until Bahaa's injuries are healed to cover up for the torture he suffered by the hands of intelligence officers of both el Azbakeyya and Boulaq Abu El Ela police stations. Another story of the usual complicity between the prosecution and the police. Bahaa Saber was one…

The undersigned non-governmental organizations wish to express their extreme dismay at recent news that the Ministry of Social Solidarity has completed a draft for a new NGO law. According to the latest leaked copy, the bill is more restrictive and draconian than repressive bill already in place. It is expected to pass into law with the approval of the government parliamentary majority in the coming month. It seems that the haste to pass the bill is attributable to a desire to undermine civil society efforts to monitor the…