Annual Report of The National Council for Human Rights

Chapter Four

NCHR's Activities

Following its inception, the NCHR set forth a framework to finalize a national plan for ensuring compliance with human rights in Egypt.
NCHR specified two mechanisms. The first was the formation of a joint committee with the ministries of the interior, foreign affairs and justice as well as the General Prosecutor Office. This committee convenes periodically at under-secretaries' level to review the scheduled issues. The second mechanism which is underway seeks cooperation with human rights NGOs.
The work priorities approved by the NCHR are as follows:

1- To end the state of emergency as well as the legislations that conflict or are inconsistent     with human rights principles.
2- To add new legislations that support the advancement and protection of human rights     principles.
3- To promote respect for basic rights and public freedoms with special emphasis on :
    a) Resolving issues concerning detainees arrested, under the Emergency Law.
    b) Ending all forms of torture and cruel, degrading treatment
    c) Abrogating all penalties that violate the freedom of speech and the
          freedom of the press
4- To enhance the economic rights of Egyptian citizens, with special emphasis on :
    a) The unemployment problem which deprives individuals from the right to a job.
    b) Problems concerning workers laid off owing to changes in the Labor Law.
    c) The problem of unequal opportunities and the lack of transparency in filling public jobs           owing to nepotism and favoritism .
    d) The conditions that repel and hinder investment, leading to the scarcity of job            opportunities in Egypt.
5- To ensure a decent life for citizens, with special emphasis on:
    a) The right to good health maintenance.
    b) The right to good education.
    c) Judicial supervision on prisons, supporting social rehabilitation and providing health care
        to prisoners as well as social care after completing their sentence.
    d) Resolving the problem of mines buried in Egyptian soil since World War II which result in
        casualties and the hindrance of development.
6- To disseminate human rights principles in the Egyptian media, education, culture, with     special emphasis on:
    a) The development of educational curricula in compliance with human rights         principles and values .
    b) The entitlement to cultural rights in Egypt.
    c) The mainstreaming of the culture of human rights throughout the media.
    d) The training of mosque and church preachers in issues concerning different faiths and          human rights.
7- To (i) Strengthen relations and exchange expertise with similar national institutions, international organizations, and cooperation mechanisms with the UNCHR; (ii) coordinate financial and technical support on an international level, (iii) review Egypt's reservations on international conventions, (iv) observe the violation of rights of Egyptian citizens abroad, and (v) take interest in discussing issues concerning Iraqis and Palestinians, the humanitarian condition in Darfour, anti-Semitic issues, and contempt for other faiths.

Under this program, the NCHR undertook convening several hearings and has appointed experts to conduct studies on issues of interest so that they may present their recommendations to the Egyptian President and competent authorities. The NCHR has also authorized a program for visiting prisons and has carried out a number of visits to Tora and El-Kanater prisons for male and female prisoners as well as to the Abu Zaabal prison. The NCHR has forwarded thousands of complaints addressed thereto to the relevant ministries and has established an internal mechanism for their follow-up.

Legislation and Law:

NCHR has submitted a memorandum to the Egyptian President, the Speakers of the People's Assembly and El-Shoura Council, including a recommendation to terminate the state of emergency and to resume the normal litigation system as stated in the Constitution.

This recommendation was made after studying the various perspectives of the state of emergency, the justifications for its continuity, and the negative impact of such continuity on the overall stance of Egyptian citizens with regard to the legal protection of their rights and freedoms.

In light of this, there were important modifications to Egyptian legislation in 1992. An entire section was added to Chapter Two of the Penal Code concerning terrorism crimes. This section may substantially be considered a complete legislation to fight terrorism. Furthermore, some modifications were made to the Criminal Procedure Code. Its contents concern the regulation of special procedures to face terrorism crimes, violence, and the organized Crime. This is intended to provide security authorities and the Public Prosecution with the necessary legal means to fight terrorism crimes, violence, and organized Crime.

With these changes, as well as the other provisions of the Penal Code and Criminal Law, society has been more capable of facing any real danger through the normal legislative system.

Despite the positive action taken by the judicial and executive authorities to limit the scope of practicing exceptional powers granted by the Emergency Law, it is now time, in the NCHR's opinion, to top this action once and for all ending the Emergency Law.

Also, NCHR views certain provisions of the Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code as infringing upon the rights of individuals and impairing the basic guarantees established by the Constitution in investigation procedures and criminal trials.

The NCHR's recommendations include the following:

1- To amend Article 1 of the Penal Code which stipulates that the punishment of any civil servant who orders or carries out the torture of a suspect or detainee to obtain a forced confession there from shall be three to ten years of imprisonment.

The proposed provision includes the widening of the scope of criminal acts punishable by law so that it is not restricted to obtaining forced confessions from a suspect or detainee. Rather, in addition to this, it includes torture to obtain forced information or to terrify or force such suspect or detainee to do or abstain from doing a certain action.

The proposed provision also widens the scope of incrimination to include those who instigate or approve torture, or who take a passive stance regarding it, or who fail to prevent or to report such torture.

2- To annul the paragraph under Article 206 of the Criminal Law which grants certain members of the Public Prosecutor's Office the powers and authorities of the Court of Appeal, Misdemeanour Chamber, convened in a deliberation room. This authority grants the right to detain a suspect for a period of up to six months without forwarding the matter to a court or obtaining permission for such detention, or allowing the detainee's protest before him.

3- To amend Article 40 of the Criminal Law by adding a new paragraph thereto, which prohibits the arrest or detention of any individual without an order issued by legally competent authorities. It also obligates the treatment of an arrested individual in a manner that maintains his dignity as a human being. It further prohibits harming such individual physically or mentally. The NCHR believes that the provision in its new form is adequate enough. However, it stressed the need for adding this new paragraph:

'' In all cases, it is prohibited to hear the statement of a suspect arrested in a misdemeanour or felony which, by law, requires detention or interrogation, without the presence of that suspect's attorney. If his attorney fails to attend, an attorney shall be appointed for him through the competent Bar Association''.

Moreover, the NCHR has embarked on the study of two other issues, namely:

1- Procedural and substantive criteria for temporary arrest, which is undeniably a necessary procedure in certain cases. It should be governed by substantially specific regulations and controls necessary to safeguard it from becoming a system that is inconsistent with the principle of original innocence of a suspect of a criminal act and that violates the fundamentals of criminal legislation.

2- The NCHR believes that the travel interdiction, which has become widely applicable, and which is sometimes extended to periods exceeding five years, is an unacceptable violation of the Constitutional rights concerning travel.