On the occasion of the subjection of Egypt to the Universal Periodic Review mechanism of human rights status The civil society organization’ alliance submits two reports to the office of the Higher Commissioner for Human Rights.

In the preparation for the participation in the UPR process of the human rights status that Egypt will be subjected to it in October 2014, in the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, the Egyptian Civil Society Organizations’ Alliance that consists of 25 Egyptian NGO, have sent two reports on the human rights status to the UN Higher Commissioner for Human Rights to use them in the preparation of the report that will be submitted by the commissioner to the working group on the UPR of Egypt, a report which will include a summary of testimonies of different stakeholders.
UPR Mechanism is the latest human rights protection mechanism as it is a new a unique mechanism of the UN Human Rights Council. It began in April 2008 and depends on reviewing the human rights practices in all countries of the world once every four years, and to ensure the minimum level of participation of all the relevant stakeholders to the human rights status (the Government- National NGOs- International NGOs- the Citizens).
The UPR is a key component of the Human Rights council that reminds the states of their responsibilities to respect all human rights and fundamental freedoms and to fulfill completely. The ultimate goal of this new mechanism is to improve the human rights status in all the countries and to address human rights violations wherever they occur through an interactive dialogue between the member states of the Council and the state under review, based on information and systematic reports submitted by all former referred stakeholders.
Egypt was subjected to the UPR mechanism in February 2010 for the first time in its history, and will be subjected to it for the second time in October 2014, thus it is the first time that Egypt is subjected to a similar mechanism after the revolution of January 2011 and the subsequent political, social, and economic changes.
The Civil Society Organizations’ Alliance submitted two reports on the human rights status in Egypt; one of them covers the Civil and Political Rights status, and the other covers the economic and social rights status.
The two reports focused mainly on the human rights status in post 25 of Jan 2011 revolution, and they were based mainly on the recommendation accepted by the former Egyptian government in 2010, that were accepted partially or entirely, as well as international commitments of Egypt in the field of human rights arising from the ratification of the relevant international conventions.
The reports of the Civil Society Alliance have referred to a range of challenges that face the realization and respect of the human rights in Egypt after the revolution, with a reference to clear examples of human rights violations that have been committed during the past three years, either by the authorities or by groups outside the law.
The reports referred to the attacks on the right to freedom of belief, and the big failure in the legislative environment of anti-violence and religious discrimination, as well as the reports referred to the torture practices and impunity after the revolution of January 2011 whether during the rule of the isolated president Mohamed Morsi, or during the transition phase. The reports confirmed on the need to redefine the crime of torture in the law in line with the international conventions and the Egyptian constitution.
Also the reports referred to violations of the right to personal security and the right to life, with the prevalence of forced disappearance and extrajudicial killings committed by takfiri and terrorist groups on one hand and by thugs and armed gangs on the other.
Also the reports referred to the violations of the right to freedom of expression that were targeting journalists by killing and physical assaults, and through prosecuting the journalists and by political and religious Hisba lawsuits that deployed heavily in the reign of the isolated president Mohamed Morsi, as well as closing TV channels after the revolution of June 30, 2013.
The reports addressed the restrictions on the civil work organizations and restrictions on their work and inadequate legislative climate ruling the civil work in Egypt. The reports recommended the necessity of changing the law No. 84 for the year 2002 that rules the civil work, and to remove the articles that restricts the civil organizations’ works and funds and make the resolving of the associations in the hands of the public associations and the judiciary authorities, and to stop negative administrative interventions in the work of the NGOs.
In the terms of the economic and social rights, the reports referred to the negative changes on the economic and social level that resulted mostly from the failed economic and social development policies, and the failure of the government interventions, that impacted significantly on the degree of fulfillment of economic and social rights of Egyptian citizens.
The report referred in details to the violations of the right to food, housing, access to the rights related to the services of clean drinking water and safe sanitation. Also the reports referred to the right to work that witnesses massive violations as a result of the decline in investment rates disastrously, and the stop of the tourism and the closure of a large number of factories, economic plants, and non-clarity of economic policies, and the failure of the successive governments in developing solutions to political issues with economic returns.
It is worthy of mentioning that the civil society organizations’ alliance that consists of 25 Egyptian NGOs was established at the initiative of Maat for Peace, Development, and Human Rights, that had a prominent role in the process of Egypt’s subjection to the UPR in 2010 and participated by an official delegation in sessions to discuss the human rights status in Egypt in February 2010, and in the adoption of the Egyptian report session that was held in June 2010.

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