Human Rights in Egypt

Introduction
Human rights is one of the critical issues that can be discussed in the latest
time and a source of all debates and problem around the world even though
it is clear that it is all the right that human can have in his life like freedom
of speech freedom of religion freedom to move from one place to another
and many other human rights there is no special requirement for anyone to
be able to acquire these rights unless he is a human being who is alife
Human rights was one of the weapons that was used in the Arab Spring to
express the dictatorship of the regime and be a reason for the revolution
against it like what happened in Egypt in the revolution of the 25 th January
2011 that was based on the murder of khalid Said
In this paper we will try to spot the light on the meaning of human rights and
what are types of human rights and the debate that have been arised over
human rights and then will discuss human rights in Egypt

Definition of Human rights

There is a universal agreement about the definition of human rights as they
are the rights that is given simply because we are humans Human rights
recognize the dignity inherent in every person as a human being, regardless
of his or her particular nationality, race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexuality,
class or any other group affiliation or characteristic. As a result, they assert
the moral and legal primacy of the individual over other entities that have
rights, such as the family and the state.
The first one who talked about human right was the British philosopher John
Locke who state that people form socities and societies form governments

and there is a contract tween government and people that the government
is obliged to protect the human rights of the people and that its main
objective
There have been a struggle between people about expanding the range of
human rights to expand to give the right to vote to every citizen and the
work permittion and eliminating discrimination based on race and gender
Across the globe, regimes that denied basic human rights to their citizens
have lacked long-term stability. A signify cant cause of the collapse of the
Soviet Union was the growing unwillingness of citizens in the Communistbloc countries to accept the systematic denial of internationally recognized
human rights. In South America and Central America, repressive military
governments fell throughout the 1980s. In Asia and Africa, liberalization and
democratization have been more irregular but nevertheless real. South Korea
and South Africa, for example, are two outstanding examples of human
rights progress.
The lesson of the recent past is that, wherever people are given the chance
to choose, they choose internationally recognized human rights. And despite
shortcomings, we live in a world in which fewer governments dare to deny
their people that free choice.

Types of Human Rights

According to the Universal declaration of Human rights in 1948 we have 30
basic human rights
Rights are things we are allowed to be, to do or to have, simply by being
human.
1. We are all free and equal. We are all born free. We all have our own
thoughts and ideas. We should all be treated in the same way.

2. Dont discriminate. These rights belong to everybody, whatever our

differences.
3. The right to life. We all have the right to life, and to live in freedom and
safety.
4. No slavery past and present. Nobody has any right to make us a
slave. We cannot make anyone our slave.
5. No Torture. Nobody has any right to hurt us or to torture us.
6. We all have the same right to use the law. I am a person just like
you!
7. We are all protected by the law. The law is the same for everyone. It
must treat us all fairly.
8. Fair treatment by fair courts. We can all ask for the law to help us
when we are not treated fairly.
9. No unfair detainment. Nobody has the right to put us in prison without
a good reason and keep us there, or to send us away from our country.
10. The right to trial. If we are put on trial this should be in public. The
people who try us should not let anyone tell them what to do.
11. Innocent until proven guilty. Nobody should be blamed for doing
something until it is proven. When people say we did a bad thing we have
the right to show it is not true.
12. The right to privacy. Nobody should try to harm our good name.
Nobody has the right to come into our home, open our letters or bother us or
our family without a good reason.

13. Freedom to move. We all have the right to go where we want in our
own country and to travel as we wish.
14. The right to asylum. If we are frightened of being badly treated in our
own country, we all have the right to run away to another country to be safe.
15. The right to a nationality. We all have the right to belong to a country.
16. Marriage and family. Every grown-up has the right to marry and have
a family if they want to. Men and women have the same rights when they are
married, and when they are separated.
17. Your own things. Everyone has the right to own things or share them.
Nobody should take our things from us without a good reason.
18. Freedom of thought. We all have the right to believe in what we want
to believe, to have a religion, or to change it if we want.
19. Free to say what you want. We all have the right to make up our own
minds, to think what we like, to say what we think, and to share our ideas
with other people.
20. Meet where you like. We all have the right to meet our friends and to
work together in peace to defend our rights. Nobody can make us join a
group if we dont want to.
21. The right to democracy. We all have the right to take part in the
government of our country. Every grown-up should be allowed to choose
their own leaders.
22. The right to social security. We all have the right to affordable
housing, medicine, education, and child care, enough money to live on and
medical help if we are ill or old.

23. Workers rights. Every grown-up has the right to do a job, to a fair
wage for their work, and to join a trade union.
24. The right to play. We all have the right to rest from work and to relax.
25. A bed and some food. We all have the right to a good life. Mothers and
children, people who are old, unemployed or disabled, and all people have
the right to be cared for.
26. The right to education. Education is a right. Primary school should be
free. We should learn about the United Nations and how to get on with
others. Our parents can choose what we learn.
27. Culture and copyright. Copyright is a special law that protects ones
own artistic creations and writings; others cannot make copies without
permission. We all have the right to our own way of life and to enjoy the
good things that art, science and learning bring.
28. A free and fair world. There must be proper order so we can all enjoy
rights and freedoms in our own country and all over the world.
29. Our responsibilities. We have a duty to other people, and we should
protect their rights and freedoms.
30. Nobody can take away these rights and freedoms from us.

Human Rights in Egypt

Egypts human rights crisis, the most serious in the countrys modern history.
The government try to posses control on people through restricting the basic
rights and freedom of people through different methods like arresting
political opponents and using violence against activists.

According to the human rights watch the breaching of human rights in Egypt
can be summarized in the following
Protester Killings and Impunity
Security forces used excessive force to disperse protests early in the year.
Nearly 20 people, most of them Morsy supporters, died in clashes with police
in the first three days of January. On January 25, the third anniversary of the
2011 uprising, at least 64 demonstrators died in clashes with police in
protests throughout the country.
Outgoing interim president, Adly Mansour, who handed over power to al-Sisi
on June 8, established a presidential fact-finding committee in December
2013 to gather information and evidence for the violent events that
accompanied the June 30 mass protests and July 3 coup that brought down
Morsy, Egypts first freely elected president. An executive summary of the
commissions report, released on November 26, did not recommend that
charges be brought against any member of the security forces or
government for the mass killing. Its mandate did not authorize it to subpoena
witnesses or documents, establish individual criminal liability, or make its
findings public.
In March, Mansour asked the Justice Ministry to open a judicial investigation
into the August 14, 2013, dispersals of pro-Morsy sit-ins at Raba and Nahda
squares in Cairo in which more than 800 protesters died. The ministry
announced it would not assign a judge to investigate these events because
this was the prerogative of the prosecutor general, whose office claimed it
was already investigating.
A March 18 court ruling sentenced a police captain to 10 years in prison and
three lower-ranking officers to one-year suspended sentences for their role in
the tear gas suffocation of 37 protesters in a police van outside Abu Zaabel
Prison on August 18, 2013. An appeals court overturned the convictions on

June 7 and referred the case to the prosecutor general for further
investigation. A retrial is scheduled to begin on January 22, 2015.

Mass Arrests
An Interior Ministry official acknowledged in July 2014 that since Morsys
ouster a year earlier authorities had arrested 22,000 people, most if not all
suspected supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood. According to the Egyptian
Center for Economic and Social Rights, more than 41,000 people were
arrested or faced criminal charges between July 2013 and May 2014.
Judges routinely renewed detention orders of many of those arrested for
months without charge or trial and convicted many others in mass trials
without establishing individual guilt for criminal offenses. As of July 2014,
according to Interior Ministry data provided to the presidential fact-finding
committee, more than 7,000 people arrested in the fallout from Morsys
removal remained in pretrial detention.
Those detained include around 29,000 Brotherhood members, including its
high and mid-level leadership, according to the Brotherhood. The arrest
campaign expanded in 2014 to include secular and leftist activists on
charges

that

include

protesting

without

authorization,

incitement,

thuggery, vandalism, blocking roads, and belonging to banned or

terrorist groups.
Due Process Violations and Mass Death Sentences
Egypts judiciary exhibited serious procedural deficiencies that deprived
detainees of basic due process rights. Though authorities in November 2013
lifted the state of emergency imposed at the time of Morsys removal, judges
often renewed pretrial detention orders despite a lack of evidence that would
warrant prosecution.

Many trials violated Egyptian law as well as international standards. In

March and April, a criminal court judge in the governorate of Minya handed
down the death penalty to more than 1,200 people allegedly involved in two
attacks on police that resulted in the death of one officer. The judge did not
allow the defendants the right to mount a meaningful defense or ensure that
all had access to counsel.
The first trial, which resulted in 529 death sentences, lasted less than an
hour, and only 74 defendants were present. The court also barred some
defense lawyers from attending. In the second trial, which yielded 683 death
sentences, none of the defendants attended.
Following legally mandated advice from the grand mufti, Egypts top religious
authority, the judge confirmed 220 of the death sentences, which the
prosecutor general automatically appealed as required by law. In December,
a separate judge in the governorate of Giza issued preliminary death
sentences to 188 people accused of attacking a police station in August 2013
and killing 14 policemen. According to the Brotherhood, 259 of its members,
including Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie, have been sentenced to death
since Morsys ouster.
Egypts 2014 constitution permits military trials for civilians, and on October
27, 2014, al-Sisi issued a decree expanding military court jurisdiction to
cover crimes that occur on any public, state-owned, or vital property. Since
the decree, prosecutors have referred at least 455 peoplethe vast majority
of them Brotherhood membersto military court. In April, a military court
sentenced a social media manager for the online news website Rassd to one
year in prison for helping to leak a tape of remarks by al-Sisi during his time
as defense minister. The court acquitted one Rassd employee and handed
down three-year sentences to an army conscript and two other men who
remain at large. In May and September, military courts handed down oneyear sentences to 10 peoplemost of them Brotherhood members or allied

politiciansfor attempting to cross into Sudan illegally. In November, a

military court in Suez sentenced 17 people to between 5 and 10 years in
prison for throwing rocks and incendiary devices at soldiers during the
violence following Morsys removal.
Torture and Ill-Treatment
At least 90 people died in local police stations and security directorates in
the

governorates

of

Cairo

and

Giza

alone

in

2014,

according

to

an investigation by the Egyptian newspaper Al Watan, which cited statistics

from

the Justice Ministrys

Forensic

Medical

Authority. That

number

represented a 38 percent increase from the year before.

A spokesman for the authority told the newspaper that prison overcrowding
had forced authorities to hold detainees in police stations and other places of
temporary detention which were not well ventilated or otherwise properly
equipped. Witnesses told Human Rights Watch that police and prison
authorities often failed to provide proper medical care to prisoners, leading
to death. In some cases of deaths in detention, lawyers and relatives alleged
that authorities had tortured the victim.
Detainees also described severe beatings during arrest, arrival at police
stations, and transfer between prisons. Scores detained in January protests
complained of torture, including electric shocks, to coerce confessions. The
Egyptian

Initiative

for

Personal

Rights

documented

the

enforced

disappearance and torture of dozens of civilians in military detention.

Attacks by Armed Groups
The security situation deteriorated, particularly in the Sinai, as armed groups
targeted security forces, buildings, checkpoints, and vehicles. An Egyptian
insurgent group, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, announced that it has joined the
extremist group Islamic State (also known as ISIS). Some attacks targeted

tourists or indiscriminately harmed ordinary citizens. At least 892 people

including militants, civilians and security forcesdied in the governorate of
North Sinai in 2014, according to press reports.
Freedom of Association, Expression, and Assembly
Egypts new constitution contains language that appears to protect free
expression, peaceful assembly, and association, but authorities detained
thousands solely for their peaceful exercise of these rights.
Free Expression
Authorities detained dozens of people for such offences as possessing flyers
with anti-military slogans, rapping in public against the police, or displaying
signs commemorating victims of the Raba dispersal. Journalists, academics,
former lawmakers and human rights defenders were among those charged
with crimes or banned from travel outside Egypt. Police arrested three Al
Jazeera English journalists, Mohamed Fahmy, Peter Greste, and Baher
Mohamed, in late December 2013, and a court handed down multi-year
prison sentences in June 2014 after a trial in which prosecutors failed to
present any credible evidence of criminal wrongdoing.
Free Assembly
A November 2013 law on public assembly allowed the Interior Ministry to ban
and forcefully disperse protests and arrest participants on vague grounds
such as imped[ing] citizens interests. On April 7, 2014, a court rejected
appeals from April 6 Youth Movement co-founders Ahmed Maher and
Mohamed Adel and activist Ahmed Douma against their three-year sentences
for breaking the law. Authorities also used the law to detain prominent
activist Alaa Abdel Fattah and human rights defenders Mahienour al-Masry
and Yara Sallam.
Free Association

In September 2014, al-Sisi signed an amendment to the penal code that

mandates a life sentence and a fine of 500,000 Egyptian pounds
(US$69,900) for anyone who takes foreign funding to harm the national
interest or unity, a provision Egyptian rights activists fear will be used
against them and other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).
Authorities banned the Muslim Brotherhood and declared it a terrorist
organization in December 2013, following a bomb attack on a Nile Delta
police station claimed by Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. Authorities put forward no
evidence to support the designation, but in a television statement Deputy
Prime Minister Hossam Eisa cited as justification the 1948 assassination of
Egypts prime minister and the alleged torture of Brotherhood opponents
during the pro-Morsy sit-ins in July and August 2013. Authorities froze the
assets of more than 1,000 associations allegedly tied to the Brotherhood,
such as the Islamic Medical Association, which served residents of poor
neighborhoods, in addition to dozens of Brotherhood-affiliated schools.
On April 28, the Court of Urgent Matters banned activities of the April 6 Youth
Movement and authorized the authorities to shut its headquarters on
grounds that it engaged in espionage and harmed Egypts image abroad,
based on a complaint from lawyer Ashraf Said, who said recorded phone calls
among April 6 members aired on television proved the activists had
conspired against state institutions.
Authorities raided the Alexandria office of the Egyptian Center for Economic
and Social Rights on May 22, briefly arresting at least 15 activists and
lawyers and subjecting them to sexual harassment and beatings. Riot police
and military troops also broke up labor protests and strikes.
The Social Solidarity Ministry in June 2014 presented a draft law on
associations that would give the government security agencies veto power

over NGO activities as well as their registration and funding. The law would
also cripple their capacity to communicate or co-operate with groups abroad.
The Social Solidarity Ministry did not enforce a November 10 deadline for all
NGOs to register under the current Law of Civic Associations and Foundations
(Law 84 of 2002), which would give the government tight control over their
activities. Many Egyptian human rights organizations are currently registered
as civil companies or law firms due to the highly restrictive law. However,
several high-profile human rights defenders left the country fearing arrest
and

prosecution,

and

some

groups

suspended

their

activities.

The

government has pledged to make the NGOs register.

Freedom of Religion and Sectarian Violence
Egypts 2014 constitution guarantees freedom of religion and the rights of
minorities, but authorities continued to prosecute writers and activists on
charges of contempt of religion and blasphemy, including religious
minorities and proclaimed atheists. In June, an appeals court in the
governorate of Beni Suef upheld a five-year sentence in absentia for author
Karam Saber, a Muslim convicted for contempt of religion in 2013 for his
short story collection Where Is God? Attacks on churches and properties of
Christians continued in 2014, and in many cases authorities failed to
intervene.
Violence and Discrimination against Women
Sexual harassment and assault of women and girls in public spaces
continued in spite of recent government efforts to combat the practice,
including arresting and prosecuting some men for such crimes, which have
long been committed with impunity.
Egyptian rights groups documented at least nine incidents of mob sexual
assault and harassment in Cairos Tahrir Square between June 3 and June 8,

2014, as demonstrators celebrated al-Sisis election. Seven men were

eventually handed sentences ranging to life for the attacks, and interim
President Mansour issued a law on June 5 that for the first time defined and
outlawed sexual harassment and set escalating penalties for different
offenses.
Al-Sisi ordered the formation of a ministerial committee to determine a
national strategy to address harassment. On June 12, the committee met and
proposed plans that included increasing security for women in public squares
and gatherings, as well as raising awareness about harassment against
women through media campaigns and schools. The committee has not
proposed a comprehensive law on violence against women nor a national
strategy to implement such a law.
No law criminalizes domestic violence. Other forms of violence against
women, including child marriage and female genital mutilation (FGM),
continued in some areas, despite laws prohibiting them. On November 20,
the countrys first trial for FGM, which began after a 13-year-old girl died
from an allergic reaction to penicillin, ended in an acquittal for the girls
father and the doctor who performed the procedure. The prosecutor
appealed

the

acquittal.

Personal

status

laws

in

Egypt

continue

to

discriminate against women in relation to marriage, divorce, child custody,

and inheritance.
LGBT Rights
Authorities arrested more than 95 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender
(LGBT) people between July 2013 and December 2014. On December 7,
police raided a Cairo bathhouse and arrested at least 25 men whom they
accused of practicing debauchery. Activists said police used fake online
dating profiles to target gay men and others, including sex workers.

On September 25, a court sentenced six men to two years in jail with labor
for committing debauchery. Earlier in September, prosecutors filed charges
of inciting debauchery against eight men who allegedly participated in a
videotaped same-sex wedding which later circulated on social media. In
April, a court sentenced four men to eight years in prison for debauchery
after finding makeup and womens clothing in an apartment where they
allegedly held parties.
All these numbers are announced according to the Human rights watch by in
my opinion even though these rights may be considered in the forign culture
it is against our relgion and Arabic concervative culture which prohibit such
actions that is not accepted in any religion whether it is islam , Christianity

The Egyptian Organization of Human Rights

the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) was founded in 1985 and is
now considered one of the oldest and most professional non governmental
-organizations (NGOs) in egypt
EOHR has a national membership of 2,300 and has 17 provincial branches
located throughout Egypt.
EOHR is a non-profit NGO working within the framework of the principles
established in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other
international human rights instruments regardless of the identity or affiliation
of the victim(s) or violator(s). It acts against both governmental and nongovernmental human rights violations.
EOHR is part of the wider international and Arab human rights movement. It
cooperates with the United Nations human rights bodies, as well as with
other international and regional human rights organizations.

EOHRs goals:
1. To provide full respect for human rights and the basic freedoms of all
Egyptians and non-Egyptians who are in Egypt , according to the Universal
Declaration

of

Human

Rights

and

other

international

human

rights

instruments. These include, in particular, the International Covenant on Civil

and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) and the United Nations Declaration on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. EOHR defends the human
rights of all individuals and groups against all forms of violation.
2. To reform the Egyptian constitution and legislation to bring them into
accordance with international human rights covenants and conventions.
3. To promote the rule of law and full respect for an independent judiciary.
4. To guarantee the right to participation in public affairs without
discrimination due to opinion, religion, gender, race or colour.
5. To guarantee freedom of opinion and expression, in addition to artistic and
literary invention.
6. To guarantee freedom of belief, thought and religion.
7. To ensure a fair trial for all defendants before a competent judge
regardless of the kind of charge. To grant legal aid to those defendants if
possible and necessary.

8. To call for the release of those who are detained, or whose freedoms are
restricted, due to the peaceful expression of their opinions or because of
their beliefs, religion, race, gender or color.
9. To provide legal aid to the victims of violations against the freedom of
opinion and expression. In addition, to assist prisoners and detainees who
are subject to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or
punishment.
10. To ensure that prison regulations and the treatment of prisoners are in
conformity with the international Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment
of Prisoners.
Working methods:
EOHR adopts peaceful methods to promote and defend human rights. It
believes that the promotion of human rights is a common goal for the entire
world community and is determined to spare no peaceful effort in its struggle
against human rights violations. In its fight for human rights, EOHR:
1- Sends fact-finding missions. These include visits to prisons in order to
collect testimonies, and to obtain and document information about human
rights violations.
2- Issues urgent appeals, press releases, reports and publications on human
rights violations.
3- Raises awareness on human rights issues among individuals and groups
through publications, conferences, seminars and studies.

4- Contacts Egyptian governmental and non-governmental bodies as well as

international, regional and national organizations to seek co-operation,
obtain information and take action to increase respect for human rights.

References

http://www.globalization101.org/uploads/File/HumanRights/humanright
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human rights in brief
http://photos.state.gov/libraries/amgov/30145/publicationsenglish/humanrights_brief.pdf
Sarah Melody we have 30 basic human rights do you know them ?

2009
http://www.samaritanmag.com/we-have-30-basic-human-rights-do-you-

know-them
What Are Human Rights
http://f.edgesuite.net/data/www.youthforhumanrights.org/files/YHRI_wh

at-are-human-rights-booklet.pdf
http://en.eohr.org/about/
http://www.humanrights.is/en/human-rights-education-project/humanrights-concepts-ideas-and-fora/part-i-the-concept-of-humanrights/definitions-and-classifications

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Rights

Today:

UN

Briefing

Papers,

United

Nations,

http://www.un.org/rights/HRToday/declar.htm.
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