Egypt
20.11.02
Urgent Interventions
Egypt - Press Release: Conclusions of UN Committee against Torture.
World Organisation Against TortureP.O. Box 21- 8, rue du Vieux BillardCH 1211 Geneva 8, SwitzerlandPhone: 0041/22 809 49 39 / Fax: 0041/22 809 49 29E-mail: omct@omct.org / Website: www.omct.org
PRESS RELEASE
Geneva, 20 November 2002
Egypt;
Conclusions of UN Committee against Torture
OMCT welcomes the Conclusions and Recommendations of the UN Committee Against Torture on Egypt which reflect the gravity of the situation in the country and address many of the main issues of concern.
While welcoming the Committee’s Conclusions and Recommendations OMCT believes that Committee’s Conclusions fall short of what would have been necessary to ensure full compliance with the Convention against Torture. OMCT regrets, in particular, the Committee’s failure to address the issue of violent evictions and house demolitions in spite of the fact that, in the past, the Committee has addressed similar issues in its examination of other state reports.
OMCT had presented three reports to the Committee Against Torture:
· A joint report with the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights regarding the practice of torture in the country and legal, administrative, and other obstacles to its eradication;
· A joint report with the Egyptian Centre for Housing Rights on violent forced evictions and house demolitions as a form of inhuman and degrading treatment; and
· A thematic report on torture and inhuman treatment on the basis of sexual orientation.
In addition, OMCT supported the work of the Human Rights Center for the Assistance of Prisoners and endorsed the report presented by that organization to the Committee.
OMCT invited representatives of all of the organizations above to come to Geneva to participate in a NGO briefing to the Committee.
During the briefing to the Committee, NGO representatives highlighted some of the following concerns: the continuation of a state of emergency in Egypt; the widespread use of administrative detention and the application of exceptional legal procedures under emergency legislation which do not contain minimum guarantees to ensure detainees’ personal integrity; the difficult conditions in which NGOs carry out their work in Egypt as a result of repressive legislation and the persecution of some NGO activists; the very numerous cases of evictions and house demolitions in Egypt involving the use of violence following which victims are left destitute; the application of certain legal provisions in order to detain and prosecute persons on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation, often resulting in ill-treatment and torture.
The Committee Against Torture recommended, among others:
· That Egypt reconsider the maintenance of the state of emergency;
· That Egypt eliminate all form of administrative detention;
· That incommunicado detention be abolished;
· That all ambiguity in legislation which might underpin the persecution of individuals because of their sexual orientation be removed;
· That Egypt ensure that non-governmental organizations engaged in upholding human rights pursue their activities unhindered;
OMCT would like to urge the government of Egypt to carefully examine the conclusions of UN Committee Against Torture and to adopt all necessary measures to comply with its recommendations .
___________________________________
For copies of the alternative reports or for further information please contact OMCT at + 41 22 809 4939 or
e-mail: omct@omct.org
PRESS RELEASE
Geneva, 20 November 2002
Egypt;
Conclusions of UN Committee against Torture
OMCT welcomes the Conclusions and Recommendations of the UN Committee Against Torture on Egypt which reflect the gravity of the situation in the country and address many of the main issues of concern.
While welcoming the Committee’s Conclusions and Recommendations OMCT believes that Committee’s Conclusions fall short of what would have been necessary to ensure full compliance with the Convention against Torture. OMCT regrets, in particular, the Committee’s failure to address the issue of violent evictions and house demolitions in spite of the fact that, in the past, the Committee has addressed similar issues in its examination of other state reports.
OMCT had presented three reports to the Committee Against Torture:
· A joint report with the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights regarding the practice of torture in the country and legal, administrative, and other obstacles to its eradication;
· A joint report with the Egyptian Centre for Housing Rights on violent forced evictions and house demolitions as a form of inhuman and degrading treatment; and
· A thematic report on torture and inhuman treatment on the basis of sexual orientation.
In addition, OMCT supported the work of the Human Rights Center for the Assistance of Prisoners and endorsed the report presented by that organization to the Committee.
OMCT invited representatives of all of the organizations above to come to Geneva to participate in a NGO briefing to the Committee.
During the briefing to the Committee, NGO representatives highlighted some of the following concerns: the continuation of a state of emergency in Egypt; the widespread use of administrative detention and the application of exceptional legal procedures under emergency legislation which do not contain minimum guarantees to ensure detainees’ personal integrity; the difficult conditions in which NGOs carry out their work in Egypt as a result of repressive legislation and the persecution of some NGO activists; the very numerous cases of evictions and house demolitions in Egypt involving the use of violence following which victims are left destitute; the application of certain legal provisions in order to detain and prosecute persons on the basis of their perceived sexual orientation, often resulting in ill-treatment and torture.
The Committee Against Torture recommended, among others:
· That Egypt reconsider the maintenance of the state of emergency;
· That Egypt eliminate all form of administrative detention;
· That incommunicado detention be abolished;
· That all ambiguity in legislation which might underpin the persecution of individuals because of their sexual orientation be removed;
· That Egypt ensure that non-governmental organizations engaged in upholding human rights pursue their activities unhindered;
OMCT would like to urge the government of Egypt to carefully examine the conclusions of UN Committee Against Torture and to adopt all necessary measures to comply with its recommendations .
___________________________________
For copies of the alternative reports or for further information please contact OMCT at + 41 22 809 4939 or
e-mail: omct@omct.org