Human Rights Watch, HRW has accused the United Nations, UN and its allies of failing in its responsibility to condemn the continued abuse of human rights in a crisis prone Egypt.
HRW said the UN and all allies of Egypt should use the November 5, 2014 Universal Periodic Review, UPR of Egypt’s human rights situation to press Egypt to revoke a law that effectively bans peaceful protests and to release thousands of people arrested simply for political expression by the Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi led government.
HRW also wants the United States to condemn what it called imminent threats to shut down Egypt’s most prominent nongovernmental organisations, NGO in the face of the crisis.
In a statement released this Tuesday, November 4, Philippe Dam, acting Geneva office director at the HRW said, “Washington, London, Paris, and other capitals have failed to confront Egypt’s dramatic reversal of human rights.”
Dam added that, “They should make clear that silencing independent groups will hurt Egypt’s relations with its allies.”
There are reports that the Al-Sisi led government has set November 10 deadline for all nongovernmental organisations to register under a restrictive 2002 law, or face criminal charges.
Dam also recalled that in the absence of an elected parliament, Al-Sisi amended the penal code by a decree on September 21, this year, raising the penalty for receiving foreign funding with the intent to “harm the national interest” to life in prison and a $70,000 fine, or a possible death sentence if the recipient is a public servant.
According to official records, at least 22, 000 people have been jailed by the Egyptian authorities since the coup that ousted Mohamed Morsy, Egypt’s first democratically elected president, in July 2013.
The coup was led by Al-Sisi, the former defense minister.
But the Egyptian center for economic and social rights has put the figure of arrests by name and date at 41,000.
“Countries that say they are committed to human rights need to hold Egypt to account and keep an even closer watch after the UPR is over,” Dam said.
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