CAIRO (AFP) — European Union criticism of Egypt's human rights record has forced government officials on the defensive over allegations of torture, the decades-old emergency law and the status of minorities.
Lawmakers present at the European parliament in Strasbourg on Thursday voted in favour of a resolution criticising Egypt's human rights record.
The resolution ruffled feathers in Cairo, with government officials slamming it as a flagrant interference in domestic affairs.
The text even prompted Interior Minister Habib al-Adly, long criticised by rights groups for cases of alleged torture in police custody, to hold his first ever chat with prisoners inside a prison, in a highly publicised visit.
"Egypt is committed to the protection of human rights in all security areas, including prisons and police stations," he said.
"The modernisation of prisons and the care provided to prisoners is proof of (Egypt's) respect for human rights," he said, touring facilities around Cairo prisons.
Rights groups say that abuse by security forces, including torture, is widespread in Egypt and that most cases go unpunished. Authorities say abusers are brought to justice.
Former UN secretary general Boutros Boutros Ghali, who now heads the government National Council for Human Rights, said that while a dialogue on human rights was healthy, there can be no universal measure for judging rights records.
"Egypt's human rights record is good," Boutros Ghali told the state-owned Al-Ahram daily in an interview.
"There is no ideal example of human rights that can be applied to all countries... The circumstances of every country differ," said the former UN chief, himself an Egyptian.
The resolution drew the customary knee-jerk reactions from Egypt's diplomatic circles who slammed it as interference, but in an unusually harsh tone, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit rejected it as arrogant and ignorant.
Ahead of the vote, he summoned 27 EU ambassadors in Cairo to protest the text.
"Egypt totally rejects attempts by anyone who takes it upon himself to be an investigator of human rights in Egypt," Abul Gheit said on Friday.
"Egypt does not need lessons from anyone, particularly if this party is arrogant and ignorant."
The resolution also called for the immediate release of jailed dissident Ayman Nur who mounted a campaign against President Hosni Mubarak in the country's first contested presidential elections in 2005.
An ailing Nur is currently serving a five-year sentence on charges widely seen as politically motivated.
The toothless nature of the resolution allowed Cairo to flex its muscles, at least for domestic consumption, observers said.
"Cairo's overreaction is intended to exploit the limited and insignificant European resolution to defend the gloomy state of human rights in Egypt which could be the Achilles heel of the regime," columnist Abdullah Iskandar wrote in the pan-Arab Al-Hayat.
The secular opposition movement Kefaya welcomed the resolution, saying it was time for Egypt's human rights violations to be exposed, while some in ruling circles saw it as a move to deliberately incite sectarianism.
Adly Hussein, governor of a Nile Delta province and member of the EU-Egyptian Association Council, in comments to the official MENA news agency, said he regretted the fact that the text "brought up issues of the utmost sensitivity" such as the status of religious minorities including Christian Copts and Bahais in Egypt.
"This issue is aimed at inciting sectarianism in Egypt... All Egyptians are united," he said.
In a November report, the New York-based Human Rights Watch said members of minority religions in Egypt suffer daily discrimination.
International organisations have repeatedly expressed concern about human rights in Egypt, including continued crackdowns on political dissent and the state of emergency in effect since 1981.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
