- EGYPT
- April 13, 2015
- 6 minutes read
Rights Organization Report Slams Violations of Human Rights Inherent in Junta Decrees, Laws
The independent (non-government) Egyptian Observatory for Rights and Freedoms (EORF) has issued its first report on documented human rights violations in decrees and legislation issued by the Egyptian regime in the first quarter of 2015.
EORF’s special unit monitoring violations inherent in the junta’s decrees and legislation has issued its first report detailing how the illegitimate regime violated human rights, through decrees and legislation, after it monopolized the legislature since the June 30, 2013 military coup, in the absence of parliamentary oversight.
The EORF report stated that 41 decrees and laws that have already been adopted and published in the Official Gazette in January, February and March 2015 violated rights and freedoms.
Flawed decrees and laws issued by the President and the Prime Minister: 10
Flawed decrees issued by the Minister of Interior: 7
Decrees by the Minister of Justice: 23
Decrees by the Public Prosecutor: 1
The EORF report further said that one of the most important decrees and laws passed was the extension of the emergency law in north Sinai, for the devastating effect it had, legalizing the prevalence of brutal violations. As important were amendments of certain provisions of the law regulating work at universities, and the Civil Service Law concerning work and workers within state institutions and establishments, without there being any community dialogue about them.
The Minister of Interior also continued to issue decrees in violation of the law to prevent granting Egyptian nationality to Palestinians born to Egyptian fathers or mothers, which is a clear violation of the law and the Constitution.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Justice continued to issue decrees in violation of fair trial standards, moving court sessions for political detainees to places belonging to the Interior Ministry, the Central Security and the Investigation Bureau.
The worst decree in violation of the law took the form of an administrative decision issued by the Public Prosecutor’s Office to designate members of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists based on unfair trials, and the unconstitutional law: The Terrorist Entities and Organizations Law.
It was quite shocking to see the Prime Minister issue a decree giving the army a full right of Adabeya dry port management after it is created, and giving the army all the powers of the General Authority for Land Ports and Dry Ports, which demonstrates the extent of encroachment of the military institutions on civilian life and the junta’s plundering of the Egyptian people’s resources and properties.
The EORF report emphasizes that decrees, laws and other legislation reflect the size of social forces in communities and the extent of their interaction and their importance. Therefore, all changes and amendments made to the Egyptian legislative system since June 30, 2013 until now are an expression of the authoritarian nature of the military regime in Egypt. There simply is no real representation of the citizens in Egyptian authorities, whether the executive, the legislature or the judiciary. All those have blatantly and ominously fallen under the cloak of the army.
It goes without saying that the effectiveness of any real democratic system is measured by the effectiveness of representation of all classes of the people in the government, which ensures the neutrality of the state towards the affiliations of its citizens. Evidently, this is something the Egyptian regime lacks.
In conclusion, the EORF report stresses that the Egyptian regime is ignoring the Constitution, taking advantage of the lack of popular oversight. This is clearly evidenced by the decrees and laws top officials continue to issue in violation of the Constitution and international conventions and treaties, and also by the laws and legislation that violate the Constitution, and which the regime decided to keep intact from the period before the Constitution was ratified.
EORF’s full report (in Arabic) is available on the following link:
http://www.slideshare.net/ssuserd93812/ss-46924418
EORF’s official website:
https://www.facebook.com/Egypt.ORf/posts/1806421009582979:0