Mr. President,
\nARTICLE 19 and the Association for Free Thought and Expression (AFTE) note Egypt\u2019s engagement
\nwith the UPR process during its recent second Review.
\nHowever, this expressed commitment to human rights is in stark contrast to reality, where an
\nunprecedented crackdown on fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression continues.
\nWe thank Lithuania for its recommendation to \u201cinvestigate all cases of the use of excessive force
\nagainst protesters [\u2026] and hold accountable those responsible\u201d. Approximately 1000 protesters were
\nkilled in a single day, in August 2013, when the Egyptian government employed lethal force against
\nprotesters. At present, none of the high-level officials responsible for the massacre have been held
\naccountable. Excessive use of force continues to be employed by Egyptian police, with at least 20
\npeople killed during protests on the anniversary of the revolution, in January 2015.
\nWe highlight that several Members States1
\nrecommended the repeal or significant amending of the
\nProtest Law, adopted in November 2013. The law severely restricts the right to peaceful assembly
\nand provides broad and sweeping powers to the police to prohibit meetings or demonstrations and to
\ndisperse them using lethal force.
\nWe highlight the recommendation made by Austria to \u201crelease and drop charges against media
\nworkers arrested in the context of performing their duties.\u201d2
\nWhile ARTICLE 19 and AFTE welcome
\nthe release of the three Al Jazeera journalists, after more than 400 days of imprisonment, the charges
\nagainst the journalists have not been dropped. They remain at risk of re-imprisonment for undertaking
\ntheir legitimate journalistic activities. Furthermore, at least 10 other journalists remain in prison in
\nEgypt.
\nWe especially welcome recommendations3
\nthat recognise \u201cthe crucial importance [\u2026] of civil society\u201d
\nas \u201cindispensable for building peaceful, prosperous and democratic societies\u201d, as stated in Resolution
\n24\/21. We underline, in particular, Chile\u2019s recommendation to \u201clift the restrictions hindering the work
\nof civil society organizations, in particular the reception of funding to effectively carry out their work
\nin defence of human rights.\u201d New and extreme pressures, contrary to a flourishing and enabling
\nenvironment are being exerted on civil society organisations. These measures include changes to the
\npenal code in September 2014, which criminalise the receipt of foreign funding.
\nIn a recent interview for an online German news outlet President Sisi said that human rights should
\nnot be reduced to freedom of expression. We would like to remind Egypt and all Member States that
\nfreedom of expression is the cornerstone of democracy, and its fulfillment enables the enjoyment of
\nall other rights. With the revolution in 2011, the Egyptian people clearly expressed their desire for
\nfundamental rights and freedoms. We urge Member States to listen carefully to the voices of all
\nEgyptians and take proactive steps to ensure that Egypt fulfils commitments made during its UPR.
\nThank you.<\/p>\n
_______________________________________________________<\/p>\n
Mr. President, ARTICLE 19 and the Association for Free Thought and Expression (AFTE) note Egypt\u2019s engagement with the UPR process during its recent second Review. However, this expressed commitment to human rights is in stark contrast to reality, where an unprecedented crackdown on fundamental freedoms, including freedom of expression continues. We thank Lithuania for its […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11532,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[986],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-statements-en"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n