Government officials to defend human rights record at UN

Foreign Affairs Deputy Minister Hisham Badr will defend the state of Human Rights in Egypt during his speech in the UN Human Rights Council sessions commencing on Monday, state-owned Al-Ahram reports.

Badr heads the Egyptian delegation in its week-long visit to Geneva, where it will speak in the council consisting of Prime Ministers and Foreign Affairs Ministers the UN’s member states.

According to Al-Ahram, Badr will discredit what the newspaper refers to as “unjust allegations” regarding the state of human rights in Egypt. According to Al-Ahram, Badr will respond to what it calls “allegations” that the state of human rights has deteriorated in Egypt since the removal of former President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013, and will assert that Egypt insists on eradicating terrorism.

Badr will also insist on the independence of Egypt’s judiciary and assert that any steps taken against terrorism follow the law.

Several international and local human rights organizations have issued reports noting deterioration in the state of human rights in Egypt since Morsi was forced out of power and a military-back government took over in July. According to estimates, over 25,000 people have been detained, and thousands have been killed in crackdowns on protests.

In one of its recent reports published in February, Human Rights Watch concluded that currently in Egypt, there is zero tolerance to dissent.

Among the signs of the deteriorating state of human rights are violent dispersal of protests, arrest of journalists and sentencing of activists to prison with little evidence.

On Saturday the Foreign Ministry criticized the US State Department 2013 country report on Egypt describing it as unbalanced and flawed. The report issued in late February lists Egypt as one of several countries accused of suppressing political opponents and restricting the freedom of assembly.