Rights groups to Arab League: Focus on Egypt

Rights groups urged Arab League Secretary General Nabil al-Araby to prioritize Egypt at the upcoming Ministerial Council on September 3.

In a collective statement, a group of 35 NGOs and networks from 13 Arab countries called on Araby to “put forward the current alarming situation in Egypt as a priority of discussion on the agenda of the Council.”

The rights groups called on the Arab League take a more active role in addressing the situation, pointing to the steps taken by the United Nations and African Union “while the political bodies of the [League] have remained silent.”

Bloody clashes erupted across the country after two sit-ins demanding the reinstatement of deposed President Mohamed Morsi were violently dispersed by security forces on August 14, leaving hundreds dead. The events spurred sporadic incidents violence from both sides throughout Egypt, and hundreds of Brotherhood members have been arrested.

In the statement, the rights groups cited the “ongoing violence by state security forces and supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and the growing human rights violations, which lead to the death of over 1,000 individuals in addition to thousands of injured as well as the damage caused to dozens of private property and state institutions.”

On August 29, 22 Arab NGOs called for an independent fact-finding commission under the auspices of the Arab League, which they consider a neutral body, namely in light of “conflicting claims by the various parties and the growing incitement to violence rhetoric deployed by all sides.” In Monday’s statement, the 35 rights groups reiterated this call.

They also demanded that the necessary measures be implemented to “ensure accountability for human rights violations and to stop any further escalation to the situation, which may put Egyptians at further risks to their lives, property, livelihood and security.”

The undersigned groups included the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network and the Gulf Forum for Civil Society Institutions.

Rights groups from Egypt as well as Yemen, Tunisia, Palestine, Mauritania, Lebanon, Iraq, Sudan, Morocco, Libya, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain signed the letter.