During the twenty-fifth Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva on March 7, the Egyptian delegation strongly refuted criticisms of its human rights record expressed in a joint statement of twenty-seven nations. The joint statement, which included endorsement from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Turkey, expressed “concern about the restrictions on the rights to peaceful assembly, expression and association, and about the disproportionate use of lethal force by security forces against demonstrators which resulted in large numbers of deaths and injuries.”
While Badr Abdel Atty, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, described the statement as inaccurate and imbalanced, the Egyptian delegation offered a far more strongly worded repsonse to what it described as the ‘”so-called” cross-regional statement.’ In it, the delegation accused the signatories of being “unaware” or incorrectly evaluating the situation in Egypt, while also emphasizing Egypt’s “sovereign right to legislate laws.” The statement also accused signatories of a double-standards in terms of the right to peaceful protests, freedom of expression, and the “killing of civilians during foreign military operations, without any kind of accountability.”
According to the Turkish Andalou Agency, Egypt has also decided to prepare a report about the state of human rights in the country. The committee tasked with creating the report will include members of the ministries of justice, foreign affairs, labor, interior, information, and social solidarity.
