Egypt’s political parties fall short on women’s rights, death penalty
Most of the biggest Egyptian political parties have committed to delivering ambitious human rights reform, but there are gaps in a number of areas.
Some parties expressed reservations, particularly around ending discrimination, protecting women’s rights and abolishing the death penalty
Ahead of parliamentary elections which began in November, Amnesty International asked political parties running in Egypt’s elections to sign a “human rights manifesto”, containing 10 key measures to signal that they were serious about delivering meaningful human rights reform.
Amnesty International wrote to 54 political parties and sought meetings with 15 of the main ones, nine of which signed up to the manifesto, either in its entirety or to some of the pledges. Three others gave oral feedback.
The Freedom and Justice Party, which won the most seats in the new People’s Assembly, was one of three parties not to respond substantively, despite considerable efforts by Amnesty International to seek its views.
Disturbing
Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland, said: “With the first session of the new parliament sitting this week, it is encouraging that so many of the major parties engaged with us and were prepared to sign up to ambitious pledges on combating torture, protecting slum residents' rights and ensuring fair trials.
“But it is disturbing that some of the parties refused to commit to equal rights for women. With a handful of women taking up seats in the new parliament, there remain huge obstacles to women playing a full role in Egyptian political life.
“Women and men stood side by side in the protests that toppled President Mubarak and led to these elections. The new constitution should guarantee equal rights for women.”
While the only parties to sign up to all of the pledges contained in the manifesto were the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and the Popular Socialist Alliance Party, nearly all of the 12 parties who responded made ambitious commitments.
Key promises included ending the three-decade-old state of emergency, combating torture, upholding freedom of expression and association, ensuring fair trials and investigating abuses committed under the rule of Hosni Mubarak.
Amnesty International also secured pledges from nearly all the parties to address the rights of those living in slums and to deliver economic, social and cultural rights for all Egyptians. Read the responses from the 15 main Egyptian political parties.
Reservations
The eighth pledge, to end discrimination, was signed up to by most parties but several said they could not sign up to Amnesty International’s call for an end to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Comments from at least two parties suggested that the issue of discrimination against Copts, including in building churches, has been exaggerated.
A number of parties had reservations over the ninth pledge, which called for women’s rights to be protected, including for women to be given equal rights in marriage, divorce, child custody and inheritance. Several parties invoked Islamic law to explain why they would not commit to this.
Most parties made reservations over the 10th point, which called for the abolition of the death penalty, either stating that this was in contradiction with Islam or that they were continuing to study the issue. Even the two parties inclined to abolish the death penalty said that this was a long-term goal not achievable in the coming years.
Colm O’Gorman continued: "The real test for political parties will be to translate these pledges into action. They must abolish repressive Mubarak-era laws, reform the police and security services, and pass laws which protect human rights and break with the legacy of abuse. One of the first steps should be the lifting of the much-decried state of emergency.”
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