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The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights Press |
eohr@eohr.org
info@eohr.org
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14 September 2002
Press Release On the occasion of the holding of the 8th General Annual Conference of the National Democratic Party EOHR calls for constitutional and political reform in Egypt The EOHR addresses its call for constitutional and political reform to the President, the Head of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP), the NDP party members, Parliamentary members and other democratic political forces in Egypt. The National Democratic Party (NDP) held its eighth General Annual Conference on 15 September 2002. The General Conference represents an important opportunity for serious political reform in Egypt. The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) calls on the Egyptian Government to implement immediate political reforms in conformity with its obligations to protect civil and political rights both under the national Constitution and at international law: in particular, to desist from using state emergency laws as a tool for avoiding such obligations. In this regard EOHR recalls the program of constitutional and political reform of the Committee of Coordination between the Egyptian political forces and political parties in 1997. The EOHR recommends: 1- Immediate retraction of the declaration of the state of emergency. Any use of emergency law should be confined to limited circumstances (such as war or disasters) and be of finite duration. Specifically, EOHR recommends: -The abolition of all exceptional courts, primarily, the (emergency) supreme military court. - The release and provision of amnesty to all political prisoners (except those charged with committing acts of violence) -The practice of referring civilians to military courts be immediately stopped. Further, all individuals tried before such military courts be retried before civilian courts. 2- The immediate removal of all legal and administrative restrictions on the establishment of political parties or the activities of peaceful assemblies. Specifically, EOHR recommends: - Implementation of the guarantees of fair and impartial electoral processes free from administrative interference. - Strict administrative and political separation between the public institutions and the organizations owned by the NDP. - Amendment of law No 40 of 1977. In particular, the abolition of authoritarian mechanisms such as the Committee of Political Parties and the Parties Affairs Committee that control and restrict freedom of political activity. 3- The immediate removal of all legal and administrative restrictions on freedom of expression, freedom of the press and the right to access to public information. Specifically, EOHR recommends: - Enabling political parties, syndicates, unions and other civil society to own and issue newspapers. - Revision of national media laws confining press ownership to the State - Amendment of the law of the Radio and Television Union to ensure such a body is an independent national institution free from Government interference, representing the full spectrum of political and intellectual thought and opinion. 4 - The guarantee of the independence of the national, trade unions and professional syndicates to ensure civil participation in democracy building Specifically, EOHR recommends: -Abolition of the new Non-Government Organization law (Law No. 84 of 2002) that places severe restrictions on Egyptian civil society and the reintroduction of the civil law abolished by the presidential decree No. 384 of 1956. - Abolition of Law No. 100 of 1993 of the professional syndicates and introduction of guarantees preventing governmental interference in the affairs of professional syndicates except after proper consultation with elected council members and the relevant general assembly. - Affirmation of the trade unions' freedom to establish its own organizations. 5 - Any political or constitutional reform must affirm the indivisibility between political and civil rights and economic and social rights. This means that no actual reform can be achieved without freeing the Egyptian citizens of need, poverty and fear. The EOHR urges the NDP (as the majority holder in the Peoples' Assembly) take responsibility of implementing these recommendations Therefore, the EOHR calls on the NDP, in its General Annual Conference, and to all democratic and political forces in Egypt, to observe their political and historical responsibilities and cooperate on the issue of democratic and political reform. |
