The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights

On 5^th February 2003, the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) held a roundtable entitled “Towards a future without emergency” to begin its campaign for the cessation of the emergency law (No.162 of 1958). Representatives of NGOs, political parties, lawyers and journalists participated in the roundtable which was chaired by Yehia Al Refai, former senior judge (Sheik) of the Court of Cassation and the Judiciary Club.

Yehia El Refaei’s opening presentation addressed the negative impacts of the state of emergency on human rights and democracy in Egypt. Two further lectures were presented; “The impact of emergency law on public life in Egypt” by lawyer Mr Ahmed Abdel Hafeez and “The impact of emergency law on the human rights situation in Egypt from 1992– 2002”, a field-work study presented by EOHR lawyer Mr Said Abdel Hafez.

The discussion highlighted that whilst emergency law was intended to be an exceptional measure, Egypt had been governed by the emergency law for the major part of its modern history. It was pointed out that since the issuance of the first Constitution in 1923, the emergency law has been used excessively to the detriment of political and constitutional life in Egypt. Moreover, due to the perpetual state of emergency, the exceptional legal situation had come to represent the status quo; the ‘ordinary’ law had come to reflect the requirements of the emergency state rather than constitutional principals.

The roundtable also agreed that the use of emergency law has had a repressive impact on civil participation and cultural life. The ongoing “culture of emergency” promotes fear and discourages community members from political participation or demanding their public and personal rights. Participants emphasized the need for intensive efforts from all sectors to build a democratic society based on constitutional principles, not only through the cessation of the emergency law but also by overcoming the culture of emergency and reforming the legislative structure to remove the exceptional emergency elements.

The participants agreed upon the following recommendations as prerequisites for freedom and democracy:

1- The cessation of the emergency law and the law of “the social prosecutor” (known in Egypt as El Modae’i El Ishtraki[1]).

3- Commencement of judicial reform to guarantee the implementation of democracy.

4- The unification of the judiciary under the umbrella of one high court and one high judicial council, thus removing the influence of the Ministry of Justice.

5- The promotion of judicial self-sufficiency through adequate financial remuneration to remove dependency on, and the interference of, the executive authorities.

6- The reform of the electoral system to guarantee independent judicial supervision, and removal of interference of the legislative and executive arms of government on electoral outcomes. This should occur through constitutional reform that protects the independence of the judiciary, unifies its authority and guarantees its comprehensive supervision over elections.

[1] He is nominated and appointed by the president of the state after the approval of the Peoples’ Assembly. He is authorized by the president or the Peoples Assembly or due to a request from the Prime Minister to investigate matters related to the citizens’ interests .

A roundtable hosted by EOHR