Press release
Cairo: 29/9/2003

The EOHR renews its old demands:

The National Democratic Party’s discourse doesn’t meet  the needs for political and constitutional reforms

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) followed the activities of the first annual conference of the National Democratic Party (the ruling party), held under the slogan of “citizen rights”. The conference discussed several working papers relating to issues concerning human rights. Citizen rights, equality, and the political participation were on top of the agenda of the conference.

While welcoming the new NDP discourse, and the president’s speech concerning the abolishment of military orders, issued under to the Emergency Law, the amendment of the Nationality Law, the Law on Professional Syndicates and the Political parties Law, the EOHR hopes it will have an effect on the NDP’s government policies, and that it would lead to an end to all restrictive laws that infringe on rights and freedoms in Egypt.

The EOHR, while reaffirming the importance of such discourse, believes that it doesn’t meet the minimum needed for the full respect for internationally accepted human rights standards, neither does it meet the needs for political and constitution reform.

As a result, the EOHR renews its demands for political and constitutional reform, and sees the following as a necessary start:

·         Amending  the 1971 Constitution to guarantee the principles of separation of power, and the independence of the Judiciary, and to strengthen the People’s Assembly’s supervisory role;
Amending constitutional articles relating to the president and his deputies’ election to allow direct elections, and allowing the public to choose between several candidates, instead of the current referendum system, and also diminishing the powers granted to the president under the current Constitution, in addition to the abolishment of Article 74[1] of the Constitution.

·         Ending the twenty-two year State of Emergency, and only allowing its enforcement in states of war and natural disasters, for a limited period, and under comprehensive conditions. In this regard, the EOHR sees the following steps necessary:
Releasing political detainees and declaring a general amnesty to all political prisoners, except those sentenced, in a fair trial, in cases relating to violence;
Bringing to an end to the referral of civilians to military courts; and the retrial of those convicted by such courts before their natural judge;
Terminating all use of exceptional court, particularly the emergency State Security Court.

·         Guaranteeing the right to form political parties according to the Constitution, and only under the supervision of the judiciary’ and lifting all restrictions on peaceful public activism. The EOHR demands:
The amendment of law 40/1977 on Political Parties to allow their establishment by notification, the abolition of the Political Party Affairs Committee and the Political Party Court, and the return of the jurisdiction over political parties to the Council of State;
Providing guarantees for free and fair elections without administrative interferences and building an adequate political environment for a fair competition , particularly freedom of expression and access to national media;
Guaranteeing the complete separation between state institutions and the ruling National Democratic Party, to ensure that state institutions belong to all Egyptians without discrimination based on political opinion or syndical, public, or political activism.

·         Protecting freedom of expression, freedom of the press and other types of media, the right to know, and access to information. The EOHR demands the following:
Putting an end to all legal and administrative restrictions infringing on the right to freedom of expression and opinion and the freedom of the press in Egypt;
Amending the law on the Radio and Television Union in order to turn it into a state owned institution rather than government controlled institution, where all political and intellectual currents are represented, making it a national independent media;
Allowing the ownership and publishing of newspapers, the launching of private audio visual media to all political parties, syndicates, unions and NGOs, and to all legal and natural persons;
Reconsidering the ownership of the state of the national press in order to avoid the ruling NDP control over the national press in Egypt.

·         Guaranteeing the independence of the professional syndicates, trade unions, and associations and NGOs to enable them to contribute to democratic, social, and economic development. The EOHR demands the following:
The cancellation of Law 84/2002 on Non-governmental Organizations that restricts the abilities of such organizations to contribute actively in the development of the country, and the return to the articles of the Civil Code, canceled by presidential decree 384/1956;
The cancellation of Law 100/1993 on Professional Syndicates. Professional syndicates should only be governed by their freely elected boards, and by bylaws drafted and accepted by its membership;
The review of legislation governing trade unions, in order to guarantee the independence and freedom of the labor movement.

·         The EOHR reaffirms its position that any political and constitutional reform should stress the interdependence of political and civil rights on the one hand and the economic social and cultural rights on the other. The EOHR believes that no real reform can be achieved before Egyptians can live without need, poverty, or fear.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights realizes that the main responsibility in carrying out those necessary reforms lies within the ruling NDP. The EOHR also realizes that there is a role for political and democratic forces in Egypt. In this historic moment, with all the major changes that are taking place in the region and around the world, the EOHR stresses that the ruling NDP and all political and democratic forces have to work as swiftly as possible to get the country out of its current political, economic, and social crisis, in such a way that guarantees the widest participation of all social and political groups in running the country’s affairs.