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EOHR condemns the assaults on Al Jazeera crew and the Associated Press reporter
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11/5/2006
EOHR expresses its condemnation to the information received concerning the assaults on Al Jazeera crew and on Nadia Abu El Magd, the reporter of the Associated Press, while covering the demonstrations in solidarity with the tried judges in front of the Supreme Judiciary House.
Today, Thursday 11th May 2006, a group of demonstrators gathered in front of the Supreme Judiciary House as it was hosting the hearing in the appeal of the two judges Hisham El Bastawesy and Mahmoud Mekki at the Court of Cassation. The demonstrators were encountered with aggressive attacks from the part of the security forces, and these attacks spread reaching Al Jazeera crew covering that event. According to Al Jazeera crew, they mentioned that they were approached by seven persons dressed in civil clothes and they attacked Yasser Suliman the cameraman punching him in the face and they snatched the camera from him which caused him wounds in his left hand. The rest of the crew, consisting of Muhamed El Daba (producer), Nasr Yousef (sound recorder) and Lina Ghadban (reporter), were kept for 15 minutes in addition to confiscating the camera and the video tape inside it.
Information received by EOHR indicated also the attack on the Associated Press reporter while she was covering the event in front of Nasser Subway Station, which forced her to the ground while the forces ran over her.
EOHR reaffirms its denouncement to such acts that constitute a breach to human rights norms including the freedom of press and the right to information exchange which is an obligation to the Egyptian government upon its ratification of international human rights documents. In addition to the right to freedom and personal safety and the right to be free of torture, which are all rights stipulated in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) which is ratified by the Egyptian Government, and also contradicts with the guarantees furnished by the Egyptian Government concerning the work of journalists and reporters.
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