Egypt’s Parliament Begins Int’l Moves against HRW

A general view shows members of the Egyptian parliament attending the opening session at the main headquarters of Parliament in Cairo, Egypt, January 10, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

The Egyptian parliament is launching measures against Human Rights Watch over its latest reports on the alleged abuse of inmates inside the country’s prisons.

A high-ranking parliamentary delegation is expected to file an official complaint during its participation in a conference for the Inter-Parliamentary Union mid-October.

Second deputy chairman of parliament's human rights committee Margaret Azer, who is a member of the delegation, said that the complaint is about the New York-based rights group’s intentional and premeditated attack on Egypt, mainly in the human rights field.

“The complaint will be a response to HRW’s latest report and to its claims,” Azer told Ashraq Al-Awsat newspaper. “It will reveal the lies of the organization through documents.”

During the conference, the Egyptian delegation will provide an overview of Egypt’s experience with human rights, the lawmaker added.

The organization’s controversial report, which was released in September and which claims that prisoners have suffered abuses, has angered Egyptians.

The Egyptian foreign ministry has also accused the rights group of bias, saying it is promoting the interests of certain parties and countries that finance it.

Nineteen former detainees and the family of another detainee, who were allegedly tortured between 2014 and 2016, were interviewed for the report.

Last month, the parliamentary human rights committee formed a seven-member subcommittee to come up with a plan to visit prisons and police stations across Egypt for the purpose of snapping back at allegations and claims of torture.

The subcommittee is entitled to take all measures that facilitate its mission, including summoning prisoners and searching detention centers.

Azer said “the human rights committee regularly visits detention centers and makes sure that the violations, which the organization has mentioned, are not taking place.”

HRW “has gotten used to attacking Egypt in favor of some countries. This is what we will reveal during the Inter-Parliamentary Union conference,” the lawmaker added.