COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE BEGINS REVIEW OF REPORT OF EGYPT

CAT
29th session
13 November 2002
Morning




The Committee against Torture began consideration this morning of a fourth periodic report of Egypt, citing progress made in legislation but querying a Government delegation on the use of incommunicado detention in the country, and on the effects of a state of emergency in force for several years.
Committee Experts said the state of emergency appeared to prevent the promotion of the guaranties contained in the Convention against Torture, and said incommunicado detention was known for creating a situation in which torture could be carried out.
Introducing the report was Ambassador Naela Gabr, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva, who said Egypt had a unmistakable commitment to protect all categories of human rights and noted that Egypt was among the countries which had participated in the elaboration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Also in the Egyptian delegation were Counsellor Sanaa Khalil, Assistant Minister of Justice; General Ibrahim Hammad, Assistant Minister of Interior; Dr. Fakhry Saleh, Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine of the Ministry of Justice; Counsellor Khaled Abdel Hamid, of the Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva; Khaled Abdel Aziz, of the Office of the Attorney General; and Mohamed Loufty, Third Secretary of the Permanent Mission.
The delegation will respond to the Committee’s questions at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, 14 November.
Egypt, as one of the 131 States parties to the Convention against Torture, must provide periodic reports to the Committee on efforts to put the Convention into effect.
The Committee will reconvene at 3 p.m. to continue consideration of a report of Spain. The Spanish report was introduced by a Government delegation on Tuesday.

Report of Egypt
The fourth periodic report of Egypt (CAT/C/55/Add.6) reviews efforts to implement the Convention on an article-by-article basis. It notes among other things that in keeping with its desire to ensure widespread dissemination of the principles of human rights and to promote modes of behaviour that respect these rights, Egypt provides training by incorporating the principles of human rights into the academic curricula at all basic stages of education.
In light of previous recommendations made by the Committee concerning the penalty of flogging, which is prescribed in the Prisons Act as a disciplinary penalty for prisoners, and Egypt’s affirmations to the effect that this penalty was no longer imposed, the Ministry of the Interior has drafted a law to abolishing the penalty, the report notes. The draft is in final stages of review before being submitted to the current session of the People’s Assembly.
The report notes that the Directorate-General for Human Rights Affairs at the Ministry of Justice was established in January 2000 to, among other things, assume responsibility for fulfilment of the legal and legislative aspects of international obligations arising from Egyptian ratification of human rights instruments, and also to prepare the requisite legal replies to international bodies. A Commission on Public Rights and Freedoms was established at the Council of State in October of the same year and preparations are currently being made to establish a National Rights Commission, the report states.

Presentation of Report
AMBASSADOR NAELA GABR, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations Office at Geneva, underscored Egypt’s unmistakable commitment for the protection of all categories of human rights and recalled that Egypt was among the countries which participated in the elaboration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ms. Gabr also explained that as the Convention against Torture had been published in Egypt's Official Gazette in 1972, the provisions of the Convention had in that way been integrated into domestic legislation in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee against Torture.
Since the recommendation made by the Committee after the presentation of Egypt's previous report, Egypt had reviewed its legislation on various points, and the Ministry of Interior had taken additional steps to fight torture, Ms. Gabr said. The situation of the detainees was now monitored by the Ministry of the Interior and the Public Prosecutor's Office. Every act of maltreatment was followed up by an inquiry and sanctions, and inspections were made of jails and prisons. Medical and social care had been improved in prisons, and special dispensaries to treat tuberculoses had been created. Moreover, a national inquiry had been carried out into deaths during pre-trial custody.
The Ambassador said she wished to underscore positive elements, such as an improvement in educational programmes. She also underlined efforts made by the Egyptian NGOs to increase awareness of human rights.
Egypt was a peaceful society that had suffered from terrorism for the last 20 years, since the killing of President Sadat, Ms. Gabr said. Until recently, the country had had to fight alone against terrorism, without help from the international community.

Discussion
Serving as rapporteur on the report of Egypt was Committee Expert FERNANDO MARINO MENENDEZ, who said among other things that progress had been made in Egyptian legislation in all fields. He recalled that Egypt was the first Arab State to ratify the Convention against Torture and noted that it had also ratified various other international human rights conventions. In doing so, Egypt had shown the way to other countries of the region. Mr. Mariño Menendez added that the fact that Egypt was considering making a declaration under articles 21 and 22 of the Convention was a positive point.
The country's state of emergency, which had been proclaimed for several years now, was omnipresent and prevented the promotion of the guaranties contained in the Convention, said Mr. Mariño Menendez. Furthermore, the definition of the crime of torture was more restrictive in Egyptian legislation than in the Convention. He asked the delegation whether the Egyptian courts applied the Convention directly or only through application of the Egyptian Criminal Code.
Mr. Mariño Menendez also asked for detailed statistics on the number of death sentences pronounced and carried out, especially by military courts. Indeed, even if the Convention did not prohibit the death penalty, the way it was applied interested the Committee, he said. Mr. Mariño Menendez also asked for statistics concerning the number of deaths of detainees held in police custody, as a non-governmental organization (NGO) contended that between 1999 and 2000, 37 such deaths had occurred.
Mr. Mariño Menendez welcomed legislative measures undertaken by Egypt, such as the pending bill to abolish flogging. Nevertheless, he said he remained concerned about the 16,000 administrative detainees kept under the administrative detention programme of the state of emergency, and asked whether the number was excessive, as this situation could create a climate of impunity.
Mr. Mariño Menendez said he regretted the lack of specific information in the report concerning the protection of women in prisons, and a lack of information on the situation of homosexuals. He said he was concerned about allegations of maltreatment of street children, noting that the NGO Human Rights Watch reported that children without families were placed in situations where they were vulnerable to ill-treatment and sexual assault. Mr. Mariño Menendez regretted the absence of a specific complaint machinery for the protection of children. He also expressed concern about people without housing or evicted by the State. Due to the practice of demolition of houses, poor people were put in a worse situation and received no compensation or new housing, he said.
Finally, Mr. Mariño Menendez asked the delegation about the possibility of an individual going directly to court without going through a public prosecutor in case of a disagreement with a public official. He also wished for more information about the National Human Rights Commission.
Serving as co-rapporteur on the report was Committee Expert ALEXANDER M. YAKOVLEV, who asked among other things how long it took for complaints of torture to be considered. He pointed out that in various cases after civil compensation was madeto victims of torture, the perpetrators were not brought before a criminal court to be judged.
Mr. Yakovlev said the State of emergency was also a concern, noting that bodies created to combat terrorism could, depending on their powers and activities, pose threats to civil liberties. Special attention should be paid to the specific provisions concerning detention, he said; currently a person could be detained for seven days without being charged and, due to various procedures, might have to wait 60 days before he could recover his freedom.
Other Committee members also put questions. They asked among other things about incommunicado detention, which they said was known for creating a favourable situation for torture; about impunity, as trials related to breaches of the Convention were apparently restricted to the worst cases and only for the criminal cases and not political ones; about the absence of centres for victims of torture; and about awhat they said was an alarming number of deaths in custody. An Expert also asked how the current legal situation in Egypt affected NGOs, which he said were under pressure and were frequent targets of harassment.
Experts asked if the new Human Rights Committee had the power to investigate allegations of torture; if violence against women and female genital mutilation were monitored in prisons; and about sexual harassment and assault by police. An Expert asked the country to accept a visit of the Committee on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on torture.



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