Right to Privacy Program
Press Release- 19 March 2007

Study Warns against Impact of Counter-Terrorism Proposal on Human Rights

The Egyptian government's proposed constitutional amendment on counter-terrorism will do away with whatever legal protection is left for personal rights and freedoms in Egypt, a study by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights warned today.

The 37-page study, "Personal Rights in Peril: the Counter-Terrorism Constitutional Amendment and its Impact on the Legal Protection of Freedoms in Egypt", examines the protection afforded to personal rights by the Constitution and the Criminal Procedure Code, as well as legally binding international human rights treaties. If adopted, draft Article 179 would diminish procedural guarantees in the areas of arrest and detention, house searches, the secrecy of communications and correspondence, and fair trial.

"The government's proposal has little to do with fighting terrorism - its main target is to relieve security agencies from having to care about the Constitution as they continue to commit abuses with impunity," said Hossam Bahgat, Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. "It's tragic to witness the regime's utter disregard for the history of a country that has known parliamentary life since 1866 and had a constitution in 1882."  

In addition to assessing the impact of draft Article 179 on Egypt's legal structure, the study lays out existing international guidelines and initiatives on respecting human rights while countering terrorism, which the Egyptian government gave scant attention to while drafting the amendment. The study also summarizes the government's experience in committing systematic and widespread human rights violations over the past two decades under the pretext of combating terrorism, and condemnations by United Nations and African Union bodies in this regard.

The study is available in Arabic at http://www.eipr.org/reports/179_07/179.htm

An English translation will be available shortly.