The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights warned today that some of the amendments to the mental health law proposed by the government—in particular, those related to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)—violate the rights of patients to treatment and physical safety.
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On Tuesday, December 3, the al-Waily Criminal Court sentenced officer Nader Nabil Bolous Shenouda and eight lower ranking policemen (sub-officers) to three years in prison in criminal case no. 4126/2016.
The first two were presented jointly with Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms, one on the death penaly, and the other on the infringment of the State's economic policeis on the rights to an adequate standard of living, health, and education.
These drastic economic measures are taking place alongside a severe crackdown on civil and political rights. Egypt’s civic space has been decisively evaluated as “closed” by international monitoring initiatives, and the government has recently ratified an NGO law that UN human rights experts have indicated could “devastate civil society.”
It is worth noting that the State Security Prosecution has recently developed a habit of throwing a lot of people who are mainly targeted because of their political inclinations into large cauldron cases with a long list of accusations and a huge number of defendants; defendants who do not necessarily have any links or anything in common, and on charges of incidents that are not only unrelated but that do not even have any intersection time or area wise.
We stress on that the source of this serious issue is the absence of a legislation that activates the constitutional article, without disruption to the rest of the constitutional articles that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex and guarantee freedom of belief for all without discrimination, as well as the vagueness of the current legal system which opens the door to a such serious violation.
EIPR expresses extreme shock at the death of former president Mohamed Morsi as a result of the failure of Egyptian authorities to provide him necessary medical treatment. The wilful failure to provide adequate health care amounts to murder by neglect, according to the Egyptian penal code as well as international human rights standards.
On the International Day of Commemoration of Chernobyl, the EIPR publishes a position paper on nuclear energy entitled "The nuclear energy more expensive and more dangerous”. The paper calls for solidarity with the victims of the disaster and for drawing lessons and reviewing ideas on the use of nuclear energy, especially with cheaper and safer alternatives.
EIPR condemns closure of the Naga al-Ghafir church in Sohag by security and documents closure of 22 churches since enactment of the church construction law; demands reopening of closed churches and a decree regularizing the status of all churches that filed papers with the regularization committee
The Prisons’ Authority forced al-Helw to undergo a full external physical examination and inspection of her genitals, conducted by doctors at a general hospital, against her will and without medical grounds, which constitutes a clear assault on her bodily and psychological safety.
The EIPR condemns the Interior Ministry for holding al-Kashef in the Tora men’s prison in solitary confinement pending investigation in case no. 1739/2018. Detaining Malak, who is a transwoman, in a male prison facility makes her more vulnerable to physical and psychological violence.
The second annual report on the death penalty in Egypt, covering the period from January to December 2018.The report reviews and documents death sentences issued in Egypt throughout 2018 and attempts to analyze patterns of handing down death sentences verdicts by Egyptian courts, tracking quantitative and qualitative shifts in the application of the death penalty—the maximum penalty in criminal law and the only irreversible penalty.
On March 19, 2019, the State Security Prosecution renewed the detention of Malak El Kashef for 15 days pending investigations in case No. 1739/2018. The defendant’s lawyers filed requests to investigate the anal examination ElKashef was subjected to during her detention, which constitutes a flagrant violation of her right to bodily integrity.
The campaign also seeks to destigmatize menstruation and present sanitary products as a basic bodily/health need for women.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms condemn the sudden decision on Wednesday morning, February, to carry out the death sentence against nine people convicted for the assassination of the public prosecutor in case no. 81/2016/High State Security felonies.
Gasser Abdel-Razek, EIPR’s executive director, attended today a civil society business lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron, his foreign minister, Jean-Yves La Drian, and other members of the delegation accompanying the French President during his visit to Egypt.
For the fourteenth time in the space of a year, the Court of Cassation has upheld death sentences handed down by lower courts, making them final and enforceable. On Sunday, November 25, 2018, the court issued its judgment on case no.
The EIPR believes that such a decree would most faithfully enact the provisions of the church construction law, however flawed, as well as treat the causes of sectarian violence, which is largely rooted in bureaucratic obstruction and clear recalcitrance on the part of the security apparatus.
The EIPR reiterates its reservations on most of the IMF loan terms, which have adverse socioeconomic impacts on most citizens and are damaging to the economy and social stability.
EIPR stresses the importance of issuing this law in a timely manner. The presidency’s objections should not be used to justify a delay given the importance of this legislation and its direct impact on the health and rights of Egyptians as well as scientific research. We also stress on the importance of releasing drafts to the media and civil society, to enable the assembly to pass a law that receives the support of stakeholders and makes them partners in its implementation.
