Gamal Essam El-Din , Thursday 11 Aug 2022 – Ahramonline.com
The Egyptian parliament’s Human Rights Committee slammed on Thursday foreign reports on the sudden death of a man detained by police in Alexandria, saying the reports are “unbalanced and politicised.”
The statement said that politicised foreign reports often deliberately ignore the steps being taken by the Egyptian government to support human rights from a comprehensive approach.
“Not only do these [government] efforts aim to improve the treatment of prisoners in police stations, but also seek to improve their living conditions,” said the statement.
“The prosecution’s efforts in this respect reflect the state’s policy of transparency about human rights conditions in Egypt, “said the statement.
Egypt’s Ministry of Interior denied in a statement on 2 August that a citizen was tortured to death in Alexandria’s Al-Montazah police station.
“The fake reports about the torture incident were propagated by the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organisation,” said the statement, adding that “the citizen, alongside with two others, were arrested on 20 July upon the prosecution’s request on the charge of trafficking in drugs.”
“The citizen, a tuk tuk driver, felt pain on 27 July and was taken to Abu Qir hospital, where he suddenly died,” said the interior ministry’s statement, adding that “the citizen was a drug addict and prosecution authorities are still investigating his sudden death in Abu Qir hospital.”
The Egyptian parliament’s Human Rights Committee said “flawed and politicised reports ignore that Egypt is currently implementing a new human rights strategy that focuses on improving living conditions in Egyptian prisons and police stations.”
“Part of this strategy is to rehabilitate prisons and qualify inmates to live a useful life after the end of their punishment period,” said the statement.
The statement also strongly criticised interviews conducted with George Ishak, a member of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), with some foreign channels in violation of the rules adopted by the Council in investigating claims of torture.
The committee’s statement called on the media and civil society organisations to not be misled by outlawed and terrorist organisations spreading claims and misleading reports that aim to push citizens lose confidence in security and prosecution authorities.
“We also would like to emphasise that the Egyptian parliament’s Human Rights Committee is sparing no effort in supervising human rights in Egypt, particularly in terms of paying regular visits to prison cells and police stations to review conditions of prisoners and inmates and make sure that policemen and authorities observe their human rights,” the statement concluded.