The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

More on human rights report

More coverage that depicts the National Human Rights Council report as a whitewash: the Al Ahram Hebdo has article in which human rights NGOs criticize the report, and point out that only two of its 6 chapters directly address human rights issues (and they are the shortest)--the goal seems to be to bury the bad news in 400 pages of fluff (the first chapter reprints the international declaration of human rights, chapter 2 and 3 talk about the creation and workings of the council itself.)
Worse, the complaints reprinted in the report are all prefaced with the verb to "claim"--so according to the Hebdo the report doesn't so much say torture is happening in Egypt as say certain people "claim" to have been tortured (it then also quote the Ministry of Interior as denying such claims).
It also seems from some of the passages translated in the Hebdo that the report is padded with plenty of very conciliatory language (some of which was apparently inserted last minute by council vice-president Kamal Abul Magd).
The report also says "This report has to be read in light of the special nature of the National Council on Human Rights. This nature makes it not at all a government organization as some believe, nor a civil society association." What it is it then?