Amnesty Inernational report 2008
The Human Rights organization Amnesty International has issued it´s annual report, it paints a bleak picture of the state of human rights around the globe in 2007. Our neighbourhood, the Middle East and North Africa follows that pattern.
When it comes to Egypt, 18 000 remains in administrative detention, though around 530(mostly of the former militant islamists, challenging the state between 1992-97)was released during 2007. Torture and ill-treatment led to at least 20 cases of death during the same year.
I would like to stress two issues that are very important, but renders little attention. The cases of African refugees/migrants that is being shot at by border security personell on a weekly basis, while they try to cross the border to Israel. Six people died from July to December 2007, and the trend continues, with people dying on at least a monthly basis, the amount of cases, were people are being shot at are significantly higher than that, and one may ask if the border security personell is implementing a policy of shot first, ask later. It´s there role to safeguard the border, but to kill desperate people(some of them from Darfur)in a haphazard way is not in any way contributing to a safer border.
The issue of violence against women is also a question that needs to be addressed in a massive way, the urgency of the issue could not be stressed enough. This is an issue were much more attention, education and resources needs to be comitted. The quote below, from the report shows how urgent and important it is.
The whole part focusing on Egypt in the report can be found here.
When it comes to Egypt, 18 000 remains in administrative detention, though around 530(mostly of the former militant islamists, challenging the state between 1992-97)was released during 2007. Torture and ill-treatment led to at least 20 cases of death during the same year.
I would like to stress two issues that are very important, but renders little attention. The cases of African refugees/migrants that is being shot at by border security personell on a weekly basis, while they try to cross the border to Israel. Six people died from July to December 2007, and the trend continues, with people dying on at least a monthly basis, the amount of cases, were people are being shot at are significantly higher than that, and one may ask if the border security personell is implementing a policy of shot first, ask later. It´s there role to safeguard the border, but to kill desperate people(some of them from Darfur)in a haphazard way is not in any way contributing to a safer border.
The issue of violence against women is also a question that needs to be addressed in a massive way, the urgency of the issue could not be stressed enough. This is an issue were much more attention, education and resources needs to be comitted. The quote below, from the report shows how urgent and important it is.
Violence against women claimed 247 lives in the first half of the year, according to an Egyptian NGO. In November the Egyptian Centre for Women’s Rights (ECWR) said sexual harassment was on the rise and that two women were being raped every hour in Egypt. It also said that of 2,500 women who had reported cases of sexual harassment to ECWR, only 12 per cent had made a complaint to the police. The official National Centre for Social and Criminal Research confirmed that sex crimes were on the rise,but could not provide figures.
The whole part focusing on Egypt in the report can be found here.
Labels: Amnesty International, human rights, Israel, migrants, refugees, women rights
posted by Ibn ad Dunya at 11:01 AM
1 Comments:
A brilliant and tragic post but very important. It is so bad that Egypt is in such a situation in the 21st century
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