Parliamentary and political forces in Egypt called on Friday for taking measures against the New York-based Human Rights Watch organization for publishing claims against the country and for meeting with suspects involved in terrorist cases.
In late January, Egypt said HRW should be more accurate in publishing data on human rights in Egypt.
Two days ago, Egypt’s public prosecution issued a statement over the organization’s report about the torture of citizens accused in terrorism-related cases.
It said investigations, carried out by Cairo appeal prosecution, revealed that the report was based on information published in some Internet websites without making sure of its veracity.
In September 2017, HRW published a report claiming that citizens, involved in terrorist cases, were exposed to torture by the members of the prosecution during investigations in order to force them to confess to crimes in these cases.
Mohammed al-Ghoul, a Member of Parliament’s Human Rights Committee, said he would submit a parliamentary memorandum to the International Cooperation Department at the Office of the Attorney General to issue an official complaint against the non-governmental organization.
The MP said HRW mentioned that it based its report on meetings held with a group of Egyptians, refusing to list their names, while, in fact, members of the NGO met with three terrorists accused of committing murder and terrorist acts.
Ghoul said HRW exposed the names of officers and prosecutors who had conducted investigations with those suspects, a behavior that could put the officers and their families at risk.
Chairperson of the Egyptian Conference Party, Omar El-Mokhtar Semeida called on taking necessary measures against HRW, accusing it of spreading lies against the Egyptian State.
“Reports on Egypt published by the organization in the past years are clearly politicized,” Semeida told Asharq Al-Awsat on Friday, adding that during its investigations, HRW relied on the provocative testimonies of members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
