HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE

CONSIDERATION OF REPORTS SUBMITTED BY STATES PARTIESUNDER ARTICLE 40 OF THE COVENENT

Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee

EGYPT

Addendum

Comments by the Government of Egypt on the concludingobservations of the Human Rights Committee

GE.04-44087 (E) 261004 261004

Arab Republic of Egypt

National Council for Human Rights

Press release

A delegation from the National Council for Human Rights headed by Mr. Ahmed Kamal Abu Magd and with the participation of Mr. Mohammed Fayek, Mr. Osama al-Ghazaly Harb and Mr. Hafez Abu Seeda, members of the Council, has paid a visit to Tura Prison, where it was received by Major General Mahmud Magdi, Assistant to the Minister for Internal Affairs for the Prisons Sector.

The members of the delegation made an extensive tour of the prison wards, of the various service areas set aside for prisoners, of the production workshops in which the prisoners work, and of the many dispensaries that dispense medical treatment.

They met in private with a number of prisoners and asked them if they had any complaints to make about their treatment. Prisoners on remand were also interviewed and various matters were discussed.

A large number noted that there had been a marked improvement in the treatment of prisoners.

There were some complaints about the remand system, the length of time prisoners are kept on remand, and other issues pertaining to criminal procedures which the Council and its committees will review.

The Council will continue to pay unannounced visits to prisons and will include the results of this and other visits in its annual report.

[Newspaper article]

Committee for the improvement of prison conditions and thesafeguarding of prisoners’ rights

The National Council for Human Rights, Major General Habib `Adali, the Minister for Internal Affairs, and Mr. Maher Abd al-Wahid, the Prosecutor General, have agreed to form a joint committee to review prison conditions and prison legislation with a view to improving the treatment which prisoners and detainees receive.

Under the agreement, two or three members of the Council were appointed to sit on the committee, which has come up with recommendations for reforms that will be announced by the Ministry, the Prosecutor General and the Council, in accordance with their respective areas of competence, and will be implemented in a timely manner.

In a memorandum to the Council on the guidelines to be followed by the Council in the near future, Mr. Kamal al-Magd, Vice-President of the Council, explained that the comments and recommendations which the Council will adopt on prison reform and improving prison conditions will form the basis of his annual report to be published at the end of this year and to be submitted to the People’s Assembly and the Advisory Council. He added that work on improving prison conditions offers hope that the human rights situation of Egyptians will improve to the level required by the Constitution and the international covenants and conventions by which Egypt is bound.

He said that the Council would focus in its recommendations on prison reform on ways of improving prisoners’ rights and making sure that the prison authorities uphold those rights, safeguard the dignity of prisoners and refrain from subjecting them to any form of mental or physical torture. The Council would also focus on producing practical recommendations that take account of the public interest, without influence from any quarter, in order to improve prison conditions and the treatment of prisoners.

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