Western criticism of death sentences is 'flagrant interference' in #Egypt: Foreign ministry

Egypt hits back at international condemnation of recent death sentences issued against Muslim Brotherhood leaders and others linked with the group

Egypt's foreign ministry has defended a recent rash of death sentences against Islamists accused of violence, slamming western condemnation of the rulings as "flagrant interference" in its judicial system.

In the latest of a series of mass death sentences, a court on Saturday confirmed death sentences for the spiritual leader of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, Mohamed Badie, Muslim Brotherhood member and journalist Hani Salah and 12 others over violence-related charges. Dozens of others were given life terms, including an Egyptian-American, Mohamed Soltan, who was convicted of supporting the Islamist group and transmitting false news.

New-York based Human Rights Watch condemned the sentences as "politically motivated" and "blatantly unjust," while the White House called for the immediate release of 27-year-old Soltan, a dual national.

On Tuesday, Egypt's foreign ministry snapped back, condemning countries that "deliberately distort truths and mischaracterise things, overlooking the fact that such verdicts are issued by completely independent judicial bodies that are trusted by the masses of Egyptian people."

In a statement it called on states which it said "install themselves as sponsor[s] of the human rights situation in the world" to focus efforts on giving attention to the conditions of their people and confronting racism directed against particular groups.

The men sentenced earlier this week were among thousands of people detained following the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 as part of a sweeping crackdown on his supporters and allies.

The government has banned the Brotherhood, designating it a terrorist organisation, but the group has said it is committed to peaceful activism.

The rulings can be appealed before the Court of Cassation, the country's highest judicial authority which has overturned dozens of previous death sentences against Islamists.

Egypt's interior ministry calls on citizens to report police abuse

The ministry said it was keen not to cover up any abuse and offered a hotline for citizens to report human rights violations by police forces

Egypt's ministry of interior on Sunday called on citizens to report police abuses, a move that comes amid continuing documentation of alleged human rights violations in places of police detention.

In a statement on its official Facebook page, the ministry said any form of encroachment is "an individualistic behaviour that does not represent by any means the strategy of the interior ministry."

"[Our policy] is based on justice, equality, maintaining citizens' dignity and inviolability of personal freedoms and rights, as well as applying the law to everyone with no exceptions."

The statement offered email addresses and phone numbers for people to report incidents of human rights violations.

In recent months, alleged accounts of abuses and torture in detention cells surfaced, flashing back to the infamous reports of police assaults during Hosni Mubarak's era.

The heavy-handedness and brutality of police was one of the main causes that sparked the revolution against Mubarak and his regime in 2011.

After the ouster of Islamist ousted Mohamed Morsi in 2013 and the subsequent clampdown on his supporters, another wave of torture claims, followed by outcries from human rights groups, surfaced.

Last week, members of the state's National Council of Human Rights said some of the prisoners whom they met were badly beaten, not allowed access to toilets, potable water or given enough food.

In a separate incident, two National Security officers are currently facing charges of torturing a civilian to death in a police station in Cairo's Matariya district. In February, the general prosecution imposed a gag order on the case.

#UN urges #Syria to release #activisits , #lawyers and others

Jordan's Prince Zeid Ra'ad Zeid al-Hussein, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights pauses during a news conference at the United Nations European headquarters in Geneva October 16, 2014

The UN human rights chief on Thursday urged the Syrian authorities to release all activists, lawyers and other detainees they have been holding without due process, including some jailed for years.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein estimated that between tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands of people have been held at some point in government jails since the first anti-regime protests erupted in Syria nearly four years ago.

"I urge the Syrian Government to immediately release all those who have been jailed for peaceful expression of their views and to ensure that all those detained are accorded their full due process rights," Zeid said in a statement.

He made a special plea for the release of prominent lawyer Mazen Darwish, who was arrested on February 16, 2012 along with Hani Zaitani and Hussein Ghreir, his colleagues at the Syrian Centre for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM).

"Last month, their trial was postponed for the sixth time with no new hearing date set," Zeid said.

Human rights groups in the last few days also launched a new campaign for the release of Darwish, Zaitani and Ghreir.

"In many cases, people are held incommunicado for weeks or months, in particular by Political Security, State Security, Military Security and Air Force Intelligence branches," Zeid added.

"This is particularly worrying given the Syrian government's record of torture and ill-treatment of detainees, which has been well-documented prior to, and during, the conflict," the high commissioner said.

The anti-government protests that erupted in March 2011 were met by a deadly government crackdown before a civil war broke out.

Zeid's office said militias linked to the government have also abducted activists at checkpoints throughout the country before holding them in their own faclities where they face torture and ill-treatment.

Zeid said detainees who were released reported that they were held in cells of no more than six metres by seven metres (yards) at the Political Security Branch, with up to 55 prisoners per cell and without enough food or medical care.

"They described the use of torture rooms and equipment as well as the extreme cruelty of interrogators," he said.

#Egypt's #MOI preparing list of wrongly arrested youth to be released: #Sisi

The ministry of interior will also include those who were detained over minor charges



President Abdel-Fattah El-Sissi gives a speech at the Presidential Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, June 8, 2014

The Egyptian interior ministry is preparing a list of young detainees who were wrongly arrested or have been detained over minor charges, to be released before the fourth anniversary of the 25 January uprising, President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi said on Monday.

Speaking during his visit to the UAE, the president said the list include all cases presented by the media as well as Egyptian organizations.

The list is currently being revised by the responsible entities, the president added.

Two of the detainees being considered for are young men serving three-year sentences for attempting to overthrow former president Mohamed Morsi, he said, without giving further details. .

Morsi was ousted in July 2013 after mass protests against his rule.

In a meeting with political parties last week, El-Sisi had asked party representatives to make a list of arrested youth who were unjustly arrested.

Since November 2013, hundreds of Islamists and liberals, including many students, have been arrested for violating a controversial law which mandates protestors to notify authorities at least three days ahead of protests.

The law stipulates heavy fines and prison sentences to its violators.

El-Sisi stated that the country is not "targeting" young people.

"On the contrary, I don't hesitate to select youth for (official) positions, as I've found them more daring, enthusiastic and able to work," he told journalists.

British Independent: British organizations warns of the spread of hunger and diseases due to climate change-الاندبندنت البريطانية: منظمات بريطانية تحذر من انتشار الجوع والأمراض بسبب التغير المناخى

نقلت الصحيفة تحذير منظمات الإغاثة من انتشار الجوع والأمراض بسبب تغير المناخ على كوكب الأرض.

وتقول الصحيفة إن الآثار المدمرة المحتملة للتغيير المناخى على الأجيال القادمة قد تم الكشف عنها من قبل اثنين من جماعات الإغاثة البريطانية قبيل إصدار تقرير الأمم المتحدة المترقب هذا الأسبوع فى هذا الشأن.

ومن المتوقع أن تكشف اللجنة الدولية للتغيير المناخى، يوم الجمعة المقبل عن أحدث تقاريرها بشأن ارتفاع درحات الحراراة عالميا. ومن المتوقع أن يظهر ثقة الباحثين المتزايدة بأن البشر هم السبب الرئيسى فى هذا التغير من خلال استخدامهم المتزايد للوقود الحفرى.

وفى تقرير لها عن الأمن الغذائى صدر اليوم الاثنين، قالت منظمة أوكسفام البريطانية إن التغيير المناخى يمكن أن يترك واحدا من بين خمسة أشخاص فى العالم فى خطر الجوع بحلول عام 2050، وسيزيد هذا من سوء التغذية لدى الأطفال بنسبة 20%.

وذكرت المؤسسة الخيرية أيضا أن الغلة العالمية من الذرة والقمح انخفت بنسبة 3.8% و5.5% على التوالى، مقارنة بما كان يمكن أن يكون عليه المحصول بدون التغيير المناخى، وينخفض المحصول بنسبة تتراوح ما بين 10 إلى 20% بحلول عام 2050.

وتقول أوكسفام إن حرارة الجو يمكن أن تسبب المزيد من تلف المحاصيل.. ويظهر البحث الذى أجرته المؤسسة أن متوسط سعر المواد الغذائية الأساسية يمكن أن يتضاعف فى العقدين القادمين.

وفى تقرير آخر، قالت منظمة اليونسيف فى بريطانيا إن الأطفال المولودين عام 2013 سيشعرون بأسوأ تأثير لتغير المناخ عام 2030.. وتوضح أن أكثر من 600 مليون طفل يعيشون فى أكثر عشر دول عرضة للتغير المناخى ومن بينها الهند وموزمبيق والفلبين.

وتقول المنظمة إن التغير المناخة سيزيد من الأمراض التى تقتل الأطفال كالملاريا والإسهال، بينما من المتوقع أن تصل الخسائر الاقتصادية العالمية الناجمة من الفيضانات والعواصف والانهيارات الأرضية إلى 122 مليار إسترلينى سنويا بحلول عام 2030، مما يزيد من العبء الاقتصادى على أطفال اليوم.

منظمات حقوقية تطالب بقانون جديد لمكافحة "الإرهاب" - Human rights organization request a new law to hardly fight terrorism

طالبت 31 منظمة حقوقية بقانون جديد لمكافحة الإرهاب، معربة عن ما وصفته بـ"قلقها البالغ" من احتمالية تصاعد الأعمال الإرهابية والعنف خلال الأيام المقبلة، والتي وصفتها بأنها "تشكل انتهاكًا جسيمًا للحق في الحياة المكفول للمواطنين بمقتضى الدستور المصري والمواثيق الدولية المعنية بحقوق الإنسان". 

ودعت المنظمات، في بيان صحفى اليوم الأحد، الرئيس المؤقت عدلي منصور إلى إصدار مرسوم رئاسي بقوة القانون يقضي بمكافحة الإرهاب. 

وأضاف البيان: "قانون العقوبات الحالي به مواد ونصوص تجرم الإرهاب ولكنها غير كافية، فضلا عن أنه لا يوجد في التشريع المصري ما يعد من قبيل تدابير لمكافحة الإرهاب ومنع الجريمة الإرهابية وتجنب وقوعها". 

وذكر البيان أن قانون مكافحة الإرهاب الجديد يجب أن يعتمد في المقام الأول على إحداث التوازن بين حماية حقوق الإنسان ومكافحة الإرهاب على النحو الذي يعالج الثغرات التي كانت تعتري القانون رقم 1997 لسنة 1992، الذي أصدره الرئيس الأسبق مبارك في 18 يونيو لعام 1992، وتم بموجبه إضافة وتعديل مواد عديدة في قانون العقوبات وتعديل قانون الإجراءات الجنائية وقوانين أخرى لمكافحة الإرهاب فهو من أسوأ القوانين التي تنتهك الحريات العامة وحقوق الإنسان. 

وأضاف البيان: "وعلى سبيل المثال المادة 86 عرفت الإرهاب باستخدام ألفاظ وعبارات غامضة وفضفاضة مثل التهديد والترويع والإخلال بالنظام العام أو تعريض سلامة المجتمع وأمنه للخطر".