Cairo, on January 29^th 2009

ACIJLP calls upon the Egyptian authorities concerned in the legislative, administrative and judicial amendments to
reduce torture and cruel and degrading treatment

The Arab Center for Independence of the Judiciary and the Legal Profession (ACIJLP) expresses its concern for the negative attitude of the Egyptian government and the official bodies concerned with the situation of justice and human rights in Egypt regarding the abuse of the right to physical integrity in Egypt. All of this called several international human rights organizations to consider that torture in Egypt is in a typical manner and on a large scale, particularly in prisons and detention places.

What raises the concern of the Center is the negative position of the Egyptian Government and the Egyptian parliament to take administrative or legislative or judicial actions to harmonize the Egyptian legislations, particularly the Egyptian  penal law and criminal procedural law  with Egypt's international commitments in particular the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, ratified by Egypt in January 14, 1982, as well as the Convention against Torture and other cruel treatment or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, which has been ratified by Egypt in April 1986 and published in the Official Gazette January 7, 1988.

The center believes that the legislative means to reduce and to prevent the crime of torture would require legislative amendments affecting the provisions of Articles 126, 128 and 129 of the Egyptian penal code to bring it into line with Egypt's international commitments, as well as those materials from being on the offense against torture.

ACIJLP expresses concern about the position of the Egyptian Ministry of Justice against any proposal to amend the provisions of the Penal Code in spite of the inadequacy of these adjustments to cope with the phenomenon of torture. What confirms this point of view is the position of the Ministry of Justice in the meeting of the legislative Committee of the People's Assembly on Tuesday, July 27 1 / 2009. On a proposal to amend the text of article 126 of the Penal Code, which states according to Assistant Minister of Justice, "Egypt has a legislative privacy and the provisions of the law complement each other" He also pointed out that "the present articles are adequate to prevent and to fight torture."

The center believes that the relevant Egyptian legislations, particularly articles 126, 127, 128, 129, 282 of the Egyptian Penal Code, as well as articles 63 and 210 and 232 of the Code of Criminal Procedures, require a legislative intervention to amend of these articles if there was a genuine desire to prevent the crime of torture.

The Center calls on the legislative and executive authorities and the Egyptian civil society organizations to work on taking effective steps to reduce and to prevent the crime of torture, including:

• The need to harmonize all legislations with the concept of prevention of torture contained in the Convention against Torture.

• The need for legislative intervention and the need for a lawyer with the accused at all stages of criminal proceedings, from arrest and detention and the investigation and trial stages.

• Not to be detained in isolation from the outside world and that the arresting authorities should provide accurate information immediately on the causes and locations of detainees to their relatives and their lawyers.

• Exert pressure to put prisons and detention places of the various security agencies under the control of the judiciary and international and local human rights organizations.

• Banning and criminalizing the import of torture machines in addition to prohibiting there manufacture, and their presence in prisons or detention facilities.

• Sensitize stakeholders concerned of investigation that the torture of the defendant, using ways of suffering, is a non-human act, and to obtain confessions or information may be important without resorting to torture, but is in accordance with psychological studies without torture, and that is what is prevalent in most of developed countries.

• Media, through its audio-visual and print means, should contribute to raising the awareness among the public that torture is a heinous act and it can be regarded as a crime.

back