A step forward
By
Salama A Salama
The new blood running in the veins of the NDP since its national congress last September is at last kicking in. The most recent sign is the initiative, launched by the policy committee of the NDP, to cancel the hard labour clause in the penal code, to cease irregular state security trials and create a national council on human rights. The government has agreed to the proposals in principle, and the Ministry of Justice is currently preparing draft legislation. The move reflects a trend on the part of the state to re-evaluate its position on human rights. It will provide some ammunition to deflect criticism of Egypt by international human rights organisations which condemn extraordinary judicial procedures alongside the sentences passed by state security courts. It also indicates a return to a commitment to the right of citizens to trial in ordinary courts. The abnegation of this right has caused many problems with otherwise friendly countries, which have often refused to extradite those suspected of crimes in Egypt.
It is to be hoped, though, that the reforms which the NDP now agrees to in principle are not just a belated attempt to counter the kind of pressure that US Secretary of State Colin Powell has indicated will be applied to regimes that continue to cling on to outdated and undemocratic practices. We must hope that the changes are rather more than window dressing, and actually reflect a conviction among the ranks of the revitalised ruling NDP that domestic affairs must be managed in a normal fashion -- albeit gradually -- and not through the constant renewal of irregular measures such as the Emergency Law. Closely linked to this matter is the need to cancel all legislation that allows for the trial of civilians before military courts.
Progress along this road will lead eventually to the kind of comprehensive reform to which many political parties have aspired, and which must, in the near future, guarantee the authenticity and integrity of elections and enable political parties to carry out their activities in an atmosphere of freedom.
That the ruling party has a vested interest in such reforms is clear: they will lead to growing confidence in the NDP itself, raising the hope that an active political life will once more take root in Egypt as political parties across the board are rejuvenated. The NDP, furthermore, will escape its own dependency on its connections with government, and dependency on the state for ideas.
As far as the creation of a national council on human rights, it is an idea that has already been implemented in several Arab countries and which is embedded in international human rights agreements and charters. The purpose of the council will be to support human rights organisations and not to curtail their activities or restrict the arenas in which they operate. In order for the council to serve this purpose an extensive debate is needed among all the concerned parties, including non-government human rights groups.
As important, if the NDP is to have an effective role in persuading the state to observe human rights, is to penalise all forms of torture and to transfer the supervision of prisons to the Ministry of Justice, and away from the Ministry of Interior.
