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Cairo slams US report for criticising Egypt's human rights violations

April 9, 2014 at 1:53 pm

The Egyptian foreign ministry slammed on Sunday the latest US Department of State report on human rights, which criticises human rights violations in Egypt, calling it “biased and unbalanced”.


Jordan’s Al-Sabeel newspaper reported that the spokesperson of the Egyptian foreign ministry, Bader Abdul-Ati, called the report unreflective of “the true reality”.

The US report categorises the military coup in Egypt as an “ouster of a civilian government”, but Abdul-Ati refused this, saying that millions of Egyptians took to the streets calling for early elections.

In a press conference, Abdul-Ati alleged that the US is trying to crown itself the “sole protector” of human rights, even though the US government violates the human rights of its own citizens and others. He mentioned in particular the US spying scandal and Guantanamo Bay prison.

“I can understand a report like this being issued by the United Nations or human rights organisations, but for the report to be issued by the US State Department reflects its clear desire to appoint itself judge, jury and advocate of human rights in the world,” he said.

The US Department of State noted in its annual report that there are authoritarian governments around the world that use force to fasten their power and crackdown on their opponents, pointing out that these governments harm the people’s stability, security and economic development.

To be able to hold the security forces in these countries accountable for their human rights violations, the report suggests that there should be investment in independent judicial services held by “responsible” civilians and “transparent and democratic” governmental bodies.

As the report marks the 65th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the US argues that there remains a wide gap between many nations and their authoritirian regimes.

The report strongly criticises Egypt after “it ousted an eleccted civilian government and used execessive force by the security forces, including killing and torture.”