Egyptian parliament threatens to shutdown rights organisations

Head of the Human Rights Committee in the new Egyptian parliament Murtada Mansour threatened to shutdown the rights organisations in the country. His remarks provoked a wave of anger amongst rights activists, Quds Press reported on Friday.

“There is no need for human rights boutiques and shops,” Mansour said, noting that workers in these organisations “huge sums of money from abroad; therefore, they must be shutdown.”

Mansour’s remarks, which were delivered during a TV interview, caused a wide range of anger amongst the human rights organisations and their workers, who were surprised by his appointment to head the committee even if for a temporary period.

Head of the Union of Egyptian Human Rights Organisations, Najib Gabriel, said: “I wished if Murtada Mansour was not chosen to head the parliamentarian human rights committee because of his hostile stance toward human rights organisations.”

Director of the Andalus Institute for Tolerance and Anti-violence Studie, Ahmed Sameeh, criticised Mansour’s remarks, saying: “The parliamentarian position is a dilemma for Mansour more than that for the human rights activists.”

Mansour attacked his critics, saying: “The boutiques of the rights groups seem democratic from the outside, but in fact, they are full of collaboration and tyranny from the inside.”

Before being an MP, Mansour threatened to “beat” anyone speaking about human rights. He also called on the police to arrest fathers, mothers and sisters of a number of suspects.