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Britain concerned over ‘growing restrictions’ on civil society in Egypt

March 24, 2016 at 9:31 am

British Minister for the Middle East and North Africa Tobias Ellwood has expressed his concern over what he called “the growing restrictions on civil society in Egypt”.

According to a press release of the British Embassy in Cairo, the British minter urged the Egyptian government to “work with civil society to implement the rights guaranteed by the country’s constitution and to allow non-governmental organisations to operate freely”.

Ellwood said that Egypt’s constitution of 2014 commits it to allow civil society organizations to operate freely, adding: “Restrictions and sanctions run counter to this and undermine international confidence in Egypt’s political transition.”

Last Monday, John Kasn, the British ambassador in Cairo, expressed his country’s concerns regarding the situation of human rights in Egypt in a press statement.

During the United Nations Human Rights Council session in Geneva last Thursday, Britain stated that it was “deeply concerned” over Egypt’s human rights situation, noting the detention of civil society activists and journalists and the cases of torture and deaths in police stations and prisons.