Parties in Egypt have pledged to end state of emergency, but many stop short of committing to
women's rights, Amnesty International said, Tuesday.
It noted that most of the biggest Egyptian political parties have committed to delivering ambitious human rights reform in the country's transition, but have either given mixed signals or have flatly refused to sign up to ending discrimination, protecting women's rights, and to abolishing the death penalty.
Ahead of parliamentary elections which began in November, the organization asked political parties running in Egypt's elections to sign a "human rights manifesto" containing 10 key measures to signal that they were serious about delivering meaningful human rights reform.
Amnesty International wrote to 54 political parties and sought meetings with 15 of the main ones, nine of whom signed up to the manifesto, either in its entirety or to some of the pledges. Three others gave oral feedback, the human rights group said in a new report.
The Freedom and Justice Party, which won the most seats in the new People's Assembly, was one of three parties not to respond substantively, despite considerable efforts by Amnesty International to seek its views.
"With the first session of the new parliament sitting this week, it is encouraging that so many of the major parties engaged with us and were prepared to sign up to ambitious pledges for change on combating torture, protecting slum residents' rights, and ensuring fair trials," said Amnesty International's interim Middle East and North Africa Director Philip Luther.
"But it is disturbing that a number of parties refused to commit to equal rights for women.
"With a handful of women taking up seats in the new parliament, there remain huge obstacles to women playing a full role in Egyptian political life.
"We challenge the new parliament to use the opportunity of drafting the new constitution to guarantee all of these rights for all people in Egypt ... The cornerstone must be non-discrimination and gender equality," the organization underscored.
While the only parties to sign up to all of the pledges contained in the manifesto were the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and the Popular Socialist Alliance Party, nearly all of the 12 parties who responded agreed to all of the first seven points of the manifesto. These included commitments on civil and political rights.
Key promises included ending the three-decade-old state of emergency, combating torture, upholding freedom of expression and association, ensuring fair trials, and investigating abuses committed under the rule of Hosni Mubarak.
Amnesty International also secured pledges from nearly all the parties to address the rights of those living in slums and to deliver economic, social, and cultural rights of all Egyptians.
The eighth pledge, to end discrimination, was signed up to by most parties but several said they could not sign up to Amnesty International's call for an end to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
A number of parties had reservations over the ninth pledge, which called for women's rights to be protected, including for women to be given equal rights in marriage, divorce, child custody, and inheritance.
"The real test for political parties will be to translate these pledges into initiatives in parliament to abolish repressive Mubarak-era laws, reform the police and security services, and pass laws which protect human rights and break with the legacy of abuse," said Luther.
"One of the first measures should be the lifting of the much-decried state of emergency.
"Women and men stood side by side in the protests and have been instrumental in the movement that toppled President Mubarak and led to these elections." Denying equality would dash the hope that Egypt is entering a new era of respect for the rights and dignity of all, Amnesty insisted.
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