HUMAN RIGHTS THE ROAD AHEAD A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament WATCH The Road Ahead A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament Copyright © 2012 Human Rights Watch All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America ISBN: 1-56432-855-4 Cover design by Rafael Jimenez Human Rights Watch is dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world. We stand with victims and activists to prevent discrimination, to uphold political freedom, to protect people from inhumane conduct in wartime, and to bring offenders to justice. We investigate and expose human rights violations and hold abusers accountable. We challenge governments and those who hold power to end abusive practices and respect international human rights law. We enlist the public and the international community to support the cause of human rights for all. Human Rights Watch is an international organization with staff in more than 40 countries, and offices in Amsterdam, Beirut, Berlin, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Goma, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, Toronto, Tunis, Washington DC, and Zurich. For more information, please visit our website: http://www.hrw.org JANUARY 2012 ISBN1-56432-855-4 The Road Ahead A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 Legislative Authority in Egypt Today ................................................................................... 3 The Need to Prioritize Legislative Reform to Ensure Basic Rights ........................................ 5 1. Repeal the Emergency Law and End the State of Emergency .................................................. 6 2. Amend the Code of Military Justice to End Military Trials of Civilians .................................... 11 3. Reform the Police Law ......................................................................................................... 14 4. Protect and Decriminalize Free Expression .......................................................................... 16 Spreading “False” Information ......................................................................................... 18 Calls for Political Change: ................................................................................................ 20 Harming Public Morals ..................................................................................................... 22 5. Defamation and “Insulting” Officials ................................................................................... 23 6. Amend Provisions that Criminalize Freedom of Religion ...................................................... 26 7. Amend the Law on Associations to Let Independent NGOs Operate Lawfully, and Decriminalize Exercise of Freedom of Association .................................................................. 28 Law No. 84 on Associations of 2002 ................................................................................. 31 8. Amend the Assembly Law and the New Strike and Demonstration Ban Law .......................... 35 The 1914 and 1923 Laws on Public Assembly .................................................................... 35 New Law Criminalizing Strikes and Demonstrations .......................................................... 38 9. Amend the Definition of Torture in Line with International Law and Strengthen Criminal Penalties for Police Abuse ...................................................................................................... 39 Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 45 Introduction Egypt’s newly elected parliament will bear a heavy responsibility for reform. The break from Mubarak’s abusive rule that Egyptian protesters called for last year has not taken place, and Egypt has yet to see a transition from the military regime, which was the backbone of Mubarak’s rule. Over the past year, Egyptians have experienced many of the same human rights abuses that characterized Mubarak’s police state. Under the leadership of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), excessive use of force, torture, attacks on peaceful protests, and arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters, bloggers, and journalists have become commonplace and illustrate how little has changed. Ending these abuses will only occur when there is political will to break with the past and truly reform the country’s oppressive machinery. With a new parliament, Egypt will, for the first time in many decades, have a fairly and freely elected civilian body. But a genuine transition in Egypt from authoritarian government to a more open system with democratic institutions not only requires reforms of democratic institutions and electoral procedures, but of laws and policies that govern the civil and political rights and freedoms of people in Egypt. First and foremost, this must include the abolition of the Emergency Law and revision of the police law that allows Egyptian police wide latitude to shoot Egyptians, including those who assemble in public and on the country’s borders. Second, this must include amendments to the Code of Military Justice to restrict its jurisdiction to military offenses perpetrated by military officers, and an end to civilian trials before military courts. Third, this must include reforms of the legislative framework that governs freedom of expression, association, and assembly that are essential to creating the political space for Egyptian political parties, civil society, activist groups, and media to receive and share information and views, including controversial and political ones, and participating in a meaningful democratic process, including in the upcoming elections. Fourth, it must include amending the Penal Code’s definition of torture so that it accords with international law and covers all forms of physical and psychological abuse. Finally, it must include strengthening penalties for police abuse so that they serve as effective deterrents. 1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JANUARY 2012 This report focuses on laws that are incompatible with the enjoyment of the basic rights affirmed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Egypt ratified in 1982, and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which it ratified two years later. Egypt’s parliament should prioritize a full review and reform of these laws. THE ROAD AHEAD 2 Legislative Authority in Egypt Today On February 11, 2011, Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s then-vice president, announced that Hosni Mubarak had resigned as president of Egypt and that the SCAF would take over. On February 13 the SCAF issued the first Constitutional Declaration, stating that “the SCAF will take over running the affairs of the country temporarily for six months or until the end of parliamentary and presidential elections.”1 It further stipulated that it had suspended the 1971 constitution and that “the SCAF will issue laws during the transitional period.” Article 57 of the Constitutional Declaration states that the cabinet shall prepare draft laws that the SCAF must ratify. As a result, since Mubarak’s ouster the SCAF has been the sole authority with the power to amend or approve amendments to existing laws, and issue or approve new ones. But with the elections for the country’s new parliament now complete, a new body also will be able to pass laws. There is, however, a lack of clarity about what the power and mandate of the new parliament will be vis-à-vis the SCAF. On March 19 the SCAF oversaw Egypt’s first democratic referendum in over 50 years, in which the country approved amending seven provisions to the 1971 constitution to limit the term of the president and facilitate new elections. Seventy-seven percent of the 18 million people who voted in the referendum voted in favor of the amendments to the 1971 Constitution, and so automatically in favor of a return to that constitution. Yet on March 30, the SCAF suspended the 1971 constitution again and issued a Constitutional Declaration which stated that the rights and provisions of the suspended 1971 constitution include a section on rights that is identical to those in the 1971 constitution. It also defined the role of the SCAF, cabinet, and electoral bodies for the duration of the transition, and established a timeframe for parliamentary elections to be held within six months, followed by presidential elections. The Constitutional Declaration stipulates in article 60 that the elected parliamentary assembly will select a provisional assembly, composed of 100 members, who will be tasked with drafting a new constitution. Parliament will have six months to finalize selection of these members. The Provisional Assembly will then have six months to draft the constitution, which it will present to the people for referendum. Following this, the 1 Constitutional Declaration, Egyptian Official Gazette, February 13, 2011. 3 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | JANUARY 2012 country will hold presidential elections, which the SCAF has promised will be completed by July 2012. As a result, although the country now has an elected parliament, the SCAF has thus far insisted that it will retain ultimate legislative authority, including the right to ratify or veto all legislation, and the power to appoint and maintain the interim caretaker cabinet until such time as a presidential election takes place. Over