National rights council slams HRW report on Rabea

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) said, in a statement Friday reported by EgyNews, that remarks made in a recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on the dispersal of pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins last year violate the professional and ethical standards of research.

“Even though the council does not usually comment on reports issued by human rights organizations, it decided to respond to clear errors and baseless conclusions in this report, which contradict common sense, as well as some of the criticisms directed at the council itself,” the statement said.

In a report issued on August 12, HRW concluded that the dispersal of pro-Brotherhood sit-ins “not only constituted serious violations of international human rights law, but likely amounted to crimes against humanity.” It called for President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to be held “individually accountable for the widespread and systematic killings of protesters between July and August 2013.”

Last March, the NCHR issued a report on the bloodiest day in Egypt’s modern history, blaming security forces for failing to prevent deaths and placing responsibility for the violence primarily on armed protesters.

The NCHR report criticized security forces for not giving protesters sufficient time to evacuate after warnings and for preventing injured protesters from receiving treatment.

However, HRW said in its report that the NCHR’s investigations contain “significant methodological weaknesses that seriously undermine its findings,” adding that it relied heavily on the accounts of local residents, who were not generally sympathetic towards the Muslim Brotherhood.

NCHR vehemently denied these claims, saying it had also gathered testimonies from sit-in participants. The council pointed to videos and pictures, which it says were uploaded onto social media networks hours after the sit-in, making it unnecessary for them to meet with participants in person.

In its statement Friday, NCHR suggested HRW had disregarded the testimony of a reporter they deem to be pivotal, regarding the killing of a police officer that allegedly triggered an exchange of fire. NCHR accused HRW of being biased towards the Muslim Brotherhood, saying it had used selective testimony from the same reporter that did not blame the Islamist group.

They further assert that HRW’s report did not mention any of the human rights violations conducted inside the sit-in, such as reported cases of kidnapping, torture, and the use of protesters as human shields.

NCHR denied HRW’s claims that it had exaggerated violence by protesters, saying HRW has “ill intentions,” as the organization ignored videos showing violence by protesters, as well as evidence of the actions of rogue security personnel, which it reported as institutional errors.

Since it was issued, HRW’s report has received widespread criticism in Egypt. The National Fact-Finding Committee assigned to investigate violent incidents following the June 30 protests that led to Mohamed Morsi’s ouster, said the report is missing important violent incidents that are no less significant than those referenced, such as attacks on churches and against Christians, attacks on police stations and violence on university campuses.

The Egyptian government also responded negatively to HRW’s report, calling on the organization to be more accurate and objective in describing the situation in Egypt. The Foreign Ministry issued a statement describing HRW as an organization that is used to acting as though it is beyond the law.

Similarly, the State Information Services authority wrote in a statement that the report is a negative document, which they say is unsurprising given the orientation of HRW. The statement said the report did not reference the hundreds of deaths of security forces during the violence that occurred in July and August 2013.

On August 11, HRW officials were denied entry to Egypt as they came to present the report. The Ministry of Interior said that they had asked the organization to delay its visit to September.

The ministry also demanded that the organization obtain proper visas ahead of the visit, as representatives cannot enter the country on tourist visas to hold a press conference. The ministry added that HRW has withdrawn its registration request in Egypt, which renders its work in the country illegal.

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