Interview with Secretary General of the National Council for Human Rights

The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR), along with many other civil society institutions, is hoping to ensure that Egypt’s first multi-candidate presidential elections in 24 years and set for 7 September will be free and fair. As a result, the NCHR has set up an operations room to receive complaints from citizens and candidates on the entire electoral process. In an interview with IRIN, Ambassador Mokhles Kotb, NCHR Secretary General, talks about criticisms of the organisation, its role during elections and the process of democratisation in Egypt. QUESTION: How will the operations room function? ANSWER: I would like to emphasise the fact that we are not monitoring the elections. What we set up is an operations room to receive complaints from citizens, voters and candidates concerning the elections. The operations room started with the beginning of the presidential campaigning and our mission is to investigate any complaints. To be able to do our work efficiently, we have hired 222 lawyers for the 222 electoral districts. These lawyers will be posted in each constituency. When we receive a complaint in the headquarters that is worth investigation we contact the lawyer in the concerned constituency, who in turn investigates the complaint and tries to find a solution. Q: Has there been any kind of agreement with the concerned authorities for the NCHR to help solve such problems on the spot? A: No. Our lawyers are not involved in anyway or form in the electoral process. This means that they will not be monitoring what occurs inside or outside the polling booths. They will be simply investigating the complaints. These lawyers received training that ended yesterday on how to investigate complaints. Q: How were the 222 lawyers selected? A: We have asked the chairman of the Lawyers' Syndicate [Egypt’s Bar Association], Sameh Ashour, who is also a member of the National Council for Human Rights to select the lawyers. Selection was based on their neutrality, efficiency and objectivity. Q: What will the NCHR do with the results of its activity in this period? A: The council has coordinated with all concerned authorities and non-governmental organisations to exchange information. We have received reports written by organisations concerning the elections. At the end we will write a comprehensive report. Q: Head of the National Council, Boutros Boutros Ghali, and his deputy, Kamal Aboul Magd, have made statements to the state owned al-Ahram newspaper concerning presidential campaigns. Some of their statements have praised President Hosni Mubarak's campaign. Consequently, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies has issued a statement criticising these statements accusing the council of not being neutral and being biased towards the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP). What is the response of the council to such criticisms? A: We accept all forms of criticism made to us. If you have looked into these statements, you would have found that Dr Boutros Ghali and his deputy have praised some of the presidential campaign programmes. However, we accept the criticisms because we learn from them. Don’t forget that this is the first time that Egypt witnesses competitive presidential elections and we are still building our experiences in that matter. Q: How is the council ensuring neutrality of its position towards the elections? It is noticed, for example, that the headquarters of the council is within the headquarters of the NDP. How do you prevent any interference made by the state? A: There are several factors that allow for our independence. First of all, the council was set up as a response to recommendations made by the United Nations and its subsidiary bodies. Secondly, the law organising the council allows a great deal of flexibility. When the idea of setting up the council was first raised, some thought that it would be best to be affiliated to the presidency so as to give it power and strength. However a wise decision was made to affiliate the body to the Shura Council and thus giving the NCHR a room of independence and flexibility. Thirdly, the members of the council are independent neutral individuals who are concerned with human rights. Some of the councils for human rights in other countries have people from the ministries of Interior and Justice as members. We don’t have this. Finally and most importantly according the law, the council does not fall under governmental regulations. This means we have financial independence. In other words, we do not have to report to the state on how the money is spent. This of course gives us a great degree of independence. Q: As I am speaking to you right now, a group of Egyptian human rights organisations are launching a statement calling upon the Egyptian people to not vote for Mubarak. How does the Council feel about this? A: I think the last period has proven that there has been a great deal of freedom of expression. All organisations are free to state what they want. Q: How does the council feel about the decision made by the Presdential Elections Committee (PEC) concerning stopping civil society organisations from monitoring the elections from within the polling booths? A: In my opinion having civil society organisations inside polling booths does not mean that the judges need to be supervised. On the contrary, this will help more transparency in the whole process. However, the law has given the PEC full authority on such issues. We have sent a statement to the committee concerning this issue and so far we have not received any reply. However, I would like to say that it is important for the voter to participate in this process, not only by going to vote but also if a voter sees any violation he or she should go straight away to the judge supervising the booth and file a complaint. In other words, citizens should also monitor the elections. Q: Amnesty International issued a press release on Thursday calling for the new president to be elected on 7 September to bring an end to torture and all other forms of violations of human rights. Do you think this will be possible? A: Most of what these organisations say came out from our first annual report. When we first issued the report it was presented to the public opinion and all human rights organisations. It was also raised to the government. We now know that the government is taking serious steps to deal with the violations listed in the report. Q: How will the NCHR function on holding the coming president accountable for human rights violations? A: We are an advisory body. We do not possess a magic wand that gives us the power to stop violations from occurring. The council will continue functioning as an advisory body receiving complaints concerning violations of human rights and advise the government on how to deal with such matters. Q: What is NCHR's evaluation of the whole presidential electoral process so far? A: Ever since President Hosni Mubarak announced his support for a constitutional amendment to allow for free and competitive elections in Egypt, we have seen a huge step towards a real democracy. There are people who have criticised the amendment of Article 76 of the constitution saying that it was not sufficient. However, there is no doubt that this amendment embodies a qualitative transformation in Egypt and necessarily there will be more change towards democracy. We also need to put into consideration that this is the first time in Egypt's history that the people choose their leader from amongst more than one candidate. But as far as the council is concerned, there has been an emphasis on human rights in most of the candidates' campaigning programmes. Candidates have spoken of the right to work, the right to health, and the right to security … etc. This is a very important fact and reflects a change in the mentality of politics in Egypt.