VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #3583 1591805
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 081805Z JUN 06
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9054
INFO RUEHXK/ARAB ISRAELI COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS CAIRO 003583 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC STAFF FOR SINGH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT:  NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR HUMAN RIGHTS 
LAMBASTES GOE'S "HIGHLY CRUEL" APPROACH TO DEMONSTRATIONS; 
DETENTIONS OF SCORES OF ACTIVISTS EXTENDED BY GOE 
PROSECUTORS 
 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  On June 5, the National Council for Human Rights 
(NCHR) issued a statement sharply critical of the GOE's 
treatment of pro-reform activists.  According to the 
statement, GOE security forces should reconsider their use of 
"highly cruel security measures used lately against 
protestors who have legally exercised their right to freedom 
of opinion and expression." 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  The NCHR's board was appointed in 2004 by 
President Mubarak and it is largely funded by the GOE. 
Former UN SecGen Boutros Boutros-Ghali heads the NCHR, with 
former Minister of Information Kamal Aboul Magd as his 
deputy, and former Ambassador Mokhles Qutb as the Council's 
Secretary General.  Many of the NCHR board members are 
 
SIPDIS 
considered supporters of the GOE, but several, including 
Bahey Eldin Hassan and Hafez Abou Seada, have a record of 
strong criticism of the GOE's human rights record. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  The GOE has not yet reacted formally to the NCHR 
report, but coincidentally the Cabinet on June 6 began its 
formal review of the NCHR's second annual report, which had 
been issued in March.  Independent human rights activists 
have generally characterized the March 2006 report as less 
critical of the GOE than the first annual report, which was 
issued in March 2005.  Nevertheless, NCHR coverage of Egypt's 
problematic 2005 elections did not shy away from highlighting 
problems, including allegations of fraud and violence against 
voters. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Also on June 6, GOE prosecutors renewed the 
detention orders of 21 secular democracy activists, along 
with 164 members of the Muslim Brotherhood, all of whom had 
been detained in April and May in connection with 
demonstrations in support of judicial independence.  Among 
those whose detentions were renewed on June 6 was blogger and 
activist Alaa Ahmed Saif Al-Islam.  On June 7, prosecutors 
renewed the detentions of 50 other MB members along with the 
most high-profile detainees, Mohammad Sharqawy and Karim 
Shaer, whose May 25 detentions were followed by 
widely-reported charges of torture and abuse. 
RICCIARONDE