VZCZCXYZ0025
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #3449 3441445
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 101445Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7692
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 003449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
NSC STAFF FOR PASCUAL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KIRF EG
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH MEETS WITH EGYPT'S STATE 
SECURITY DIRECTOR 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.(SBU) Summary: On November 24, Human Rights Watch's (HRW) 
Deputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa, Joe 
Stork, met with General Hassan Abdel Rahman, Director General 
of Egypt's State Security Investigative Service (SSIS), 
facilitated by the Ambassador.  After the meeting, Stork told 
us that while he did not think he made substantive progress, 
he was pleased that lines of communication had been opened 
between SSIS and HRW and looked forward to future contacts. 
Separately, on November 28, we met with Colonel Hisham Abdel 
Hamid, SSIS' Human Rights liaison, who also attended the 
meeting with Stork. Abdel Hamid expressed similar views on 
the meeting; he added that he had fully answered all of HRW's 
questions. End summary. 
 
2.(SBU)  Stork visited Cairo in late November to unveil HRW's 
recent report on GoE "interference with religious freedom." 
In a meeting with the Ambassador, Stork lamented his 
inability to discuss the report, and human rights issues 
generally, with officials from SSIS, the agency responsible 
for monitoring opposition politicians, journalists and 
activists. Instead, Stork said he was limited to speaking 
with officials from Egypt's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who 
have limited substantive knowledge on human rights issues. 
The Ambassador offered to assist Stork in arranging a meeting 
with the SSIS Director General. 
 
3.(SBU)  Stork told us that Abdel Rahman opened the ninety 
minute meeting by asking that the discussion be "informal" 
and "off the record."  Substantively, Stork characterized 
Abdel Rahman's position as "we (SSIS) don't do bad things." 
Abdel Rahman said that he commands over 40,000 police 
officers and told Stork he could count on one hand the number 
who had committed abuses. Abdel Rahman objected to Stork's 
use of the word torture, saying it implied something 
"systemic" and said Egypt's security services were "badly 
maligned."  Stork asked about the monitoring and harassment 
of NGOs, which Abdel Rahman said was necessary because such 
organizations are run by "anarchists" and people with prior 
arrests who need "monitoring." 
 
4.(SBU)  Stork said he made no substantive progress. 
Nonetheless, he found it significant that HRW now has a line 
of communication with SSIS. Abdel Rahman named one of his 
deputies, Colonel Hisham Abdel Hamid, SSIS' human rights 
liaison, as HRW's point of contact, and HRW intends to meet 
with Abdel Hamid on subsequent visits. 
 
5.(SBU)  On November 28, we met with Abdel Hamid, who gave a 
similar, but more positive, account of the meeting.  He said 
Abdel Rahman described to Stork SSIS' role in protecting 
human rights, including participating in the Ministry of 
Interior's Human Right's Committee, conducting human rights 
training programs for police officers (including in 
conjunction with the UNDP), identifying and rewarding "best 
human rights practices," monitoring officers interactions 
with citizens, and disciplining officers who commit human 
rights violations. On Stork's questions about torture, Abdel 
Rahman said torture was not an SSIS policy, but the 
organization was besmirched by "media exaggerations". Abdel 
Hamid said that although it was a Ministry of Foreign Affairs 
(MFA) responsibility, he would meet with HRW in the future. 
(Note: Abdel Hamid also noted that the MFA is responsible for 
and should be the primary liaison with diplomatic missions on 
human rights issues, but said the U.S. Embassy was the 
exception and he would welcome more contact with us. End 
note.) 
 
6.(SBU)  Comment:  Abdel Hamid said that he had met about a 
year ago with Amnesty International, but in general, he and 
SSIS had limited dealings with human rights organizations, 
and dealt with them through the MFA. We share Stork's view 
that although there were no substantive developments as a 
result of the contact, it is a significant development that 
SSIS appears willing to engage directly with an international 
human rights organization. 
 
Jones