VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #1608/01 2120717
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 300717Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0019
INFO RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC

UNCLAS CAIRO 001608 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
G/IWI FOR EMMERT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KWMN PHUM PGOV EG
SUBJECT: WOMEN'S ISSUES COORDINATOR VISITS EGYPT 
 
REF: CAIRO 1192 
 
Sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect accordingly. 
 
1.(U)  Summary:  Andrea Bottner, the Department's Coordinator 
for International Women's Issues, visited Egypt from July 14 
through 19.  During her visit, she met with leaders, both 
from the government and civil society, working on issues 
affecting Egyptian women, including the fight against female 
genital mutilation (FGM), women's economic empowerment, and 
family law. Many of the meetings focused on Egypt's new child 
law, which criminalizes FGM and trafficking in children, 
raises the minimum marriage age from 16 to 18, and provides a 
mechanism for unwed mothers to obtain birth certificates for 
their children.  Ms. Bottner concluded her visit by meeting 
with Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former United Nations 
Secretary-General and current President of Egypt's National 
Council on Human Rights, for a broad discussion of human 
rights issues in the Middle East.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (U)  Over the last 2 years, in an unprecedented step, the 
GoE has selected and appointed 42 women to serve as judges in 
Egypt's court system.  Ms. Bottner met with 9 of the newly 
appointed judges, along with Assistant Minister of Justice 
Osama Ataweya, and discussed the new judges' experiences and 
role in the court system.  The newly appointed judges handle 
a wide variety of cases in Egypt's trial courts, including 
commercial, general civil and family law matters (but not 
criminal cases).  The women judges described positive 
transitions to the bench and said that they had been welcomed 
both by male judges and litigants.  Several have already been 
selected to serve in Egypt's appellate courts. 
 
3.(SBU)  Mushira Khattab, President of Egypt's National 
Council on Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) (and a two-time 
nominee by Embassy Cairo for the Secretary's International 
Women of Courage Award) led the effort to win parliamentary 
approval of Egypt's Unified Child Protection Law (the "Child 
Law") and described for Ms. Bottner the key elements of the 
law (reftel).  FGM is a deeply entrenched cultural practice 
in Egypt - affecting both Muslim and Christian women - and 
the NCCM led the effort in recent years to try to end the 
practice.  These efforts culminated in the June 7 passage by 
Egypt's Parliament of the Child Law, which criminalizes the 
performance of FGM procedures.  Other key components of the 
law include criminalizing trafficking in children, raising 
the minimum age for marriage from 16 to 18, and establishing 
a mechanism for unwed mothers to register the births of their 
children.  Ms. Khattab said that although upper-levels of the 
GoE supported the law, it faced opposition from socially 
conservative members of Parliament, some of whom viewed the 
law as a "Western Project."  Ms. Khattab referred to the law 
as a "revolution in human rights" and said the NCCM will now 
focus on ensuring the law is fully implemented, which she 
said will be an "uphill battle." 
 
4.(U)  Ms. Bottner visited two NGO's working on women's 
issues, the Center for Egyptian Women's Legal Assistance 
(CEWLA) and the Egyptian Center for Women's Rights (ECWR). 
She also discussed women's economic empowerment with Dr. 
Sahar al Salab, the vice-chairwoman of Egypt's Commercial 
International Bank (CIB), one of Egypt's largest and most 
influential banks.  At CEWLA, which provides legal assistance 
- primarily in the area of family law - to impoverished 
women, the organization's director identified extreme poverty 
as the greatest challenge facing Egypt's women.  At ECWR, the 
head of the organization described its recently initiated 
campaign against sexual harassment and its efforts to 
convince the government to enact anti-harassment legislation. 
 At CIB, Dr.al Salab discussed the success of the bank's 
women-focused business unit, success driven by the relative 
economic success of Egyptian women. 
 
5.(SBU)  Ms. Bottner, accompanied by the Acting Deputy Chief 
of Mission, also met with Dr.Zeinab Radwan, Deputy Speaker of 
Egypt's Parliament.  The discussion focused on the Child Law. 
 Dr. Radwan described the debate over criminalizing FGM as 
"heated," but expressed satisfaction that the debate ended in 
the banning of the practice.  Dr. Radwan described the 
practice as un-Islamic and attributed it to Egypt's cultural 
roots.  Dr. Radwan also described "khul'" divorce, a Shari'a 
law concept, now part of Egyptian civil law, which permits 
women to divorce without establishing fault. 
 
6.(SBU)  Ms. Bottner concluded her visit by meeting with the 
president of the quasi-governmental National Council on Human 
Rights (NCHR), Boutros Boutros-Ghali.  Boutros-Ghali, the 
former United Nations Secretary-General, said he viewed 
women's rights through the prism of human rights.  According 
to Boutros-Ghali, advances in human rights, especially in the 
Middle East, are being slowed by the rise of religious 
fundamentalism.  He said fundamentalists view human rights as 
a tool of the West, used selectively to criticize the Islamic 
world.  According to Boutros-Ghali, the West's post-September 
11 treatment of Muslims has aided fundamentalists in arguing 
their case.  Boutros-Ghali also said that globalization is 
forcing people, especially in poorer countries, to 
figuratively retreat to their "villages" or "tribes" out of 
fear of the unknown.  Nonetheless, he said the NCHR continues 
to advocate on behalf of human rights generally, and is 
hopeful that a culture of respect for human rights will 
ultimately take hold in Egypt and the region. 
 
SCOBEY