Dr. Hossam Badrawi Official Website
Ali Café “The Dreamers of Tomorrow”
A message from the past… a message from the present
I was pleased with the inauguration by the President of the Republic of Egypt’s strategy to protect the rights of its citizens, and I felt the extent of his determination to protect citizens and preserve their rights.
And I thought that we should seize the opportunity of the present with all its hopes and dreams, and learn from our lost opportunities in the past that new generations may not be aware of, so they try again to do the same thing in the same way, and the opportunity is lost again. Therefore, I brought up an old letter from my papers and planned a new letter to the President of the Republic.
Mr. President
From my position, I wish at the state level to move from the stage of self-defense regarding human rights, or from refusing to be subject to review or denial, until we take matters into our own hands, and reformulate the priority of our orientations towards Egypt’s international commitments – and its binding commitments. Even more than that, being honest with oneself is that respecting human rights is our actual path to internal reform, on our initiative, and that we have multiple challenges that we must look at and identify and set a time strategy for ourselves to overcome.
We also have to confront the comprehensive global review of human rights out of a positive will, to achieve and implement these rights as stated in the international covenants and treaties that Egypt has signed, and our national conviction of that – and in this regard I suggest that we prepare a complete comprehensive document for all of Egypt’s international commitments, And the mechanisms emerging from them, and the extent to which Egypt implements its objectives, to include honestly what has been done and what has not been done within a specific time period within the framework of the civil society partnership with the government, which is the main thing for clarifying the pros and cons.
The analysis of the regional situation in the countries surrounding Egypt indicates that the spread of religious and political extremism around us, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, the Gulf or the Maghreb, is a situation that increases the predominance of the thought of security confrontation. But the security confrontation, despite its importance, must be complemented by a vision, a path, policies and programs of a reformist political nature that engage the forces of civil society and do not antagonize them, so as not to fall prey to political lawsuits wrapped in political religious slogans.
We must admit that the security confrontation with political Islam necessarily leads to the imposition of some restrictions on human rights, especially in the areas of freedom of expression, movement, the activity of political parties and NGOs, and so on. Therefore, we need a “parallel strategy” to protect human rights and enhance political participation and openness to civil society through New initiatives, new thinking, and implementation programs that citizens feel and participate in.
Many partisan and governmental circles in Europe and the United States have begun to call for dealing with the “moderate Islam trend”! This is an idiomatic contradiction that needs to be clarified, because any “political Islam” simply uses religion to gain power or at least mixes religion with politics, and this is a great danger to the civil state, the constitution, Egypt’s Christians, our national homogeneity, our regional role and our international image, and it is also a serious danger. over the entire Middle East, because what happens in Egypt will be the dominant model in the region as a whole.
On the national level, the religious-political tide is on the rise, its social penetration is clear and its cultural manifestations are very worrying. And what the government has done in terms of reforms in the field of confronting this still has a limited impact on the citizens. Rather, the state’s media agencies sometimes support this influence in direct forms, and moreover, the culture and means of education leave students vulnerable to being influenced by teachers who tend to confirm this identity, in an uninstitutionalized framework in private lessons, or even in schools, which confirms in form and content the religious identity rather than the civil For students’ conscience.
No government can confront ideological and religious extremism alone, only society can. Society cannot ally with the government to achieve this goal, unless we give it channels, space, and freedoms, and guarantee its dignity, including the method of treatment, not only in prisons and police stations, but with all the ordinary administration bodies, and in its requests for its natural rights to health, education, and transportation. And housing and food, which is the focus of the new thought in the renaissance of the country, on the basis of which it participated in public and political work. From my point of view, there is no disagreement between the content of the ruling party’s thought as we publish it and the application of human rights mechanisms and concepts as stated in Egypt’s international commitments in this context. Otherwise, we would be hypocritical with ourselves and public opinion.
Mr. President: I recommend, by virtue of my party position and responsibilities in the National Council for Human Rights, as follows:
1. Reviewing the government’s position in refusing to invite or receive any of the human rights rapporteurs, which is an exceptional position for Egypt among the countries of the world.
2. Reviewing the position of the Egyptian government regarding hosting the regional office of the Commission for Human Rights in Egypt, which increases its political and humanitarian weight.
– c. That the state announce a new political initiative towards implementing human rights mechanisms in Egypt, within the framework of a strategy consistent with our belief in the rights of the Egyptian citizen. Based on the foregoing, I conclude with a number of specific suggestions:-
O no:
a. That the previous analysis be the nucleus or seed of a more expansive political orientation within the ruling party with the aim of developing Egypt’s policies in the field of human rights.
B. That the “human rights” policy include an analysis of our conditions, policies, and orientations, and an affirmation of our commitment to our international commitments, and that the new thinking must emanate from the belief in these rights.
C- This approach can give the state a new and real impetus, and attract to the participation circle broad sectors of the people who are waiting for something tangible and executive programs, whether in the field of treatment in police stations or combating discrimination, fighting corruption, or exposure to the phenomena of nepotism and favoritism that kill Belonging and participation destroys the idea of human rights and violates the essence of equality.
Among these things,
A message from the past… a message from the present
I was pleased with the inauguration by the President of the Republic of Egypt’s strategy to protect the rights of its citizens, and I felt the extent of his determination to protect citizens and preserve their rights.
And I thought that we should seize the opportunity of the present with all its hopes and dreams, and learn from our lost opportunities in the past that new generations may not be aware of, so they try again to do the same thing in the same way, and the opportunity is lost again. Therefore, I brought up an old letter from my papers and planned a new letter to the President of the Republic.
Mr. President
From my position, I wish at the state level to move from the stage of self-defense regarding human rights, or from refusing to be subject to review or denial, until we take matters into our own hands, and reformulate the priority of our orientations towards Egypt’s international commitments – and its binding commitments. Even more than that, being honest with oneself is that respecting human rights is our actual path to internal reform, on our initiative, and that we have multiple challenges that we must look at and identify and set a time strategy for ourselves to overcome.
We also have to confront the comprehensive global review of human rights out of a positive will, to achieve and implement these rights as stated in the international covenants and treaties that Egypt has signed, and our national conviction of that – and in this regard I suggest that we prepare a complete comprehensive document for all of Egypt’s international commitments, And the mechanisms emerging from them, and the extent to which Egypt implements its objectives, to include honestly what has been done and what has not been done within a specific time period within the framework of the civil society partnership with the government, which is the main thing for clarifying the pros and cons.
The analysis of the regional situation in the countries surrounding Egypt indicates that the spread of religious and political extremism around us, whether in Gaza, Lebanon, Sudan, the Gulf or the Maghreb, is a situation that increases the predominance of the thought of security confrontation. But the security confrontation, despite its importance, must be complemented by a vision, a path, policies and programs of a reformist political nature that engage the forces of civil society and do not antagonize them, so as not to fall prey to political lawsuits wrapped in political religious slogans.
We must admit that the security confrontation with political Islam necessarily leads to the imposition of some restrictions on human rights, especially in the areas of freedom of expression, movement, the activity of political parties and NGOs, and so on. Therefore, we need a “parallel strategy” to protect human rights and enhance political participation and openness to civil society through New initiatives, new thinking, and implementation programs that citizens feel and participate in.
Many partisan and governmental circles in Europe and the United States have begun to call for dealing with the “moderate Islam trend”! This is an idiomatic contradiction that needs to be clarified, because any “political Islam” simply uses religion to gain power or at least mixes religion with politics, and this is a great danger to the civil state, the constitution, Egypt’s Christians, our national homogeneity, our regional role and our international image, and it is also a serious danger. over the entire Middle East, because what happens in Egypt will be the dominant model in the region as a whole.
On the national level, the religious-political tide is on the rise, its social penetration is clear and its cultural manifestations are very worrying. And what the government has done in terms of reforms in the field of confronting this still has a limited impact on the citizens. Rather, the state’s media agencies sometimes support this influence in direct forms, and moreover, the culture and means of education leave students vulnerable to being influenced by teachers who tend to confirm this identity, in an uninstitutionalized framework in private lessons, or even in schools, which confirms in form and content the religious identity rather than the civil For students’ conscience.
No government can confront ideological and religious extremism alone, only society can. Society cannot ally with the government to achieve this goal, unless we give it channels, space, and freedoms, and guarantee its dignity, including the method of treatment, not only in prisons and police stations, but with all the ordinary administration bodies, and in its requests for its natural rights to health, education, and transportation. And housing and food, which is the focus of the new thought in the renaissance of the country, on the basis of which it participated in public and political work. From my point of view, there is no disagreement between the content of the ruling party’s thought as we publish it and the application of human rights mechanisms and concepts as stated in Egypt’s international commitments in this context. Otherwise, we would be hypocritical with ourselves and public opinion.
Mr. President: I recommend, by virtue of my party position and responsibilities in the National Council for Human Rights, as follows:
1. Reviewing the government’s position in refusing to invite or receive any of the human rights rapporteurs, which is an exceptional position for Egypt among the countries of the world.
2. Reviewing the position of the Egyptian government regarding hosting the regional office of the Commission for Human Rights in Egypt, which increases its political and humanitarian weight.
– c. That the state announce a new political initiative towards implementing human rights mechanisms in Egypt, within the framework of a strategy consistent with our belief in the rights of the Egyptian citizen. Based on the foregoing, I conclude with a number of specific suggestions:-
O no:
a. That the previous analysis be the nucleus or seed of a more expansive political orientation within the ruling party with the aim of developing Egypt’s policies in the field of human rights.
B. That the “human rights” policy include an analysis of our conditions, policies, and orientations, and an affirmation of our commitment to our international commitments, and that the new thinking must emanate from the belief in these rights.
C- This approach can give the state a new and real impetus, and attract to the participation circle broad sectors of the people who are waiting for something tangible and executive programs, whether in the field of treatment in police stations or combating discrimination, fighting corruption, or exposure to the phenomena of nepotism and favoritism that kill Belonging and participation destroys the idea of human rights and violates the essence of equality.
Among these things,
MOSA and the executive programs have several procedures that may be discussed, such as the creation of the position of the Minister of Human Rights Affairs in Egypt to be a link between the various ministries and agencies internally, and the executive responsible for putting the Declaration of the Rights of the Egyptian Citizen into effect and follow-up, especially since Egypt does a lot of what falls under the concept of economic rights , social, and cultural, but the government does not present this from a human rights perspective.
This proposal completes the executive aspect of Egypt’s seriousness in implementing human rights after the state’s successful initiatives in establishing the National Council for Human Rights, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, and the National Council for Women, and making some amendments that guarantee the independence of these institutions from the executive government and ensure the sustainability of their work as a representative of the people and not the government. . As well as making amendments to the Child Law this year, which is in line with Egypt’s international agreements, and the previous amendments to the nationality laws and so on.
Second:
As a practical measure, he suggested that the government adopt and amend a number of laws that affect human rights in Egypt, including the following as a priority:
– Issuance of the anti-terrorism law, and stopping the use of the state of emergency.
Issuance of the unified law regulating construction and strengthening places of worship.
Remove the religion field from the ID card.
– Issuance of a law on equal opportunities and the prohibition of discrimination among citizens.
– Amending Law 84 of 2002 on NGOs and Institutions to be in line with the requirements of an effective civil society.
Amending Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and introducing the system of a judge to supervise the implementation of penalties.
– Amending Article 126 of the Penal Code, which deals with the prevention of torture.
Amending Law No. 157 of 1968 for enforced disappearances.
So that the reader is not surprised, this letter was not written these days, and is not directed at President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, but it was written in 2010 directed by my weak personality to former President Hosni Mubarak, and it has been republished now, because much of what is in it, we are still facing. And I hope that a new era… in a new republic… within the framework of the Egyptian strategy launched by the president a few days ago. That he will put the application and follow-up as a priority.
I had the honor of participating in a partial in the advisory body that I formed with the professionalism of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this matter.
Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past and learn from failure as we learn from success, and accumulate our experiences to build and not destroy.
Through time we know what we want…
At the same time, we do not apply what we know with the same seriousness as speaking about it or writing it down in national documents.
My new message to President Al-Sisi, who I trust in his seriousness and belief in citizens’ rights: to establish a mechanism to implement Egypt’s human rights strategy, and a mechanism to follow up on the commitment of all state institutions to it, and we support him as citizens and as civil work institutions.
I’m still dreaming of tomorrow and I have hope.
This proposal completes the executive aspect of Egypt’s seriousness in implementing human rights after the state’s successful initiatives in establishing the National Council for Human Rights, the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood, and the National Council for Women, and making some amendments that guarantee the independence of these institutions from the executive government and ensure the sustainability of their work as a representative of the people and not the government. . As well as making amendments to the Child Law this year, which is in line with Egypt’s international agreements, and the previous amendments to the nationality laws and so on.
Second:
As a practical measure, he suggested that the government adopt and amend a number of laws that affect human rights in Egypt, including the following as a priority:
– Issuance of the anti-terrorism law, and stopping the use of the state of emergency.
Issuance of the unified law regulating construction and strengthening places of worship.
Remove the religion field from the ID card.
– Issuance of a law on equal opportunities and the prohibition of discrimination among citizens.
– Amending Law 84 of 2002 on NGOs and Institutions to be in line with the requirements of an effective civil society.
Amending Article 42 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and introducing the system of a judge to supervise the implementation of penalties.
– Amending Article 126 of the Penal Code, which deals with the prevention of torture.
Amending Law No. 157 of 1968 for enforced disappearances.
So that the reader is not surprised, this letter was not written these days, and is not directed at President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, but it was written in 2010 directed by my weak personality to former President Hosni Mubarak, and it has been republished now, because much of what is in it, we are still facing. And I hope that a new era… in a new republic… within the framework of the Egyptian strategy launched by the president a few days ago. That he will put the application and follow-up as a priority.
I had the honor of participating in a partial in the advisory body that I formed with the professionalism of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for this matter.
Let us not repeat the mistakes of the past and learn from failure as we learn from success, and accumulate our experiences to build and not destroy.
Through time we know what we want…
At the same time, we do not apply what we know with the same seriousness as speaking about it or writing it down in national documents.
My new message to President Al-Sisi, who I trust in his seriousness and belief in citizens’ rights: to establish a mechanism to implement Egypt’s human rights strategy, and a mechanism to follow up on the commitment of all state institutions to it, and we support him as citizens and as civil work institutions.
I’m still dreaming of tomorrow and I have hope.
