The Human Rights Watch said in a report released just days
before parliament is due to hold its first session:
"Egypt's newly elected parliament should urgently reform the arsenal of laws used by the Mubarak government to restrict freedoms. These laws were used to curb free expression and criticism of government, limit association and assembly, detain people indefinitely without charge, and shield an abusive police force from accountability."
"Egypt’s stalled transition can be revived only if the new parliament dismantles Egypt’s repressive legal framework, the toolbox the government has relied on for decades to silence journalists, punish political opponents, and stifle civil society. Egypt’s new political parties need to live up to the promises of the Egyptian uprising by ensuring that no government can ever again trample on the rights of the Egyptian people," said HRW Middle East director Sarah Leah Whitson.
It’s interesting to see how an Islamists dominated
parliament would react to the same laws that were used for more than 30 years
to detain and torture them now that they are in power.
