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Speaker of Egyptian Parliament blasts Ayman Nour at international law forum

March 6, 2008

Washington, D.C. – The Leadership Council for Human Rights (LCHR) calls on the U.S. government and the international human rights community to address distortions made by the Speaker of Egyptian Parliament, Dr. Ahmed Fathi Sorour, about the case of imprisoned parliamentarian Ayman Nour.  Dr. Sorour, who addressed the American Society of International Law (ASIL) Wednesday evening, focused his remarks on the need to balance terrorism prevention with respect for human rights.  However, when asked to address the rights of Nour, who has been recognized by world leaders, including President Bush, as a political prisoner, Dr. Sorour claimed that the world had been duped.

At the ASIL lecture, “International Law and Combating Terrorism: Egypt’s Experience,” LCHR Director Nadine Hoffman asked Dr. Sorour how he would characterize Egypt’s efforts to balance security and human rights.  She also asked him to comment on the case of Ayman Nour, currently serving the third year of his five year sentence on forgery charges, and specifically why Nour has been denied monitoring visits by NGOs (including LCHR) and other international bodies.

Dr. Sorour, visibly agitated by the mention of Nour, launched into a tirade against him, calling him “merely a prisoner and a criminal.”  He said that Nour had a history of forgery, and that earlier in his career as a journalist he had confessed to fabricating photographs of supposed torture victims using lipstick to make them appear bloody. 

Dr. Sorour added that “Ayman Nour was very clever trying to make it a political case.”  He claimed that Nour was arrested for forging documents to secure formation of his political party before President Mubarak changed the election law to allow competitive presidential elections.  He also claimed that Nour received votes in the 2005 Egyptian presidential election only because he was supported by the Muslim Brotherhood.  The Brotherhood, he said, “supports any enemy of the government.”  Dr. Sorour added that it was “ridiculous” to say the charges against Nour were fabricated.

Continuing his diatribe, Dr. Sorour railed against Nour’s wife, Gameela Ismail, who he accused of using propaganda to dupe American media.  Dr. Sorour said he hoped one day the truth about Nour’s case would be “revealed to American society.”

Event commentator Ruth Wedgewood, a U.S. member of the U.N. Human Rights Committee, who said she was not familiar with Nour’s case, then asked Dr. Sorour to address the actual question asked, which pertained to visitation rights for Nour as a prisoner.

Dr. Sorour said that “no one can visit except his wife and counsel, and the Minister of Interior has refused exceptions.”  He said these rules applied to all prisoners and there was no way to make an exception.  He ended with the question, “Why Ayman Nour?”  He said there were other defendants imprisoned with Nour and he could not understand why there has been such concern about Nour’s case specifically.

Also during the event, Wedgwood presented a list of the Human Rights Council’s consistent human rights concerns in the region, none of which she said were explicit to Egypt.  She said that the HRC regarded as “red lines” torture; long detention of prisoners without visits by NGOs or international monitoring bodies; limits on NGOs and civil society actors; restrictions on expression (“even if the ideas are unwanted”); and returning someone to a country where he or she faces imminent danger of mistreatment.

Egypt has clearly crossed the “red line” by denying NGOs and international monitoring bodies access to Ayman Nour.  Nour has also suffered documented abuse in prison and his medical needs have been neglected.  Dr. Sorour’s remarks contradict the facts gathered by respected human rights organizations and monitoring bodies.  His statements about propaganda in the American media falsely characterizing Nour as a political prisoner are an insult and an outrage.  The Egyptian government is notorious for restricting press freedoms and using the media as its own propaganda tool. 

Egypt’s human rights record speaks for itself – many “red lines” have been crossed, and Nour’s case is symbolic of the injustices faced not only by President Mubarak’s political opponents, but also judges, journalists, bloggers, ethnic and religious minorities, and civil society and human rights activists in Egypt.