Mubarak call for more dialog, citizens detained
Egypt, Politics, 6/2/2006

Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday stressed the importance of cementing the relationship between the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and the public, reiterating commitment to the principles of political pluralism and dialogue.

In a message addressed to the party's new secretaries in the Egyptian governorates and conveyed by NDP Secretary General Safwat, El-Sherif during a meeting at the party's headquarters Thursday afternoon, the president announced the start of a fresh stage of party work which would be guided by a new political vision, that he promised, would bring about modernization and development to the country's political life.

This comes as the US reacted to questions about acts of repression against civil society groups in Egypt. The US Department Of State  Acting Spokesman Tom Casey replied yesterday that " as you know as a matter of general principle, we're deeply concerned by reports of continuing arrests and repression of civil society activists by the Egyptian Government. But we are troubled by the recent reports that Mohammed el-Sharkawi as well as Karim Shaer, another civil society activist, were arrested. And during their arrest and detention were tortured in custody and then denied independent medical treatment. If those allegations are true, that would certainly be a violation of Egypt's own laws as well as accepted international human rights standards and practices."

He added "The Embassy in Cairo has raised this issue with Egyptian officials. And first and foremost, we're urging them to provide any and all necessary medical treatment to Mr. Sharkawi and Mr. Shaer and to thoroughly investigate these cases and any others like them. Certainly, if the allegations are true, what we want to see happen is that the Egyptian Government should take immediate steps to punish those responsible and put into place institutional measures to prevent those kinds of incidents from occurring. And as you know, we continue not only in these cases but in others as well to urge the Egyptian Government to protect the rights of their citizens to assemble and speak out peacefully. And we've noted our concerns about, as you know, a number of the other cases as well."

Previous Stories:
  National Democratic Party secretaries reshuffle   (5/30/2006)
  New Egyptian health insurance system in October   (5/29/2006)
  Egyptian journalists harassed as protests continue   (5/27/2006)

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