Human rights group slams Egypt’s new anti-terrorism law

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued an anti-terrorism law on August 15, which grants prosecutors greater power to arrest suspects and withhold them from due process as well as the ability to execute deep and “potentially indefinitive surveillance” of potential terrorists without needing a court order to do so.

In a Thursday statement, the presidency said the three-day visit aims to “boost strategic relations” between the two countries.

Since the ouster of former President Mohammed Morsi, Egypt’s authorities have seized dozens of charities, non-governmental organisations, businesses and more that have been accused of funding the group. “However, as Egypt has come under attack from the dreaded militant group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) and have also reeled under violent attacks by right wing political groups such as the ‘Muslim Brotherhood” which has been outlawed by the present Government.

The New York-base Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the provision in the draft law, saying it “defies any standard of freedom of the press and violates Egypt’s own constitution”.

A large bomb exploded early Thursday near a national security building in the Shubra neighborhood of Cairo, wounding at least six people including at least one police officer, Egyptian security officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry insisted that other countries should “respect the independence of the [Egyptian] judiciary”.

The United States said Tuesday that it backed Egypt in its fight against terrorism, but also raised questions about the new law. The emergency laws expired after his overthrow.

HRW’s Houry said that while Egypt is facing a serious insurgency, the government should not be “eroding basic rights, curtailing dissent” and using a label of terrorism as a way to strike at its opponents.

Egypt is “at war with terrorism, and these new laws are very good and necessary”, Father Rafic Greiche told AsiaNews.

The new law defines terrorism broadly as “any act that disturbs public order with force”. Morsi himself is appealing his own death sentence. Under the new law, anyone who privately urges another to participate in such actions could face prosecution.