Egypt: Human rights should be at centre of election agenda

Amnesty International is calling on the Egyptian government and candidates contesting Egypt's forthcoming parliamentary elections to put human rights at the centre of their agenda and to commit to promote long-needed reform once in office. The organisation said this was vital for tackling long-standing human rights violations. Despite some limited recent improvements in human rights, the coming elections, due to commence on 9 November, will be held against a background of continuing, widespread violations, including systematic use torture, deaths in custody, impunity for human rights perpetrators, and restrictions on freedom of expression and association. These human rights violations persist despite repeated calls for government action to address them made by UN human rights bodies and both national and international human rights organizations.