The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) concluded its first review of the human rights situation in Egypt under the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism. The Geneva meeting on 11 June, in which the Egyptian government pledged to implement 140 recommendations presented by other state delegations, took place only a month after the government renewed the 29 year State of Emergency for another two years, in effect suspending most civil rights throughout the country.

The government's decision to renew Egypt's longstanding Emergency Law has drawn furious reactions from opposition figures and rights advocates. While government spokesmen say the law will only be used against terrorism and drug trafficking, critics say it is aimed primarily at stifling political dissent. Egypt voted in elections to the upper house of its parliament Tuesday with many denied the right to contest because of the Emergency Law.

This report is the number "80" of series of economic and social rights that addresses some of the manifestations of violence against women in legislation and the Egyptian laws, which takes place as a result of the gap between law making and enforcement. The report contains an analysis of this gap and the reasons that led to the occurrence.

Egypt’s majestic legacy of civilisation and empire appears to have lost its shine in the light of its current geopolitical positioning as ‘a brutal but glorified US ‘security guard’ at the expense of Egypt's citizens’, writes Khadija Sharife. Sharife explores the interaction between US foreign policy and this ‘draconian state’, which is ‘conveniently located astride both North Africa and the Middle East’.

Amnesty International has called on the Egyptian authorities to halt the forced eviction of 200 families in the north-east of the country as part of a road widening project. Without prior notice, bulldozers arrived to demolish the homes in Zerzara slums in Port Said on Tuesday, 4 May 2010, leaving fifteen families homeless and another 200 at risk.

Saeed El-Masry was born poor, raised poor and, unless he can get ‘kosa,’ will probably die poor. Kosa is the Arabic word for zucchini, but it also means someone in a position of power who can open doors to gainful employment. "There are no good jobs unless you know a cabinet minister or pay off a high-ranking official," El-Masry resigns. "That’s the way it’s always been in Egypt."

Egyptian writers have condemned a call by a group of Islamic lawyers for the classic book Arabian Nights to be banned because it is "obscene". The group, Lawyers Without Shackles, filed a complaint with Egypt's prosecutor general after the collection of folk tales was republished.

A few days ago, 9000 workers at the Naga Hammadi aluminum factory in Upper Egypt staged a protest, demanding that the Egyptian government raise the minimum wage to LE1200, and calling for a withdrawal of confidence from their official trade union committee.

Amnesty International has called for a retrial by a regular court of 26 men jailed by an Egyptian emergency court for their alleged links to the Lebanese group, Hizbullah amid allegations of torture. The special court on Wednesday sentenced the menGovernment urged to conduct a – who included Lebanese, Palestinians, Egyptians and one Sudanese – to jail terms ranging from six months to life.

The Cairo Refugee Film Festival (CRFF) is an Initiative that started in 2009 with the aim of organizing a film festival commemorating the World Refugee Day in June. For more information on last festival, please . This year, the initiative is supported by several collaborators namely St. Andrew’s Church and Congregation (Refugee Ministry), the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo, Egyptian Foundation for Refugee Rights (EFRR) and Tadamon: Egypt-Refugee Multicultural Council as well as others.

Mr. Isaac Ismail Matar Mohammed died in one of the secret Egyptian security prisons where he was detained involuntarily since January 16, 2010 with two of his comrades from the neighborhood of October Sixth. The news spread amongst the refugees that the detainees were being subjected to various forms of torture including beatings, electric shocks and immersion in cold water. The victim’s body was not able to stand the torture and he died in detention three weeks ago.

The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo, Egypt is pleased to offer a short course on “Refugee Participation in Policy and Practice” June 13-17 2010, to be taught by Professor Barbara Harrell-Bond, one of the world’s leading scholars and activists in the field of refugee studies.

Protesters have gathered in central Cairo to condemn calls by two Egyptian politicians and officials loyal to Hosni Mubarak, the president, for security forces to open fire on pro-democracy demonstrations. About 70 people joined the protest on Tuesday, the third in two weeks calling for greater political freedoms and an end to an emergency law that allows indefinite detentions.

This 10 week Creative Writing course will look at various techniques and exercises to open up & improve writing writing skills, work with metaphor and imagery, create texts and narratives to given themes and word counts as well as free writing. The end goal will be to write a 1000 word short story. There is no criteria other than a willingness to open up one's writing; the course is designed that people of varying writing experience can participate and each draw their individual benefits.

Last month, as Jews around the world prepared for Passover, Egyptian border guards were killing migrants trying to cross into Israel. How many of us, as we sat at our Seder tables, were even aware of the dramatic parallel to the Passover story taking place on the present-day Egyptian-Israeli border?

The Egyptian authorities should immediately cease deportation proceedings against two refugees from Darfur, Human Rights Watch has said. Egyptian authorities are preparing to deport Mohammad Adam Abdallah and Ishaq Fadl Ahmad Dafa Allah back to Sudan, where they would face persecution. Both men have been granted formal refugee status by the United Nations refugee agency, which should protect them from deportation.

On 4 April 2010 Egyptian State security arrested Karar from the street while he was returning from a bank to his home. Karar is a secondary school student and was in the midst of preparations for the final secondary completion exams.

Egyptian courts are handing down death sentences with "alarming frequency" as the state attempts to use capital punishment to stem rising crime rates. Over 269 death sentences were imposed in 2009, up from 86 the previous year. Rights groups say the courts appear to be acting under government pressure to send a strong message to the public.

One year after the criminal attacks on Egyptian Baha’is in the village of Shuraniya in Sohag, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) expressed its disappointment at the Public Prosecutor’s failure to bring the assailants and those who incited the attacks to justice. For one full year, state authorities have yet to bring justice to the victims of the attacks or enable Baha’is forcibly removed from their homes to return

MRS Fellowships are offered by the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo through generous contributions from the Ford Foundation and the International Organization of Migration (IOM). The fellowships are intended to enable qualified Egyptian Students to enroll in any of the graduates programs of the Center for Migration and Refugees Studies.