More than eight months after he was sentenced to seven years in prison on charges of illegally accepting foreign funds, sullying Egypt's image abroad, and embezzlement, Egyptian human-rights activist Saad Eddin Ibrahim walked free—pending a retrial—on Feb. 7.

The trial of Saad Eddin Ibrahim and three other human rights defenders is a blatant attempt by the Egyptian authorities to stifle freedom of expression, Amnesty International said as the Court of Cassation is set to pronounce its decision on 6 February 2002 regarding their appeal.

In a significant step to bridge the digital divide, the United Nations Development Programme has set up an an Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Trust Fund to make technologies crucial for development more widely accessible to and more affordable for Egyptians.

This website allows viewers to get a broader perspective of the career and educational opportunities within the Middle East.

Eight Egyptian men arrested for the "practice of debauchery" are likely to remain in jail for some time and could be subjected to torture, a local underground human-rights group has warned.

The Egyptian Minster of Justice Couns. Farouk Saif Al Nassr announced on Wednesday, 2 January 2002, that a new bill for Egypt's ratification to the ICC Statute has been drafted among 14 new laws aiming at reforming the structure of the Egyptian legal system. The 14 bills deal with judicial, economic, and penal issues.

"I have no objection to issuing a new anti money laundering law in the crimes of planting, manufacturing and trading in narcotics, nor in the kidnapping and detention of people, nor in terrorism and the importing of and trading in weapons and ammunition, nor in the crimes of libertinism and prostitution, nor those against antiquities or related to the preservation of the environment, to the end of the crimes listed in Article 2 of the draft law on money laundering that was prepared by the government and presented to the People's Assembly for an immediate endorsement. I have no objection to that, but my objection is that the USA is pressuring us to issue that law, and imposes it on us and on other countries against the will of the government and the state agencies and institutions."

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable source of the arbitrary arrest and detention of four men accused of being homosexual in Egypt. The four men have been held in the Boulak Prison Station in Giza, and are reportedly under investigation for "the habitual practice of debauchery" - previously also translated as "obscene behaviour" - under Article 9c of Law No. 10 of 1961 on the Combat of Prostitution.

The case against Nawal El Saadaoui fits in with the climate of intolerance prevailing in Egypt and stoked by Islamist thought, with silent consent from the authorities. It represents a permanent danger for freedoms of all sorts.

A sixteen-year-old boy's prosecution and conviction for engaging in sexual relations with men violates international standards, Human Rights Watch said in a letter to Egyptian authorities.

Refugees have the right to legal representation during the asylum determination process, but until recently, for thousands of refugees in Egypt, professional legal services have been almost non-existent. Egypt guarantees the right to asylum in its constitution; it has acceded to UN and the Organisation of African Unity conventions on refugees. However, in Egypt, it is the Office of the UN High Commissioner (UNHCR) who determines who gets refugee status, not the Government of Egypt. There is no independent appeal process against negative decisions. There are more than 23 nationalities represented in Egypt's refugee population. In July 2000, the Forced Migration and Refugee Studies programme at the American University in Cairo began to address this deficiency. It now provides formal training in refugee law through courses that are part of the Diploma in Forced Migration and Refugee Studies and the MA in Human Rights Law, as well as 'hands on' practical experience of preparing cases for refugees seeking asylum in Egypt.

An Egyptian court has ordered a former minister and five other senior officials to be held in jail as they face a corruption trial over millions of dollars in public funds.

Embracing Egypt as a close ally despite its poor human rights record could be even more counter-productive after September 11 than it was before, Human Rights Watch warned today.

Egypt is talking about free Internet access. Beginning early next year, Egypt's 60 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) will not charge customers for basic web access. This follows on the free service provided by ABSA in South Africa - although other South African ISPs still charge access fees. Hopefully the trend will follow through to other African states.

Amnesty International Holds a Training Seminar
for Human Rights Defenders in Cairo from 7-9 July 2001

The situation confronting Egypt's sexual minority communities - historically marginalized legally and socially - has over the past few weeks deteriorated to the point where with every sign of an anti-homosexual "witch-hunt" in the offing indicates an incipient human rights tragedy. Readers of the following report -compiled from a variety of internet sources -are strongly urged to contact their country's foreign minister and ambassador to Egypt for the purpose of relaying the growing world concern over events there.

Are Egyptian women getting the services they need from existing family planning programmes? What factors influence women's decisions about contraception? How can family planning services be improved to help meet women's needs? Research from the London School of Economics and the Egyptian National Population Council investigated the unmet need for contraception in rural Egypt.

Two hundred schools in deprived hamlets of Upper Egypt are sending ripples through the country’s education system, making girls and women the beacons of a new learning experience.

A former minister of finance, five customs officials and four businessmen have been charged with corruption in one of the biggest cases of its kind in the country, judicial officials said on Thursday.