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Tyrant and illegal prevention of issuing an independent newspaper
Human rights organisations call upon Supreme Council of Press not to hinder the issuance of Al-Badiel Newspaper Cairo - 4 February 2007 Egyptian human rights organisations call upon the Supreme Council of Press (SCP) to comply with the law and not to hinder the issuance of Al-Badiel newspaper, which met all the provisions of release according to the law. The legal 40-days period assigned to announce SCP objections has passed without receiving any respond or license. SCP has adopted an inflexible stance since the first day of establishing the newspaper. The SCP Trustee officials failed to respond to the demands of the newspaper's editors to be notified by current or expected faults in order to immediately avoid them. In addition, the Trustee wrote a letter after the end of the legally assigned period to request more formal clarifications on one of the submitted documents. This reflects the desire to waste time and non-adherence to legal dates. The undersigned human rights organisations consider the provisions of SCP are violating the right to issue newspapers in Egypt, the stipulations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCP) on which Egypt is a signatory and subsequently became an integral part of its internal law, and the African Charter on Human and People's Rights. Despite these violations and despite Al-Badiel editors' compliance with the provisions of issuance, SCP failed to license the paper. This proves that SCP is inconsiderate of the law, an illegal behaviour due to the fact that the SCP is seeking to limit the freedom to issue newspapers in Egypt. The undersigned human rights organisations urge the Supreme Council of Press to comply with the law and issue the legal license of Al-Badiel Newspaper, in order to preserve its image before the administrative court considers the claim filed by the paper's editors on Tuesday 6 February. The undersigned urge Arab and international human rights organizations to defend freedom of press by pressuring this council - which stands against freedom of expression and press - to comply with law and values of press freedom and not to act as an obstacle in the path of independent press which is necessary for ensuring the freedom of people. Signatories: The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies Association for Human Rights Legal Aid Habi Center for Environmental Rights Civil Observatory of Human Rights El-Ganob Center for Human Rights One-World Foundation for Development and Civil Society Care Freedom of Thought and Expression Foundation Land Center for Human Rights |
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