Human Rights: Cairo rejects the report of the State Department

The Egyptian authorities rejected Friday the report of U.S. State Department on human rights in Egypt denouncing ...significant violations in many areas....

•     “Egypt does not accept that another country plays the role of protector of the Egyptian people or judge the state of human rights in the country,” said the spokesman for the Egyptian Foreign Ministry, Hossam Zaki, in a statement.
  
      According to him, Egypt is “solely responsible for its people,” said Zaki, whose country is one of U.S. allies in the Middle East.
  
      The U.S. State Department has pointed Wednesday Egypt for its shortcomings with regard to human rights, accusing particularly abusive imprisonment of activists.
  
      Respect for human rights “remained weak” in Egypt, with “major violations in many areas”, accuses the State Department in its annual report on human rights for 2008, the first to be published under the new administration of President Barack Obama.
  
      The report also criticized the arrest of bloggers in Egypt and the restrictions on access to information via the Internet.
  
      The report also overwhelms Iran, Libya and Syria stresses that there are “serious challenges and persistent in promoting democracy and human rights” despite “some progress” in the Middle East.
  
      
  Ennaharonline/ M. O.