Human rights is getting attention in the foreign press
Forty-five local and international human rights organizations have called on Egyptian authorities to end what they say is the harassment of executive director and founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) Hossam Bahgat, who is on trial for allegedly insulting the Elections Authority. A verdict in the case is scheduled for November 29.
Also: Amnesty, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Human Rights Watch criticized the UNDP’s Egypt Human Development Report for ignoring human rights issues and called for it to be reassessed in a letter (pdf) to UNDP head Achim Steiner. And an opinion piece in the Washington Post by Ezzedine C. Fishere criticizes last week’s sentencing of former member of parliament Zyad El Elaimy to five years in jail.
MEANWHILE- Egypt was named the world’s second-best scuba diving destination by Dive Travel for the third consecutive year, singling out Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada, Dahab and Marsa Alam. Indonesia topped the list and Malaysia, Maldives and Mexico rounded out the top 5.
Also making headlines:
- Egypt’s efforts to rebuild the Gaza Strip got ink in the AFP;
- Egypt’s first wheelchair-friendly transportation company, Rahty, got attention in a short video by Reuters (watch, runtime: 1:38).
- Another day, another archaeological find: German and Egyptian archaeologists discovered remains of a temple belonging to King Nectanebo I at Matareya in Heliopolis. (Al Monitor)