Egypt
(asked on 28th January 2015) - View Source
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what reports he has received on allegations that rape is being used as a tool by the police in Egypt to suppress activists; and if he will make representations on this matter to his counterpart in that country.
This question was answered on 2nd February 2015
We are deeply concerned by the Amnesty International report about sexual assaults on activists. Our embassy in Cairo is in close and regular contact with local Non-Govermental Organisations, particularly those focussing on the rights of women and gender-based violence. We raised our concerns regarding the conditions for detainees and the rights of women during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Egypt’s human rights record. We also called on the Government of Egypt to move forward their National Action Plan on Violence Against Women with a clear, credible implementation plan and to invite the Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women to visit. In 2014 the UK sponsored a delegation of Ministry of Justice officials to meet UK counterparts and discuss issues of gender-based violence. These discussions helped inform drafting of the new Egyptian law. We continue to discuss the issue of gender-based violence with the Government of Egypt and are seeking practical ways that we can work together in this area.
We are deeply concerned by the Amnesty International report about sexual assaults on activists. Our embassy in Cairo is in close and regular contact with local Non-Govermental Organisations, particularly those focussing on the rights of women and gender-based violence. We raised our concerns regarding the conditions for detainees and the rights of women during the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review of Egypt’s human rights record. We also called on the Government of Egypt to move forward their National Action Plan on Violence Against Women with a clear, credible implementation plan and to invite the Special Rapporteur for Violence Against Women to visit. In 2014 the UK sponsored a delegation of Ministry of Justice officials to meet UK counterparts and discuss issues of gender-based violence. These discussions helped inform drafting of the new Egyptian law. We continue to discuss the issue of gender-based violence with the Government of Egypt and are seeking practical ways that we can work together in this area.