Human Rights Organizations Welcome the President's Amnesty Decision Issued Recently

and Hail the Success of Social Negotiation in Bringing about Reforms in the Human Rights File in Egypt

The undersigned organizations welcome President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s Decree of 2022 pardoning Ziad al-Alimi, in response to the repetitive demands and calls of the political parties and the Presidential Pardon Committee to release the detainees who were not involved in acts of violence and terrorism.

According to the Committee, the number of pretrial detainees freed in Egypt exceeds 1000 people, whose names were in the pardon lists made by political parties, the National Council for Human Rights, human rights organizations and the families of prisoners. The released included many young people, Egyptian insurance workers and media professionals.

Article 155 of the Constitution gives the President of the Republic the power to issue presidential pardons or mitigate sentences for prisoners. A full pardon can only take place with the approval of the majority of members of the House of Representatives. The presidential pardon has two kinds, a full pardon and amnesties. Article 155 of the law clarifies the terms of presidential pardon, which are:

The pardon is applicable to prisoners charged of non-dishonorable criminal cases, who have spent half the term not convicted in cases of premeditated murder and drugs, or those convicted of cases of breach of national security, under special conditions determined by the sovereign decision.

According to the law, the presidential pardon is not applied in crimes harmful to the security of the government from outside and inside, and in cases of explosives, bribery and forgery, as well as crimes of disrupting transportation, weapons, ammunition and drugs, felonies of graft and crimes stipulated in the building law.

For applying for a presidential pardon, the law requires the convict to be of good conduct, during the execution of the sentence, showing confidence in self-control, provided that pardoning him does not pose a threat to public security and that he fulfills the financial obligations imposed on him unless it is impossible to fulfill them.

The President of the Republic chooses those who are entitled to a presidential pardon according to health-related issues, humanitarian, or public interest considerations, or if there is an excess in punishment.

The signatory organizations consider the succession of presidential amnesty decisions since the reformation of the presidential pardon committee last May as an evidence and a sign of the success of the efforts of civil society organizations which are constantly interacting with the state through constructive dialogue, bringing about qualitative reforms in the file of civil and political rights. The fruit of these efforts appeared with Egypt’s New NGOs law of 2019, the National Strategy for Human Rights in 2021, and the reactivation of the Pardon Committee after the abolition of the emergency law, which was expanding the circle of suspicion, and the re-formation of the National Council for Human Rights, then the announcement of the National Dialogue and the formation of a board of trustees and members of committees from various political currents, including the labor opposition.

The signatory organizations believe that these developments were the result of convergence of views between the government, civil society organizations and opposition forces, and that the state opens the doors for dialogue with all currents, and that it places the file of rights and freedoms among its priorities.

These efforts were culminated by the release of Ziyad al-Alimi and the rest of the defendants in the case known as the “Hope Cell” as part of a series of measures taken by the Egyptian government to continue the steps of political reform and as a clear indication of the success of the process of social negotiation between the state and political forces, as the state responded to the demands of opposition parties and civil society organizations and released those imprisoned in this case, which is a very indicative sign of the success of the language of dialogue and negotiation in pushing the state to make improvements in the human rights file in general and on the success of civil organizations in particular, increasing its ability to influence internal policies and its effective participation in bringing about the required reforms in the file of rights and freedoms.

The undersigned organizations support the work of the Presidential Pardon Committee seeking to integrate the released persons and return them to their work or provide them with job opportunities, especially in light of the economic conditions and challenges that Egypt and the countries of the world are going through. In addition, it works to solve some procedural issues related to the travel ban or the reservation of funds, which represents a new application of the concept of social justice, provides adequate compensation for the released youth and opens up a new opportunity for them to live a different life.

The signatory organizations believe that the recent presidential amnesty decisions are important steps towards political reform and they hope to achieve more successes through dialogue with the Egyptian government to bring about more political and human rights reforms.

The signatory organizations are as follows:

1	The Egyptian Alliance for Human Rights and Development
2	The Arab Network for Digital Media and Human Rights (ANDMHR)
3	Human Rights Information and Rehabilitation Center (HRTIC), Egypt Office
4	The Arab-European Forum for Dialogue and Human Rights in Geneva
5	Egyptian Organization for Human Rights
6	Positive Youth Development Foundation
7	The Arab Institute for Democracy and Human Rights Studies
8	The Egyptian Leadership Foundation for Development
9	El Mahrousa Foundation for Development and Participation
10	The Egyptian Foundation for Training and Human Rights
11	Human Dream Foundation for Development
12	Sinai Foundation for Economic Development
13	Partners for Transparency
14	Maat for Peace, Development and Human Rights
15	Mandela Foundation for Democratic Rights
16	Egypt Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights
17	Foundation for Dialogue Forum for Development