III 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 586 

Supporting democracy, human rights, and civil liberties in Egypt. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 20, 2010 

Mr. FEINGOLD (for himself and Mr. MCCAIN) submitted the following 

resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations 

RESOLUTION 

Supporting democracy, human rights, and civil liberties in 

Egypt. 

Whereas the Governments of the United States and Egypt 

have long shared a strong bilateral working relationship; 

Whereas the people and the Government of Egypt play an 

important role in global and regional politics, including 

with respect to the Middle East peace process, as well as 

in North and East Africa; 

Whereas Egypt has been and continues to be an intellectual 

and cultural center of the Arab world; 

Whereas respect for democracy, human rights, and civil liberties are fundamental principles of the United States 

and critical to our national security objectives; 

Whereas, in his June 4, 2009, speech in Cairo, Egypt, President Barack Obama noted, ‘‘[G]overnments that protect 

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[human] rights are ultimately more stable, successful and 

secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them 

go away.’’; 

Whereas the United States National Security Strategy, released in May 2010, states, ‘‘And we reject the notion 

that lasting security and prosperity can be found by turning away from universal rights—democracy does not 

merely represent our better angels, it stands in opposition 

to aggression and injustice, and our support for universal 

rights is both fundamental to American leadership and a 

source of our strength in the world.’’; 

Whereas the authorities in Egypt continue to harass, intimidate, arbitrarily detain, and engage in violence against 

peaceful demonstrators, journalists, human rights activists, and bloggers; 

Whereas, despite President Hosni Mubarak’s pledge in 2005 

that Egypt’s controversial emergency law would only be 

used to fight terrorism and that he planned to abolish the 

state of emergency and adopt new antiterrorism legislation as an alternative, in May 2010, the Government of 

Egypt again extended the emergency law, which has been 

in place continuously since 1981, for another two years, 

giving police broad powers of arrest and allowing indefinite detention without charge; 

Whereas, in renewing the emergency law, the Government of 

Egypt asserted that the law would be used only in drug 

and terrorism cases and it would release all emergency 

law detainees in other cases, a pledge it has made in the 

past but failed to fulfill; 

Whereas, in response to the emergency law extension, Secretary Hillary Clinton released a statement noting, ‘‘This 

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extension is regrettable given the pledge made by the government to the Egyptian people in 2005. We are confident that Egypt can draft and adopt effective counterterrorism legislation that conforms to international standards for civil liberties and due process. And the United 

States urges Egypt to complete this legislation on an urgent basis and to rescind the State of Emergency within 

the coming months.’’; 

Whereas opposition lawmakers and human rights and democracy activists have protested the extended emergency law 

because of concerns that it would continue to be used to 

silence critics and stifle dissent; 

Whereas the Department of State’s 2009 Human Rights Report notes with respect to Egypt, ‘‘The government’s respect for human rights remained poor, and serious 

abuses continued in many areas. The government limited 

citizens’ right to change their government and continued 

a state of emergency that has been in place almost continuously since 1967.’’; 

Whereas Human Rights Watch reports that ‘‘Human rights 

violations in Egypt are widespread and routine, including 

arbitrary detention, torture, and unfair trials before state 

security and military courts. . . . State Security Intelligence (SSI), a bureau of the Ministry of Interior, polices the political sphere and considers any exercise of 

freedom of assembly a security threat, frequently beating 

and arresting peaceful demonstrators.’’; 

Whereas the independence of the judiciary in Egypt continues 

to be undermined through exceptional parallel court systems, executive administrative orders overriding judicial 

decisions, and politically motivated lawsuits; 

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Whereas past elections in Egypt, including the June 2010 

elections to the Shura Council (the lower house of parliament), have seen irregularities at polling and counting 

stations, security force intimidation and coercion of voters, and obstruction of peaceful political rallies and demonstrations; 

Whereas excessive use of force by security forces in Egypt is 

occurring in violation of Egypt’s obligations to protect 

fundamental human rights and may undermine the country’s long-term stability; 

Whereas political reform in Cairo would significantly enhance 

the leadership of Egypt throughout the Middle East and 

Africa and could help ensure constructive political engagement in these regions for years to come; and 

Whereas, in April 2010, a bipartisan ‘‘Working Group on 

Egypt’’ wrote in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton, 

‘‘[W]ith three sets of elections coming up over the next 

eighteen months, Egypt now has the opportunity to energize a process of political, economic, and social reform. 

If the government responds to demands for responsible 

political change, Egypt can face the future as a more 

democratic nation with greater domestic and international support. If, on the other hand, the opportunity 

for reform is missed, prospects for stability and prosperity in Egypt will be in doubt.’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That, the Senate— 

2 (1) reaffirms that respect for basic human 

3 rights is a fundamental value of the United States 

4 and that providing unconditional support for govern5 ments that do not respect those basic human rights 

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1 undermines the credibility of the United States and 

2 creates tensions, including in the Muslim world, that 

3 can be exploited; 

4 (2) recognizes that, while the Government of 

5 Egypt faces legitimate security threats, genuine po6 litical reform in that country will help to counter ex7 tremism while also solidifying prospects for stability 

8 and prosperity; 

9 (3) encourages the Government of Egypt to 

10 promptly honor its commitment to permanently re11 peal the state of emergency, which is a significant 

12 obstacle to consolidation of the rule of law in Egypt; 

13 (4) calls on the Government of Egypt— 

14 (A) to take all steps necessary to ensure 

15 that upcoming elections are free, fair, trans16 parent, and credible, including granting inde17 pendent international and domestic electoral ob18 servers unrestricted access to polling and count19 ing stations and instructing its security forces 

20 not to engage in violence; 

21 (B) to end all arbitrary detention, torture, 

22 and other forms of harassment against media 

23 professionals, human rights defenders and ac24 tivists, and opposition figures, fully respect 

25 freedom of expression and association, and remstockstill on DSKH9S0YB1PROD with BILLS

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1 lease all individuals detained for peaceful ex2 pression as well as those detained under the 

3 emergency law for issues unrelated to drug or 

4 terrorism allegations; and 

5 (C) to lift legislative restrictions on free6 doms of assembly, association, and expression 

7 in advance of the 2010 elections; 

8 (5) urges the President and the Secretary of 

9 State— 

10 (A) to make respect for basic human rights 

11 and democratic freedoms a priority in the ongo12 ing relationship and dialogue between the Gov13 ernments of the United States and Egypt, and 

14 to focus on the importance of these issues, in15 cluding free and fair elections, during all bilat16 eral meetings; and 

17 (B) to broaden the engagement of the 

18 United States Government with the people of 

19 Egypt and support efforts in the country to 

20 help promote human rights and democratic re21 form, including by providing appropriate fund22 ing to international and domestic election ob23 servers, as well as to civil society organizations 

24 for democracy and governance activities; 

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1 (6) emphasizes the importance of ensuring and 

2 strengthening the independence of the judiciary in 

3 Egypt; and 

4 (7) recalls that pursuant to the laws of the 

5 United States, organizations implementing United 

6 States assistance for democracy and governance ac7 tivities, and the specific nature of that assistance, 

8 shall not be subject to the prior approval of the Gov9 ernment of Egypt. 

Æ 

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