US embassy cable - 05CAIRO4781

C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 004781 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/23/2015 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, KDEM, EG 
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL PRESENTS REPORT TO MUBARAK; 
HINTS AT INTEREST IN ELECTION MONITORING 
 
REF: A. CAIRO 4170 
 
     B. CAIRO 2876 
 
Classified By: ECPO Counselor John Desrocher for reasons 
1.4 (b) and (d). 
 
1.  (SBU)  Summary:  On June 21, National Council for Human 
Rights (NCHR) president Dr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali met with 
President Mubarak to formally present the Council,s first 
annual report, which had been publicly released in mid-April 
(ref B).  Following the meeting, Boutros Ghali announced that 
the Council is willing to form a "solidarity" committee on 
the presidential elections.  Separately, Hafez Abou Se'ada, 
Secretary General of the Egyptian Organization of Human 
 
SIPDIS 
Rights (EOHR) and chairman of NCHR,s Complaints Commission, 
has outlined an ambitious plan by a group of 19 NGOs to 
monitor this fall's presidential and parliamentary elections. 
 End summary. 
 
2.  (SBU)  NCHR President Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the former 
U.N. Secretary General, delivered the Council's first annual 
report to President Mubarak during a June 21 meeting; 
however, the President,s office has not yet offered an 
official reaction.  (Note: The NCHR, a quasi-independent body 
operationalized by the GOE in 2004, had transmitted the 
report to the GOE in April, but the GOE to date has not 
commented on the report.  End note.) 
 
3.  (C)  Following the meeting, Boutros-Ghali announced that 
the Council is willing to form a "solidarity" committee on 
the elections.  Media critics characterized the comment as 
"vague," wondering if the proposed committee would show 
"solidarity" with the GOE or the opposition.  According to 
EOHR SG Hafez Abou Se'ada, who is also chair of NCHR's 
Complaints Commission, there is an ongoing struggle within 
the Council on this issue, with pro-GOE members in favor of 
only accepting complaints (rather than monitoring or 
observing the polls) and the more independent members calling 
for the full monitoring of the electoral process. 
 
4.  (C)  Separately, Abou Se'ada recently announced the 
formation of an "Elections Observatory" coalition, a group of 
19 NGOs working together to monitor all stages of the 
electoral process.  The Observatory,s goals, according to 
its charter, are to: "provide an independent, unbiased and 
objective assessment of the elections; encourage 
participation in order to build the voter trust in the 
election process; ensure the integrity of the election 
process; and contribute to rectifying and developing the 
election process in the future based on the lessons learned." 
 According to Hafez, the agreement struck between all 19 NGOs 
has been for each organization to consolidate separate 
reports on the electoral process into one report to be 
prepared by a consultative body of public figures and a 
general secretariat. (Note: An EOHR staffer working on the 
"Elections Observatory" coalition project told Poloff on June 
22 that the coalition was "fragile" and that the 19 NGOs 
differed among themselves on key issues such as accepting 
foreign funding or working with international monitors.  This 
contact also reported that the coalition NGOs had yet to 
agree on common monitoring procedures, principles, or 
methodologies.  End note.) 
 
5.  (SBU)  Comment:  We are encouraged by the evolving 
domestic interest in monitoring, observing, or otherwise 
assessing the upcoming elections.  In addition to the 
"Elections Observatory" coalition and the NCHR, which is a 
quasi-governmental body, we are aware of at least two other 
coalitions of civil society groups preparing to conduct 
monitoring activities (ref A).  We will continue to track all 
of these efforts.  End comment. 
 
 
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