Press Releases

20 October 2010

28 December: Ruling on Mandatory Premarital Testing

A decision on the lawsuit requesting the abolition of a state policy that requires couples wishing to marry to undergo a medical exam is due to be delivered on 28 December, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) said today. The case is being heard by the first circuit of the Court of Administrative Justice, headed by Judge Kamal Lamai.

25 July 2010

EIPR asks Public Prosecutor to Guarantee the Safety and Freedom of the Wife of a Deir Mawas Priest

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) expressed its dismay with official reports that the security apparatus had “turned over” Kamilia Shehata, the wife of a Coptic priest, to her family pursuant to a request from church leaders. The EIPR asked the Public Prosecutor to intervene to guarantee the 25-year-old woman’s right to physical safety and personal freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution and the law.

22 July 2010

After University President is Served with a Notice, Fayyoum University Implements Court Ruling Allowing Women Who Wear the Niqab to Take Exams

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) welcomed today the decision of the president of Fayyoum University to comply with a court ruling issued on behalf of several female students who wear the niqab, or full-face veil, in their final year at the Faculty of Education. The court ordered the university to convene a special proctoring committee to allow the students to take their exams after the university initially cancelled them because they wear the niqab.

28 March 2010

EIPR Researcher Wins AUC Gender Studies Award

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) is proud to announce that EIPR researcher Noha Roushdy has received the annual award of the American University in Cairo (AUC) for best graduate dissertation in gender studies. Noha received the Magda El-Noweihy Graduate Student Award in Gender Studies at an award ceremony hosted by AUC on 16 March.

5 January 2010

Niqab Ban in University Exams an Excessive Measure, Penalizes Students for their Beliefs

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) today regretted the ruling on 3 January by an administrative court to uphold a new decision banning students who wear the niqab, or full face veil, from sitting for exams in public universities.

12 October 2008

New Lawsuit Challenges Mandatory Premarital Testing

Update: The first hearing on the case has been scheduled for 30 December 2008.

25 July 2007

New Anti-Terror Law Must Not Further Erode Human Rights in Egypt

The new anti-terrorism law will lead to a further deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt unless it contains sufficient safeguards for the protection of human rights and personal freedoms, warned the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

18 February 2007

Parliamentary Committee Should Reject Terror-Related Constitutional Amendment

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) warned against the suspension of fundamental constitutional rights in the name of fighting terrorism.

31 July 2003

In the wake of Press Syndicate's elections Right to protection of reputation should be new board's priority

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called upon the head and the member of the newly elected board of the Press Syndicate today to set among their priorities citizens' right to protection of reputation, an inseparable component of the right to privacy.

24 February 2003

Three More Years of Oppressive Emergency Rule

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) today expressed its deep disappointment at the approval by People's Assembly yesterday of a presidential decree that renewed the Emergency Law for three more years. The organization found particularly dismaying the way in which the government had surprisingly and abruptly passed the bill within 12 hours of its proposition.