Egypt rejects Kerry’s foreign ‘tutelage’ over human rights

US had criticized Cairo’s investigation of non-governmental rights groups amid a broader crackdown on dissent

By AP 20 March 2016, 4:59 am

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Investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat in his office at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Garden City, Cairo, Egypt, December 7, 2011. (Sarah Rafea via AP, File)

CAIRO — Egypt’s foreign minister says he rejects “tutelage” over human rights from other countries, in response to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent comments on the “deterioration” of Egypt’s human rights situation.

The state-run MENA news agency cites Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry as saying Saturday that human rights are a domestic concern and the responsibility of the Egyptian government.

Kerry said Friday that the reopening of an investigation into non-governmental rights groups comes amid “a wider backdrop of arrests and intimidation of political opposition, journalists, civil society activists and cultural figures.”

MENA reported on Thursday that a judicial commission has ordered the assets of four people frozen as they are being investigated for illegally receiving funds from abroad. They include investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat and top rights advocate Gamal Eid.