Egypt's constitution

On Saturday a new constitution will be put to the Egyptian people to accept or reject in a referendum, unless President Morsi yields to pressure to postpone the vote by his opponents, some of whom are threatening to boycott it. The country needs the guidelines a constitution should provide to help it transform revolutionary confusion into orderly democratic progress but there are serious doubts whether this particular document will adequately serve that purpose.

Navi Pillay, the distinguished South African international lawyer who is currently the UN High Commisioner for Human Rights, has commented on the “very worrying omissions and ambiguities” in the constitution's provisions -- particularly its failure to give legal standing to the range of international treaties that protect civil and political rights and forbid torture and racial or gender discrimination. Ms Pillay also points out that although it provides for equality it does not explicitly prohibit discrimination on the grounds of sex, religion or origin and also that its commitment to press freedom is qualified by clauses referring to national security.

Although Navi Pillay finds some positive features in this constitution -- for instance the freedom to set up civil associations and institutions without seeking official permission -- her overview from a human rights perspective is not encouraging. She says: “In some respects this constitution is weaker than its 1971 predecessor introduced by President Mubarak which it is supposed to replace”.