AFTE strongly condemns statements by general Abdel Moneim Kato, SCAF consultant for morale affairs to El Shoruk daily Egyptian newspaper in its 19 December 2011 issue where the newspaper quoted the military consultant as saying “the media protects the criminals” asking the Shoruk interviewer “How do you sympathize with misfit kids who should be burnt in Hitler’s ovens?”

AFTE  demands that official bodies, specifically the ministries of health and interior and the supreme council of military forces provide clear and accurate information concerning the tear gas recently used in dispersing the Tahrir sit in and in the Mohamed Mahmud confrontation between protesters and central security forces.

On the 19^th of November, 2011, Egyptians took to the streets and squares of Egypt once more in peaceful protest, demanding a true civil, democratic state consistent with their dreams of last January.  These peaceful, unarmed protestors were met with excessive force by police and soldiers of the armed forces, leading to the deaths of dozens of Egyptians and the injury of more than 3000 others.

The undersigned express serious concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain and the insistence of the Bahraini government to use force against civil society and human rights activists. They are also involving the judiciary in political issues and the trial of these activists before military tribunals, which is in clear violation of the provisions of Article 14 of the International Covenant on civil and Political Rights and right to fair trial. As a result, harsh sentences are meted out to them simply for exercising rights and freedoms guaranteed to them under international and national laws.

Hundreds of national and international civil society organizations celebrate the 28 of September of each year as the International “Right to Know” Day; which was launched for the first time in 2003 after the establishment of the Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIAnet) in the Bulgarian Capital “Sophia”. FOIAnet is an organization that included dozens of representatives from national and international NGOs working in the defense of freedom of information. It might be interesting here to note that despite the establishment of this day globally as the “right to know” day, it was not adopted by any international body such as the United Nations, only by civil society organizations.

AFTE condemns the flagrant interference by national security authorities – previously known as state security investigations, in internal university affairs as before the 25th of January revolution.

A number of Egyptian newspapers, including El Masry El Youm, El Dostour, El Akhbar, over the past two days published lists of faculty members submitted by Cairo University to security authorities, including the national security authority. The list includes names of candidates for position of deans of faculties and names of electoral constituency