A/HRC/14/37 641. In their joint statement, Human Rights Watch and the International Federation for Human Rights highlighted the deterioration of the human rights situation in Egypt since February 2010. They deplored the recent renewal of the state of emergency and stressed that administrative detainees, numbering between 5,000 and 10,000, should be either immediately charged or released. The organizations expressed concern about impunity for human rights violations, the continued crackdown on independent political activists and the violation of freedom of assembly, noting the quashing of a demonstration and the arrest of 102 peaceful protestors on 6 April in Cairo. They highlighted that the Shura elections of 1 June had been marred by reports of fraud and incidents of violence, and that since February, Egyptian border guards had shot dead at least 12 migrants attempting to cross into Israel. 642. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network welcomed the acceptance by Egypt of many recommendations in the area of economic, social and cultural rights, although it regretted that some of those recommendations were of a very general nature, without indication of measures of implementation or indicators of achievement. It also regretted the rejection by Egypt of the recommendation to allow the free establishment of trade unions without the obligation for such unions to join the Egyptian Trade Union Federation. 643. Organisation pour la communication en Afrique et de promotion de la cooperation économique internationale noted that Egypt had accepted more than 80 per cent of the recommendations made by other States. It highlighted Egypt’s progress with regard to women’s rights, as well as its constructive approach to the universal periodic review. It welcomed Egypt’s withdrawal of its reservations to articles 9, 16 and 29 of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and asked the Government to consider the possibility of ratifying the Optional Protocol thereto. It also requested that Egypt expedite the adoption of the law criminalizing all forms of violence against women, and to formulate a global policy to address this issue. 644. The Al-Hakim Foundation thanked Egypt for its comprehensive report on its human rights situation and praised the constructive participation of Egypt in the universal periodic review. It commended Egypt’s decision to open the Rafah border to allow humanitarian assistance to enter Gaza, while allowing the passage of Palestinians for health treatment abroad. It also commended the decision by parliament to limit the application of the emergency law to combating terrorism and drug trafficking. While noting the efforts made to fight female genital mutilation, it stated that additional measures needed to be taken in this regard. Finally, it referred to the necessity to find a solution to legal problems faced by Egyptian nationals married to Palestinians of Israeli nationality and their children. 645. The Democracy Coalition Project highlighted the fact that Egypt had not taken any serious measures to implement the vast majority of the universal periodic review recommendations. Although the Government had accepted that non-governmental organizations could monitor elections, civil society groups were denied permission to monitor electoral proceedings, and 300 supporters of various candidates had been arrested during the recent Shura Council elections. In addition, notwithstanding the acceptance of several recommendations regarding freedom of religion and belief, Egypt had not made significant efforts to stop discriminatory incidents targeting Coptic Christians. The organization stressed the need for an official plan with concrete and time-bound benchmarks to evaluate the implementation of the recommendations. 646. Amnesty International stressed that civil and political rights were restricted under the state of emergency, which was renewed on 11 May 2010, despite recommendations that it be lifted. It referred to the violent dispersal by security forces of several recent demonstrations, such as the one on 6 April 2010 in Cairo. Concerning Egypt’s description of a recommendation to “cease arrests and detentions of political activists” as inaccurate, Amnesty International attested to the use of emergency powers to arrest and detain political activists, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood. It highlighted the fact that the GE.12-17781 145