Egyptian presidency hopeful, Mohamed ElBaradei, announced a final draft of a two part bill on basic principles and basic rights which he will present for public debate. The bill states:
Chapter One: Basic Principles
Article One: The state shall be a republican democracy founded on the rights of the citizenry and the sovereignty of the people. The people shall exercise this sovereignty through a parliamentary system based on regular, transparent general elections via secret ballot and on the basis of equality for all Egyptian citizens without discrimination and according to procedures which guarantee their right to nomination and voting, without exception.
Article Two: Islam shall be the religion of the state and Arabic the official language. Islamic Sharia shall be the main source of legislation.
Article Three: The political order shall be a multi-party system in which a citizen has the right to establish a political party and participate in political action as long as the political parties are not based on definitions or bases which contradict basic citizen rights mentioned in this bill.
Article Four: Public order is based on the sovereignty of law and an independent judiciary. State institutions and citizens are equally subject to all the laws without discrimination.
Article Five: The Armed Forces are the shield of the people and protectors of the country’s sovereignty, in charge of defending the country’s independence and security against foreign threats. The Armed Forces are in charge of planning, developing and overseeing systems which guarantee achieving this goal.
Article Six: The state is obligated to exert utmost effort to guarantee a standard of living for every citizen which provides wellbeing and luxury for him and his family, this includes nutrition, housing, healthcare, safe environment, job opportunities on a fair basis without discrimination, protection against unemployment, providing for citizens’ livelihoods in the case of unemployment, illness, incapacitation, old age and other reasons for loss of livelihood as a result of causes beyond one’s control. The state is committed to providing free education in public education institutions at all stages, and admission to these institutions is based on qualification and equality for all. Also, that elementary and basic education is mandatory.
Chapter Two: Basic Rights
Article One: Human dignity is the right of every person.
Article Two: All Egyptians are free and equal in rights, duties and freedoms according to the law and constitution, without exception.
Article Three: Every Egyptian has the right to freedom of opinion, freedom of expression and peaceful gathering, as long as these rights are exercised without violating the rights of others.
Article Four: Freedom of worship shall be guaranteed and every citizen shall have the right to believe in [any] creed and doctrine and have the freedom to religious practice as long as these rights are exercised without violating the rights of others.
Article Five: Every Egyptian shall be guaranteed the right to freedom of residence and movement. It shall be prohibited to arbitrarily arrest or detain any citizen without legal basis. Anyone charged with a crime shall be considered innocent until proven guilty in a fair and public trial by an ordinary judge, where the accused shall be guaranteed all necessary procedures for his defence. Under no circumstances will anyone be subjected to torture or action which violates one’s dignity.
Article Six: The right of every Egyptian to independent or group ownership shall not be violated. Furthermore, no one shall be stripped of their possessions arbitrarily or without legal basis.
Article Seven: The right to work and to establish or join unions for the protection of citizens’ interests and rights shall be guaranteed.
Article Eight: Citizens shall not be denied the right to education or the right to develop their knowledge, scientific research and ability to seek information, receive it and publish it. Also, the right to participate in cultural life in all its forms, including the right to freedom of choice, the right to freedom of expression in public and private life, the freedom to participate in cultural activities and production, and publication of cultural services and the freedom to use various media and communication shall be guaranteed.
Article Nine: Every Egyptian shall have the right to privacy, including one’s family, one’s residence, one’s communications, one’s honour and reputation and will be subject to the personal status law which complies with one’s beliefs without violating the rights of others. Every person shall be protected by law on this matter.
Article Ten: No part of this bill shall be interpreted in a way which delegates any state institutions or groups or individuals the right to carry out any activity or action aiming to violate any of the rights and freedoms herein.
Article Eleven: This bill is part of the Constitution and the rights mentioned herein cannot be revoked, surrendered, amended or curtailed. Every Egyptian has the right to these rights without exception or discrimination. The violation of any of these rights or inciting to violate them is a crime against the Constitution, whether this violation is done by breaking the law, Constitution or amending or attempting to amend any of them. Every Egyptian is entitled, without exception, to end these violations or incitement for violation through the court system and prosecute the perpetrators.
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