The Egyptian foreign ministry has said that the US State Department’s annual worldwide human rights report for 2018 makes unsubstantiated claims about the state of human rights in Egypt.

The ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the report relies on false information provided by non-governmental organisations that have political motives and that fail to provide evidence for their allegations.

"The report made no mention of the efforts by the Egyptian government to strengthen human rights in all their facets and implement constitutional guarantees in this regard," the statement said.

"The report also failed to mention the major achievements made in enhancing religious freedoms and providing equal economic and social rights to all citizens.”

The ministry also said that the report does not mention the oversight mechanisms mandated by Egyptian law to address any human rights violations in an independent, transparent and patriotic way.

The statement also stressed the importance of respecting the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of any country, as well as the necessity of analysing the issue through a comprehensive lens that takes into account the tangible achievements made to improve human rights in Egypt.