History: Egypt

In 2005, the Freedom House rated political rights in Egypt at "6" (with 1 representing the most free and 7 the least), civil liberties as "5" and gave it the freedom rating of "Not Free." It however noted that "Egypt witnessed its most transparent and competitive presidential and legislative elections in more than half a century and an increasingly unbridled public debate on the country's political future in 2005." For freedom of the press, Egypt was deemed "Partly Free" in 2008, ranking 124 out of the 196 countries surveyed.
In 2007, Amnesty International released a report criticizing Egypt for torture and illegal detention. The report alleges that Egypt has become an international center for torture, where other nations send suspects for interrogation, often as part of the War on Terror. The report calls on Egypt to bring its anti-terrorism laws into accordance with international human rights statutes and on other nations to stop sending their detainees to Egypt. Egypt's foreign ministry quickly issued a rebuttal to this report, claiming that it was inaccurate and unfair, as well as causing deep offense.
The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) is one of the longest-standing bodies for the defence of human rights in Egypt. In 2003, the Government established the National Council for Human Rights, headquartered in Cairo and headed by former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali who directly reports to the President. The council has come under heavy criticism by local activists, who contend it undermines human rights work in Egypt by serving as a propaganda tool for the Government to excuse its violations and to give legitimacy to repressive laws such as the recently renewed Emergency Law. Egypt had announced in 2006 that it was in the process of abolishing the Emergency Law, but in March 2007, Mubarak approved several constitutional amendments to include "an anti-terrorism clause that appears to enshrine sweeping police powers of arrest and surveillance", suggesting that the Emergency Law will remain for the long haul.
According to the World Health Organization in 2008, an estimated 91.1% of Egypt's girls and women have suffered genital mutilation.