FILE – Minister of Legal and Parliamentary AffairsCAIRO - 14 March 2018: The minister of parliamentary affairs said he met with representatives of diplomatic missions and NGOs, including Amnesty International, as well as officials of the Human Rights Council during his visit to Geneva, noting that all questions were answered with documents and evidence.Marwan added that the reactions were very positive on the issues raised.The minister said no enforced disappearances were documented in Egypt over the recent years.The Egyptian law criminalizes torture that has never been a policy of the Egyptian state, he added. "Evil people" plot to distort any achievement and to undermine Egypt's reputation internationally, Marwan said.Egypt is going to stage its presidential elections and some organizations are trying to defame Egypt by promoting unfounded allegations, he added.Egypt's NGOs law does not impair the mission of these organizations, the minister reaffirmed.He added that the law regulates the NGOs work and allow funding them after identifying sources of funding.The death penalty is judged just in cases of more serious crimes after applying all the standards of fair trial and providing defendants with a package of guarantees, the minister said.He added that no journalists have been arrested in a case involving opinion or publication.If a journalist committed an offense in cases that have nothing to do with publishing, he is held accountable for that, Marwan said.

Source: Egypt Today March 14, 2018 02:26 UTC