In a statement on Monday, the Cairo-based Land Center for Human Rights called on Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to suspend Egypt's longstanding emergency law, release detained political activists, allow the formation of independent political parties and trade unions, and address the underlying economic and political causes of social unrest.
In its statement, the group stressed that these problems served to "threaten the country with chaos." It also asserted that Egyptian government officials were responsible for "looting the country, restricting freedoms and promoting corruption and tyranny."
The statement concluded by noting that steadily rising prices, the privatization of state assets, the laying off of workers, and the expulsion of farmers from the land had led to the deterioration of citizens' overall standard of living.
In mid-2010, the Egyptian government extended Egypt's longstanding emergency law for another two years, while vowing that the law would only be applied to cases of drug dealing and terrorism. The law grants enormous powers to state security services, which, say rights groups, often commit violations with impunity.
The emergency law was first imposed in 1981 following the assassination of former president Anwar Sadat.
Translated from the Arabic Edition.
