Rights groups slam UN on planned Egypt conference

Several Egyptian rights groups are calling on a U.N. agency to rule out Egypt as the host of its conference on torture because of the country’s dismal human rights record.

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights was to hold a conference in early September on the criminalization of torture in Arab countries, in collaboration with the Egyptian government.

But earlier this week, OHCHR spokesman Rupert Colville said the conference was postponed following criticism from Egyptian rights groups. He didn’t say for when it was postponed.

Thirteen local rights groups said in a statement Wednesday that holding the conference in Egypt would contribute to the Egyptian government’s “whitewashing attempts” and urged the OHCHR to select a country where “the bare minimum of human rights is respected.”