The signature of the Egyptian government of the EU-Egypt European Neighborhood Policy Action Plan was supposed to contribute towards concrete steps being taken towards fostering democracy and human rights in Egypt; however, the situation on the ground in 2007 – the year in which the Action Plan was approved – witnessed further retrogression that was noted in the European Parliament resolution of January 2008. The resolution described 2007 as a year of dramatic deterioration of human rights in Egypt. This deterioration can be seen in the sharp reaction of the Egyptian authorities that reached the extent of considering the resolution adopted by the European Parliament as an intervention in Egypt's internal affairs effecting its sovereignty.

The second training workshop on “International and Regional Mechanisms for Human Rights” has been held at the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) for 8 days from the 28th of March to the 4th of April 2008. The training workshop involved a total of 20 lawyers, NGO activists and human rights defenders from Egypt, with the participation of a Yemeni human rights activist. This is the second workshop on the topic of International and Regional human rights mechanisms organized at CIHRS since February 2008.

(The Hague, April 27, 2008) One year after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for two war crimes suspects in Darfur, human rights organizations around the world are launching a “Justice for Darfur” campaign, calling for the two to be arrested.
The organizations behind the campaign, including Amnesty International, Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Human Rights First, Human Rights Watch and Sudan Organization Against Torture, have joined forces to call on the United Nations Security Council, regional organisations and individual governments to press Sudan to cooperate with the ICC.

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies CIHRS and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights EIPR have jointly made an oral intervention before the United Nations Human Rights Council.

The intervention made by Mr. Hossam Bahgat, Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights referred to the controversy stemming from some forms of expression which are found to be offensive to the religious feelings or beliefs of others. In this context, Mr. Bahgat expressed condemnation of incidents of "deliberate stereotyping and stigmatization" of certain minorities or groups, which lead to the incitement of discrimination, hostility or violence against them. These incidents" Mr. Bahgat asserted, "are not conducive to the creation of truly pluralist, divers, tolerant and inclusive societies". However, the intervention also expressed great concern regarding the growing trend by governments to capitalize on “contempt of religions” to impose further restrictions on freedom of expression

The undersigned human rights organizations confirmed their total rejection of the document of "organizing space & radio broadcasting" which was declared by Arab ministers of information on February 12, 2008. Human rights organizations said that the suggested document which contains 12 articles, is full of ambiguous statements that impose new restrictions on freedom of expression on the Arab space channels and it is worthless without the affirmation of the Arabian parliaments.

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) published a new book, in English, which contains thorough reports on the activities accomplished in the program on Freedom of Opinion and Expression across Cultures. This program, which is an initiative from the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies in collaboration with the Euro-Mediterranean Network for Human Rights, Article 19 Organization, the Moroccan Organization for Human Rights and the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies, lasted for six months with the cooperation of a number of Arab and International organizations.