Fact-checking Egypt’s history on human rights

Egyptians took to the streets over the weekend to protest the authoritarian rule of President Hosni Mubarak and urge him to step down. The Egyptian ambassador to the United States, Sameh Shoukry, appeared on This Week with Christiane Amanpour to discuss the situation.

Amanpour, reporting from Cairo, asked the ambassador how long Mubarak would “continue to tolerate this number of people in the streets?”

Shoukry replied, “From the outset, the freedom of expression had been guaranteed. Egypt has been on a road of economic, political, democratic reform for the last 20 years or more, and it has achieved great strides in that regard. Freedom of expression, freedom of the press had been evolving and advancing with very important strides. I believe, in the president’s speech, he indicated that there would be a guarantee of the freedom and ability of all Egyptians to express their points of view in a peaceful manner.”

We fact-checked whether the Egypt has made “great strides” for political and democratic reform. We rated the ambassador’s statement False; read our complete report for details.