Egypt’s government has vowed to reform the country’s police force by enforcing new laws to curb its authority and regulate individual policemen’s daily interactions with citizens, Prime Minister Sherif Ismail announced on Monday. “Regarding the introduction of legislative reforms necessary to regulate the relationship between the police and citizens…we have agreed that these reforms will be prepared at the earliest chance,” Ismail said at a joint press conference with Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar. According to Ismail, the reform bill will be drafted within two weeks and presented to the House of Representatives for approval. He also said that any incidents of violations will not be met with complacency and that the police force is committed to upholding citizens’ rights. “If there are some assaults by some individuals, they are held accountable to [those actions] but it is important not to blame the entire apparatus for the actions of an individual,” the premier added. On his part, Abdel Ghaffar said that the Ministry of Interior will enhance its oversight of the police’s interactions with civilians and will also improve the training of all policemen to “equip the apparatus [with the skills] necessary to face all…
