Can national human rights institutions make a difference? Discourse, accountability, and the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights

Drawing from studies on national human rights institutions anchored in accountability perceptions, this article examines the role of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights as a producer of a human rights discourse and as a platform for human rights advocacy in the fluctuating political environment created by the country’s 2011 revolution. Analyzing the council’s discourse as represented in its reports, recommendations, and media presence, it is argued that the council has failed to disengage from its past and to provide a discursive public space for the government and society to communicate, negotiate, and contest human rights violations. The experience of the council in Egypt indicates that the effectiveness of national institutions for human rights is not merely a product of their mandate and powers but is influenced significantly by the local context, which can lead them to restrict their discourse and turn them into a force normalizing human rights violations.