NEW YORK, Feb. 11 (UPI) -- The arrest of several members of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt does little to advance democratic reforms, Human Rights Watch said.
Mahmoud Ezzat, the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and two senior officials in the organization were detained Monday morning. Security officials said they were participating in banned political activity.
"The arrest and detention of senior members of Egypt's most powerful opposition party strikes a blow at hopes for genuinely free elections," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch.
The organization claims the arrests are part of a broader crackdown against opposition parties ahead of parliamentary elections scheduled for November.
The Brotherhood was founded in 1928, becoming one of the founding organizations advocating militant Islam. It renounced violence, however, in the 1970s, though a splinter group later went on to join al-Qaida.
HRW said at least 25 members of the movement remain behind bars without charge. The rights group called on Cairo to charge or release detained members of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Egypt operates under an emergency law declared decades ago. The measure places restrictions on certain political freedoms.
Members of the Muslim Brotherhood won 20 percent of the seats in 2005 parliamentary elections running as independent candidates because they are banned from politics.
