MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION on Egypt: Recent Developments
14.2.2012
pursuant to Rule 122 of the Rules of Procedure
Fiorello Provera, Bastiaan Belder, Rolandas Paksas, Lorenzo Fontana, Juozas Imbrasas on behalf of the EFD Group
B7‑0077/2012
European Parliament resolution on Egypt: Recent Developments
The European Parliament,
– having regard to its previous resolutions on Egypt of 17 November 2011 and of 27 October 2011,
– having regard to the EU-Egypt Association Agreement,
– having regard to the UN Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and of Discrimination based on Religion and Belief of 1981,
– having regard to the statement by the High Representative, Catherine Ashton, of 2 February 2012 on the football tragedy in Egypt and of 1 February 2012, on the continued crackdown on civil society,
– having regard to the European Council Conclusions on Egypt of 1 December 2011,
– having regard to Articles 14(1) and 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966, to which Egypt is a party,
– having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,
– having regard to the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders,
- having regard to Rule 122 of its Rules of Procedures,
A. whereas since the ousting of President Hosni Mubarak in February 2011 Egypt remains in a state of lawlessness and political uncertainty, faces high unemployment rising food prices and a fall in foreign investment;
B. whereas in the lower house of the Egyptian Parliament, the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party took 47 percent of seats and the Salafist al-Nour party won 25 percent of the seats, putting Islamists in charge of seventy percent of the People's Assembly;
C. whereas in early February protesters who demanded a swift presidential election and a handover by the military fought with police outside the Interior Ministry, in which they accuse of failing to prevent the deaths last week of 74 people after a soccer match in the Mediterranean city of Port Said;
D. whereas 43 NGO workers face a criminal trial on charges of accepting funds from international organizations, and accused of carrying out political training, illegally financing individuals and election campaigns; Egypt's military-backed prime minister, Kamal el-Ganzouri, announced Egypt will not halt its crackdown on foreign-funded non-profit groups despite what he called threats by Western and Arab countries to cut off aid,
E. whereas Egyptian actor Adel Imam was accused of insulting Islam, mocking authorities and politicians has received a three-month jail sentence for insulting Islam in films and plays,
F. whereas Egypt Coptic population continues to be targeted, as on January 26, two Copts were killed by unknown gunmen in Upper Egypt and in October 2011, at least twenty four people were killed and 224 injured in clashes that erupted between Copts and Muslims in Cairo following an attack by radical Islamists on a church in Aswan province and attacks against the community has led to the departure of 100,000 Christians from Egypt,
G. whereas on February 3, two American tourists and a Bedouin guide were kidnapped in the Sinai town of Saint Catherine and previously twenty five Chinese workers were kidnapped and on February 8, two employees from the German embassy in Cairo were arrested in the governorate of Markaz, after they were accused of entering the site and taking pictures of the planned nuclear reactor of El-Dabaa and were late transferred to Cairo to face "spying charges",
H. whereas human rights and democracy organizations are required to register under the 2002 Associations Law and must seek permission from the Ministry of Solidarity and Social Justice,
I. whereas on February 5, an explosion hit a gas pipeline running from Egypt to Israel, which has been attacked 12 times since Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was toppled in February 2011, in October 2011, the Egyptian security officials arrested five small groups of smugglers, and dozens of armaments have crossed the Libyan border heading for supplying the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip,
1. Express its serious concern for the deterioration of fundamental freedoms and rule of law, in particular the right to a due process, since the ousting of President Mubarak;
2. Regrets the findings of a recent report published by the International Bar Association, which documents serious deficiencies in the rule of law and the arbitrary convictions of several key figures of the former regime;
3. Urges the Egyptian authorities to drop without delay the charges against the forty three human rights activists and desist in its policies of intimidating civil society actors and human rights defenders; stresses the importance of civil society in any democratic society as well as of freedom of expression and media plurality;
4. Calls for a thorough review of the EU support to the Egyptian government under the European Neighbourhood programme and insists on the possibility to freeze EU financial aid if Egyptian authorities fail to take swift steps to improve the respect for the most basic principles of the rule of law and to respect religious freedom;
5. Considers strengthening regional stability in the Mediterranean as crucial to preventing migration flows into Europe;
6. Calls on the Egyptian government to establish a restorative justice forum, such as a truth and reconciliation commission and requests the HR/VP to allocate sufficient resources to a comprehensive programme of judicial and legal reform, based on the fundamental principles of judicial independence, the rule of law and due process;
7. Insists on the necessity that the transition process should be carried out in compliance with Egypt's obligations under international law and Egypt's international commitments, namely the peace agreement with the State of Israel; underlines that the EU's relationship with Egypt must be based now and in the future on the Association Agreement; points out that any breach by Egypt of its international commitments will have implications on its relations with the European Union;
8. Calls on the VP/HR to step up its efforts in order to prevent the flow of illegal arms from Libya to terrorist groups and smugglers present in the Sinai Peninsula;
9. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Governments and Parliaments of the Member States and the Government of the Arab Republic of Egypt.