For a firm condemnation of the repression in Egypt

Written declaration No. 725 | Doc. 15338 | 08 October 2021

Signatories:

Mr Simon MOUTQUIN, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Sibel ARSLAN, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Pedro BACELAR DE VASCONCELOS, Portugal, SOC ; Ms Petra BAYR, Austria, SOC ; Mr Fourat BEN CHIKHA, Belgium, SOC ; Ms Laura CASTEL, Spain, UEL ; Mr Jeremy CORBYN, United Kingdom, SOC ; Ms Edite ESTRELA, Portugal, SOC ; Mr Pierre-Alain FRIDEZ, Switzerland, SOC ; Mr Gerardo GIOVAGNOLI, San Marino, SOC ; Ms Gabriela HEINRICH, Germany, SOC ; Ms Marietta KARAMANLI, France, SOC ; Mr Kimmo KILJUNEN, Finland, SOC ; Ms Bisera KOSTADINOVSKA-STOJCHEVSKA, North Macedonia, SOC ; Ms Stephanie KRISPER, Austria, ALDE ; Mr Christophe LACROIX, Belgium, SOC ; Mr Pere LÓPEZ, Andorra, SOC ; Mr Givi MIKANADZE, Georgia, SOC ; Mr Stefan SCHENNACH, Austria, SOC ; Mr Frank SCHWABE, Germany, SOC ; Ms Tamar TALIASHVILI, Georgia, SOC

This written declaration does not reflect the position of the Assembly; only of those members that have signed it. It will not be considered further by the Assembly.

We, the undersigned, declare the following:

For several months now, we have seen a clear erosion of human rights and the rule of law in Egypt.

An accumulation of repressive legislation has been adopted to facilitate and justify the closure of public space. Thousands of dissenting voices are now imprisoned to silence any protest.

The regime arbitrarily adds detained opponents to the Egyptian "terrorist list", thus making it possible to justify heavy sentences, including death sentences, without evidence or due process. The rate of executions accelerated impressively in 2020.

We are also concerned about the risks posed by the severe overcrowding of the prison system to the lives of inmates, especially in times of a pandemic.

We therefore strongly condemn the brutal repression orchestrated by the regime of President Al Sisi.

We call on the Egyptian Government to end systematic human rights violations against those detained.

We call on Council of Europe member States to act for the unconditional and immediate release of all political prisoners held in Egypt and to consider, if necessary, the imposition of sanctions against Egyptian officials.