09/04/2017 President
Pedro Agramunt, the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), expressed today his condolences to the victims of the two blasts in the Coptic Churches in Tanta and in Alexandria, Egypt. "I strongly condemn these heinous attacks against innocent people," he said.
The Parliamentary Assembly had warned about the threats against humanity posed by the terrorist group known as "IS", and, namely, the violence against Christians and other religious or ethnic communities in its Resolution 2016 (2014) and Recommendation 2055 (2014).
The Assembly had urged the international community to encourage the upholding of a fair and equitable status for all citizens irrespective of their religious or ethnic origin, and to refrain from inciting religious or ethnic hatred. It encouraged the countries in the Middle East to condemn unequivocally not only deadly attacks on innocent people, in particular children and women, but also the use of violence in general, as well as all forms of discrimination and intolerance based on religion and beliefs and to collaborate in bringing to justice, without impunity, those responsible for human rights violations.
The countries in the Middle East, together with Europe and the international community in general, should firmly condemn all acts of violence and co-operate to put a stop to the ongoing persecution of Christians and other religious or ethnic communities and to bring peace to the region.