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MOTION FOR A RESOLUTION (2020/2912(RSP))

On the deteriorating situation of human rights in Egypt, in particular the case of the activists of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

B-9-2020-0430

on behalf of the Renew Group · Rapporteur: JanChristoph Oetjen, María Soraya Rodríguez Ramos, Petras Auštrevičius, Malik Azmani, Izaskun Bilbao Barandica, Dita Charanzová, Olivier Chastel, Klemen Grošelj, Bernard Guetta, Svenja Hahn, Karin Karlsbro, Moritz Körner, Ilhan Kyuchyuk, Frédérique Ries, Nicolae Ştefănuță, Ramona Strugariu, Hilde Vautmans

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Parliament's resolution condemns the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt and the arrests of Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) activists Gasser Abdel Razek, Karim Ennarah and Mohammad Basheer after meeting European diplomats. It urges Egypt to drop all charges, end harassment and revoke travel bans and asset freezes against them and EIPR founder Hossam Bahgat, and to release EIPR researcher Patrick Zaki and all arbitrarily detained people. It deplores Egypt's crackdown on civil society, the use of counter-terrorism laws, mass trials, executions and violence against women, and calls for a moratorium on the death penalty and a law on violence against women. It calls on the EU and member states to review relations with Egypt, set human rights benchmarks, consider targeted sanctions against officials, halt exports of surveillance technology and press for a UN monitoring mechanism.

Key points

  1. Parliament is outraged at the arrests of EIPR activists Gasser Abdel Razek, Karim Ennarah and Mohammad Basheer after their meeting with European diplomats, and welcomes their provisional release.
  2. It urges Egypt to drop all charges, end harassment and intimidation against them and Hossam Bahgat, and revoke travel bans and asset freezes against them and EIPR.
  3. It regrets that Patrick Zaki, an EIPR researcher and Erasmus student, remains detained since early 2020 and that his detention was renewed for another 45 days on 6 December 2020 on terrorism charges.
  4. It deplores Egypt's crackdown on human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, protesters, trade unionists, students, children, women's rights activists, LGBTI people, political opponents and civil society, and calls for an independent investigation into all violations.
  5. It reiterates calls for the immediate and unconditional release of named arbitrarily detained people, including Mohamed Ibrahim, Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ramy Kamel and Sanaa Seif.
  6. It stresses that arrests are part of a pattern of intimidation and restrictions on freedom of expression, association and assembly, and urges Egypt to amend or repeal abusive counter-terrorism legislation.
  7. It calls on Egypt to ensure detainees' treatment follows UN principles, allow access to families, lawyers and medical care, and investigate ill-treatment or torture allegations.
  8. It expresses concern about overcrowded detention during the COVID-19 pandemic, calls for decongestion and independent access to Tora prison, and denounces repression of medical workers.
  9. It deplores the rise in executions, rejects the death penalty, and calls on Egypt to declare a moratorium with a view to abolition and ensure fair trials.
  10. It calls on Egypt to adopt a comprehensive law on violence against women and a national strategy to enforce laws against sexual violence, and to stop persecution of women for 'violation of moral'.
  11. It reminds Egypt that respect for human rights is an essential element of EU-Egypt relations and urges the VP/HR to publicly express concerns over the human rights situation.
  12. It calls on the EU and member states to respond unified to the crackdown, set up a UN monitoring mechanism, consider targeted sanctions against Egyptian officials, review budget support, set human rights benchmarks for cooperation, and halt exports of surveillance technology.

Who is affected

  • Egyptian authorities, who are urged to release detainees, drop charges, end harassment, reform laws and allow monitoring.
  • EIPR activists Gasser Abdel Razek, Karim Ennarah, Mohammad Basheer and Hossam Bahgat, whose charges, travel bans and asset freezes Parliament wants lifted.
  • Patrick Zaki, an EIPR researcher and Erasmus student, whose release Parliament demands.
  • EU institutions and member states, which are asked to review relations with Egypt, consider sanctions and halt exports of surveillance technology.
  • Egyptian civil society, human rights defenders, journalists and academics, who face crackdown and whom Parliament supports.

Figures and deadlines

  • 3 November 2020: meeting of EIPR activists with 13 foreign ambassadors and diplomats, after which they were arrested.
  • 15 and 19 November 2020: period when three EIPR activists were arrested and charged with terrorism and national security offences.
  • 3 December 2020: date the three EIPR activists were granted bail and released while keeping charges.
  • 6 December 2020: date an Egyptian court upheld a prosecutor's decision to freeze their assets.
  • 7 February 2020: date Patrick Zaki was arbitrarily arrested.
  • 45 days: period for which Patrick Zaki's pre-trial detention was prolonged again.
  • Since 2016: Hossam Bahgat has been banned from travelling outside Egypt.
  • At least 110 people executed in Egypt in 2020, with 66 since 3 October 2020; at least 39 people at risk of imminent execution.