Brussels, 08/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 7 March, the Egyptian human rights activists Bahey El Din Hassan and Ahmed Samih, warned about the situation in their country and called on the EU to change its strategy. “The 'more for more' is very important but it has to be implemented (…) Up to now the 'more for more' has just been words and not reality”, Samih criticised, wanting the EU to wait for measures to be implemented before giving money to Egypt, and wanting the EU to put additional human rights conditions in place. “The EU is playing the game of the Egyptians with the Egyptian rules”, Samih also said, believing that the government is spurning its promises each day and that the EU accepts this.
In the view of El Din Hassin, “this is not so much a question of money”. “The EU ought to honour its values and the bilateral agreements that were made on human rights and democracy”, he said. In his opinion, the statements of High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton reflect “a lack of political vision, a lack of strategy”, “she gives the impression of going for a walk with her chequebook”. The Egyptian regime does not want to create democracy, so each European euro spent to encourage the Egyptian government to move towards democracy is only a waste, he added.
Lack of political vision. The EU should also review its assessment that Egypt is still in its “Arab Spring” period. “It's no longer the case. Now there are daily repressions, attacks against civil society and NGOs and the freedom of the media. These are not the indicators of a transition towards democracy” but an indication of the return towards the policies of the old regime. “The EU should not be seen as supporting the daily bloodshed”, he added.
Worsening of human rights. “People see the Muslim Brotherhood as an occupying power, which is sabotaging the system”, Samih warned, explaining that the Muslim Brotherhood do not only decide a political agenda but also the way in which people must dress and what they cannot do. El Din Hassan stressed the worsening of human rights in his country since the beginning of Morsi's presidency eight months ago. He underlined the repression “not only by the police but also by the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood”, and he also underlined the attacks against the independence of the judiciary. In his view, if the new law on NGOs is passed, thousands of civil society organisations will become illegal.
Samih is concerned at the situation of women and, in his opinion, in the cases of violence to women in Tahrir Square for example, “all the data are in the hands of the Egyptian authorities but no legal case has begun yet” because of a lack of political resolve. (CG/transl.fl)