Brussels, 10/07/2013 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 10 July, NGO members and politicians called on the EU to take action to help Egypt.
During a conference at the European Parliament and live from Cairo, the head of the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information, Gamal Eid, wondered if the EU was going “to put the rule of law and human rights above economic interests”. With Egyptians having limited trust in Europeans, Eid said that, if Europe no longer proves its trust, then it must not demand benchmarks. “The first request of all the human rights non-governmental organisations is for the international community to ensure the rule of law”, said Ziad Abdel Tawab, the deputy head of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies. In his opinion, the EU's economic aid ought to continue, but conditionally. “We have not seen a very effective European neighbourhood policy over the last five years”, he said, adding that human rights and democracy issues must be the priorities. The EU must push for independent inquiries into the violence, so that the perpetrators are held accountable and so that power is returned to civilians, he added.
Former MP and member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party, Ziad El-Elaimy, said he is concerned that the armed forces continue to intervene in Egyptian political life. He wants the army to withdraw its troops from the streets and “resume its former original responsibilities far from the political sphere”.
Underlining that the Muslim Brotherhood must be part of the dialogue, Tawab said that the international community - particularly a country like Turkey - can put pressure on them to make them agree to enter into dialogue. In the view of Priyanka Motaparthy from Human Rights Watch, the international community must respond to the political retaliation. The arrests of the Muslim Brotherhood continue.
A founder of the Tamarod movement, Hassan Shahin, said that a government is now needed that represents the whole political spectrum, to amend the constitution and then to organise the presidential and parliamentary elections “but not before having constitutional amendments”. (CG/transl.fl)