(AFP Photo/ Frederick Florin)
The European parliament on Thursday passed a resolution calling on the European Union to take action regarding Egypt in light of various infringements on rights of the press and expression.
The resolution called on the EU to ban the export of all “intrusion and surveillance technologies” citing possible use “to spy on and repress citizens”, and an additional ban on security equipment and military aid to Egypt “that could be used in the suppression of peaceful protest”.
Thursday’s resolution also urged the Egyptian government to “immediately and unconditionally release all those detained, convicted and/or sentenced solely for peacefully exercising their rights to freedoms of expression and association”.
The EU parliament also expressed its “deepest concern” over a number of court cases, including the sentencing of Al-Jazeera journalists and mass death sentences, calling upon the Egyptian judiciary “to ensure that all court proceedings in the country meet the requirements of free and fair trial and independent and impartial investigations into all allegations of ill-treatment and ensure all detainees have access to any medical attention they may require.”
It added “the judiciary cannot be used as an instrument of political persecution and repression.”
The European parliament also called for Egyptian authorities to repeal or amend the controversial Protest Law and review the proposed bill for the regulation of non-governmental organisations to fall in line with Egypt’s international obligations.
The resolution also called in the Egyptian government to continue taking steps to combat sexual harassment and assault.
The parliament further demanded that the authorities release all those arrested on the basis of sexual orientation and to cease “criminalising LGBT people for expressing their sexual orientation and for assembly using the ‘debauchery law’”.
The resolution called on EU countries to support another resolution on the situation in Egypt at the next session of the United Nations Human Rights Council to initiate “an international investigation into the killings of protesters and allegations of torture and ill-treatment by security forces over the past year.”
