The Egyptian-European Business Council, headed by parliamentarian Mohamed Aboul-Enein, strongly condemned the resolution issued by the European Parliament (EP), which manifests a clear ignorance of the human rights situation in Egypt and the positive developments it has witnessed in recent years.
In an official statement on Monday, the Council said that the EP resolution deliberately overlooked the efforts of the Egyptian state as represented in the presidential pardon committee, the launch of the national dialogue, the tremendous development in economic and social rights, the implementation of the Decent Life Initiative, health initiatives, the empowerment of youth, women and the disabled, as well as the issuance of the first national strategy for human rights.
The Egyptian-European Business Council said “Instead of encouraging and welcoming these efforts, European Parliamentissued this report, which is based on false information and bears a biased and subjective view, which shows that the real goal is to employ the human rights file as a tool for political pressure on Egypt to undermine its sovereignty and influence its national decision”.
The Egyptian-European Business Council asked, “Why does the European Parliament not talk about the Decent Life initiative that improves the living standards of 60 million Egyptians in villages who have suffered years of neglect and marginalisation? and why did it not talk about millions of families in cities that were living in slums, and now their lives have changed and live in decent housing in planned areas?”
“Has the human rights situation come to be measured by the status of a few people who have been or are being tried in fair trials for their criminal offenses?” the council asked.
It also expressed its regret that this report was issued about Egypt, which enjoys close relations with the European Union, adding that there are several mechanisms at the governmental and parliamentary levels that ensure discussion of these issues so that reports can issued based on facts and not on lies.
The Council called on the European Parliament to look at the full picture, and to consider, in a comprehensive and objective way, the human rights situation in Egypt in all its civil, political, social, cultural and economic aspects.
It also said that upgrading the human rights situation is a unique evolutionary process for each country, taking into account its social and cultural character and its political and economic conditions, and that in all countries, including developed states, there are challenges facing human rights, and that Egypt has the strong political will to deal with these challenges.
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