Alliance of Legitimacy condemns violence and calls for investigation into human rights abuses

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy in Egypt has condemned the violence and human rights abuses by the state in a meeting with US officials in Cairo. A delegation of former ministers and human rights activists acting on behalf of the alliance met with William Burns, America’s Assistant Secretary of State, on Saturday in the presence of the US Ambassador and a representative of the EU at Mr Burns’ invitation.

In a statement released after the meeting, the alliance delegation revealed that it had pointed out to Burns that Secretary of State John Kerry’s recent support for the coup is “a clear violation of constitutional legitimacy recognised by democratic states.” The group also made clear that it refused to accept foreign interference in Egypt’s internal affairs, while welcoming international respect for democratic principles and rejection of military coups and massacres of demonstrators.

Confirming its position in support of constitutional legitimacy, which provides for the return of President Mohamed Morsi and related institutions, the alliance insisted that the anti-coup protests are peaceful in nature and intent. “We condemn the human rights violations by state agencies in the past few weeks as well as the criminal attacks against security forces in the Sinai,” said the delegation’s statement. “The alliance remains open to visits by independent international human rights groups to check the protests in the squares to make sure that there are no weapons present.”

The statement also welcomed any political solutions to the crisis in Egypt based on constitutional legitimacy and a rejection of the coup. In closing, the alliance called for a neutral investigation into human rights abuses, including limits on freedom of speech and the closure of media outlets.