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Egyptians for Democracy UK: Al-Sisi's promotion and bid for presidency further blow to democracy in Egypt

March 10, 2014 at 3:32 pm

Egyptians for Democracy UK (EDUK) are shocked by the Egyptian Military Council’s statement on Monday January 27, which promoted General Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to field marshal and mandated his bid for presidency.


The EDUK considers this to be another blow to the path of the January 25 Revolution which aimed to establish a civilian government. It also places a huge responsibility on those defending democracy across the world to protect the Egyptian people from the excesses and grave violations perpetrated by the coup leaders since July 3, 2013. These violations undermined political life in Egypt; claimed the lives of thousands of Egyptians and continue to signal an impending humanitarian disaster.

The EDUK condemns this step as undemocratic and offensive to the Egyptian people. It also constitutes a violation of international military codes.

We are also appalled by the political killings of civil society activists following this development.

We fully reject this move and consider it a stab in the back of the January 25 Revolution martyrs. We view the silence of the international community with suspicion and shock. This includes the stance of the United Nations, the UN Security Council, and the European Union towards the unprecedented human rights violations, premeditated killings of opposition activists, the continued bloody military coup against the democratic path chosen by Egyptians in free and fair elections, and the kidnapping of the democratically elected president. While the international community criticises some governments for confronting protesters with sticks, it has not condemned the killing of peaceful protesters in Egypt with live bullets.

It is even more appalling that the promotion of the coup commander in Egypt and his nomination for presidency coincides with the trial of the democratically-elected President, Mohamed Morsi, on trumped-up charges and in the midst of a political crackdown against those advocating a democratic path.

We reiterate our praise for the stance of the African Union which suspended Egypt’s military-installed government’s membership. We call on the African Summit, in Addis Ababa, to continue to support the democratic path in Egypt and to reject military coups in Egypt and elsewhere. Finally, we appeal to the international community, led by the UN Secretary General and the UN Security Council to fulfill their responsibilities towards the unprecedented crimes against humanity perpetrated in Egypt under the auspices of military coup leaders.