UK urged to address Egyptian human rights record

An Egyptian human rights watchdog has urged the British Parliament and the Foreign Affairs Select Committee members to raise the issues of the lack of transparency and violations of human rights with the Egyptian parliamentary delegation that is visiting the UK this week.

In a letter to the UK Parliament, the Egyptian Revolutionary Council (ERC) has highlighted that Egypt’s coup government is brutally oppressing the Egyptian people, imposing a complete crackdown on civil and political dissent and lacks transparency and the rule of law.

“The ERC urged the UK parliament to bring up highly controversial and discriminatory laws such as the Civil Society Law and the Church Building Law, and to discuss the case of the Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa, whose trial was adjourned for the 16th time in violation of both international and Egyptian law, and who was imprisoned as a minor,” they said in a press release.

An Egyptian delegation including 12 members of parliament affiliated with the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee landed in London on Sunday to discuss Anglo-Egyptian relations and the status of political Islam and the Muslim Brotherhood in the Middle Eastern and North Africa.