EU’s Commitment to Human Rights in Egypt Rings Hollow

The deadly dispersal of gatherings in al-Nahdaand Rabaa al-Adawiya squares in Cairo marked a grim milestone in a long historyof crackdown on dissenting voices, including civil society, peaceful protestersand human rights defenders (HRDs). This particular event has been describedby the EU as disproportionate and resulting in an “unacceptable largenumber of deaths and injuries”. The denial of entry tothe Executive Director and the Middle East and North Africa director of HumanRights Watch (HRW) is only the most recent example of the government’s policyin this regard. The HRW delegation was to brief diplomats and journalists inCairo on the findings of a report on the bloody dispersals of thesedemonstrations.

One year on, impunity prevails as authorities have failed to hold officials,police and army officers accountable for the repeated use of excessive force. The EU has called onthe Egyptian interim government “to act on its promise and complete atransparent and independent investigation”, but this has not been accompaniedby meaningful measures. Although a national fact-finding committee was created, its work is opaque andits findings will not be made public. Furthermore, Egyptian authorities havenot yet allowed relevant UN special procedures mandate-holders, such as the special rapporteurs onindependence of judges and lawyers, human rights defenders, and the workinggroup on arbitrary detention to visit the country.

After decades of tacit support to dictators upholding impunity, the EUtried to review its SouthMediterranean policy following the Arab Uprisings. However it has failed totranslate words into a coherent, principled policy and returned to favouringshort-term interest instead of human rights and accountability.

EU-Egypt cooperation: words but no deeds

Since the Egyptian uprising of 25 January 2011, theEU has been trying to establish itself as a key player in helping Egypt’stransition to democracy. However, it has failed to develop and maintain acoherent and consistent policy on human rights and democratisation in itsrelation with Egypt. In its public diplomacy, the EU has reiterated the need touphold human rights, but it was nevertheless ready to accommodate theauthorities’ violations of international human rights commitments. As respect ofhuman rights is conducive to stability, this is the benchmark on which we assessEU-Egypt relations.

The EU’s Foreign Affairs Council (FAC), charged with forging a common positionof the 28 EU member states on external relations, has adopted two sets ofconclusions since last summer. In its conclusions of August 2013, theEU called for the full respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms, “guaranteedby the rule of law and protected by a fully empowered civilian government”. Inlight of this, the EU interrupted most of its direct funding to the Egyptiangovernment, suspended the export of any equipment that could be used for internalrepression and agreed to review its security assistance to Egypt. Assistance inthe socio-economic sector and to civil society has continued, also throughdirect grants to the Egyptian government. The EU stated that it “will monitorthe situation in Egypt closely and readjust its cooperation accordingly”.

The secondset of FAC conclusions of February 2014 welcomed that“the new Constitution enshrines human rights and fundamental freedoms,including freedom of expression, assembly and women's rights. Existing andfuture national legislation has to be in full compliance and implemented inline with the Constitution and international standards. (…) The Constitutionshould be applied in a way that ensures full civilian control over all branchesof government, and civilians should be tried in civilian courts at all times”.All these concerns were reiterated in the EU’s progress report onEgypt published in March 2014.

In June 2013, the European Court of Auditors published a report on EUaid to Egypt, the full version of which has been regretfully removed from theirwebsite. The report recommended to the European External Action Service and EuropeanCommission (EC), to prioritise human rights and democracy in Egypt, and developan intensive dialogue on them with the Egyptian authorities, as well as to applyconditionality rigorously in relation to human rights and “deep democracy”. Subsequently,the EU tasked the HighRepresentative Catherine Ashton and the European Commission, to “reviewthe issue of EU assistance to Egypt under the European Neighbourhood Policy andthe Association Agreement on the basis of Egypt's commitment to the principlesthat underpin them”. So far, the EU has not reported publicly on theimplementation of these recommendations. Moreover, it has been reported that directcooperation would resume as soon as Egypt’spolitical roadmap is implemented.

Against the background of repression, massdeath sentences, impunity and proven incapacity to face the previous trade liberalisations, the EU and Egypt began a dialogue in June 2013 on how to deepen further trade and investment, with a focus onpossible negotiations of a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement. To accompany the negotiation process, the EU has launched a sustainabilityimpact assessment (SIA), to ensure that the trade agreements are notharmful to human rights abroad (see the EU’s own guidance and Handbook forTrade Sustainability Impact Assessment). Non-GovernmentalOrganisations (NGOs) asked the EC to postpone the SIA, denouncing several shortcomings inthe way the study was carried out, and insisted that the current context inEgypt is not conducive to a comprehensive and participatory assessment of the humanrights situation. However, the assessment has continued, and the final reportis due on 2 September 2014.

HRDs and draft law on associations: EU’s deafening silence

Despite the documentation of numerous cases of harassed and jailed HRDs,including prominent activists such as Mr Alaa AbdelFattah, Ms Yara Sallam, Ms Sanaa Seif and Ms Mahienour El Masry, aswell as the fact that women HRDs have been identifiedas a priority by the EU, the latter has been silent in the face oftheir repression. In April, the EU High Representative visitedEgypt, but according to publicly available information, the situation of HRDs wasnot on the agenda of discussions with Egyptian officials. Yet on23 June 2014 the EU congratulateditself for its implementation of the guidelines onhuman rights defenders on their 10thanniversary, stating that the EU's policy on HRDs has become “more effectiveand coherent since the adoption of the Guidelines” and that the EU would “intensify its political and material support to humanrights defenders”. This shows a clear disconnect between EU’sprinciples and discourse and its actions.

The EU has remained silent in the face ofever-increasing restrictions and hurdles preventing NGOs from working in Egypt.The government’s latest measures to hamper the exercise of freedom ofassociation by NGOs is a very repressive draft law on NGOs that could be adopted soon. On 18 July, theEgyptian Ministry of Social Affairs published a notification requiring allexisting civil society entities to register as NGOs within a period of 45 daysunder the threat of dissolution.

Election observation: a murky business

Since last summer, the EU has been following closely the electoralprocess. An election observation mission (EOM) was deployed around Egypt’sDecember 2013 constitutional referendum, which was conducted in an environment lackingdemocratic and pluralistic debate. The results of this EOM werenever published, but EU High Representative stated thatalleged irregularities “do not appear to have fundamentally affected theoutcome” and welcomed the fact that the new Constitution enshrined fundamentalrights and freedoms. She noted that the legislation would have to be incompliance with the new Constitution and expected its application in a way thatwould give full effect to civilian pre-eminence.

The EU deployed a fully-fledged EOM to observe the May 2014 presidentialelections. The final report of the EOM was delivered on 22 July, and commendablyincluded a number of important human rights recommendations. However, it statedthat these should be “long term measures,” in spite of the rapid deteriorationof human rights. Moreover, the report stated that the protest law should bereviewed “in the long term’’, despite its blatant violation of international human rights standards. TheEOM added that “consideration should be given” to legal reforms to ensure that“judicial decisions do not unreasonably restrict the participation of politicaland civil society stakeholders in public life”. In particular, the EU notesthat detention without charge should be curtailed, the right to due processshould be respected and civilians should not be tried in military courts. Allthese issues should be a priority for Egypt, not long-term goals.

In light ofthis, we urge the EU and its member states to significantlyreinforce the coherence and consistency of its human rights and democracypolicy in its relation with Egypt and in particular:

- Continue to monitor the human rightssituation in Egypt through its embassies and delegations on the ground,including the cases of HRDs, and publicly condemn human rights violations;

- Call upon the Egyptian authorities towithdraw and review the draft law on associations;

- Continue trial observation by EUrepresentatives in Cairo, in particular for cases of HRDs and journalists, andcommunicate publicly thereof;

- Call upon the Egyptian judicialauthorities to respect fundamental freedoms including the right to fair trialin accordance with international standards, and immediately release alldetained HRDs;

- Publicly remind Egyptian authoritiesthat the EU’s level and scope of engagement is conditioned by the country'sprogress on human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, in accordance withthe European Neighbourhood’s Policy and its “more-for-more” principle;

- Ahead of launching officialnegotiations on the EU-Egypt Free Trade Agreement, require authorities to takethe necessary measures to ensure that trade may effectively benefit humanrights. In the meantime, the EU should postpone the next phases of the SIA untilEgypt regains political stability and gives assurances that NGOs andstakeholders can participate in the consultation process without interference. Ahuman rights impact assessment should determine if the context allows partiesto conclude an agreement without impeding the capacity of individuals to enjoy their rights or the capacity of State (and non-state actors, where relevant) to meettheir human rights obligations;

- Banthe export of surveillance technologies that could be used to spy on andrepress citizens and uphold the ban on the export of security equipment ormilitary aid which might be used for internal repression;

- Asrequested by the European Parliament and the European Court of Auditors,clarify the specific measures which were taken in response to the decisions ofthe EU Foreign Affairs Council to review EU assistance to Egypt;

- Leadefforts on a resolution on the human rights situation in Egypt at the nextsession of the UN Human Rights Council.

For further information, please contact:

· EMHRN: Nicole Lambert : + 32 471 39 35 28

· FIDH: Audrey Couprie: +33 6 48 05 91 57

· OMCT: Currun Singh: + 41 22 809 49 39