The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) condemns the use of violence during and after the events that have just unfolded in Egypt. Although violence ought to be condemned, regardless of the perpetrator, the EMHRN nevertheless holds law enforcement agents particularly responsible for their excessive use of force but also the duty to preserve human lives and prevent violence.
This duty has obviously not been the main concern for those in charge of restoring public order even though they could not have been unaware of tragic practices acquired over decades of dictatorship as well as the assaults by members of the Muslim Brotherhood, especially against their opponents and the Copts in Egypt
These events could be foreseen. The fact that the Muslim Brothers and President Morsi attempted to exert control over all levels of state power brought about a legitimate popular reaction. The Armed forces used this movement as a levier in a perspective to maintain the army’s role in the Egyptian institutions.
Rejecting the Muslim Brothers’ dominance over all the institutions has therefore been followed by a return to power of the military. The bloodbath that has just taken place together with the reinstatement of a state of emergency, that was never really lifted, the use of violence by the Muslim Brotherhood, bears witness to the immense difficulties that Egypt is facing on its quest to democracy.
An independent, credible investigation must be conducted so as to shed light over these events and the responsibilities incurred ever since the fall of the Mubarak regime. This investigation must also pave the way towards a genuine process of transitional justice covering the years of dictatorship as well as the current period.
The EMHRN demands yet again that the right to peaceful assembly and demonstration be restored, the end of sham trials and that the army’s role is limited to defending the integrity of Egyptian soil.
Only a political solution with new election to be held shortly, the guarantee of all civil and political rights, will enable Egypt to engage again with democracy.
EMHRN calls on the European Union and its Member States to encourage a process of this nature by maintaining their support to the democratic forces and the civil society in Egypt.