- EGYPT
- October 10, 2016
- 5 minutes read
Statement by “Stop Executions in Egypt” Campaign
The approaching 10th of October marks the fourteenth anniversary of the World Day Against the Death Penalty.Egypt recorded record highs in the death penalty;unprecedented in the history of Egyptian judiciary, rather, in the entire world when it comes to death penalties passed to political dissent.
On this day, the United Nations consistently calls for an end to death penalties in the whole world, and in this context, Egyptians for Democracy in the United Kingdom campaigns to draw the attention of the world to the political situation in Egypt and how the death penalty is used as arepressive measure practiced against political dissent. The United Nations stands at equal distance in regards to its stance from the death penalty, regardless of whether the death penalty agrees with the values and cultures of the different communities. Even though the death penalty in Egypt does not breach the constitution nor the laws, the coup authorities have been using it since the 3rd of July 2013 military coup as a means of political revenge and elimination and hence is a breach of Egyptian rules and regulations.
During the hundred years prior to the military coup in July 2013, the number of death sentences passed totaled to 1429 verdicts, whereas post the military coup, in a period of over two years, Egyptian courts passed in 32 cases a total of 1763 death penalties for reference to the Mufti – a step that precedes the official death penalty – resulting so far in 729 official death penalties, which is an alarming figure. The trials that took place lacked basic standards of a fair trial, and hence when current Egyptian authorities executed 7 Egyptians, there was unequivocal condemnations and requests to suspend executions from the international community and human rights organizations.
Based on the abovementioned, Egyptians for Democracy in the United Kingdom calls on all activists, political forces, human rights organizations, the Human Rights Council of the United Nations and all the countries and governments of the world, to work on the following:
– Suspend the implementation of the death penalty for the time being.
– The immediate release of all political prisoners, starting with children and women, the elderly and the ill.
– To ensure international standards of fair trial in Egyptian courts and to provide legal guarantees for those accused, including their lawyers.
– To spread the culture of human rights in Egyptian society so it becomes a spirit force at all stages of litigation.
– To renounce hatred, violence and their incitement – especially in the media – and the common pursuit of a just society, dominated by respect for human rights.
Egyptians for Democracy UK
