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having regard to its previous resolutions on Egypt, in particular those of 17 July 2014 on freedom of expression and assembly in Egypt (1), of 15 January 2015 on the situation in Egypt (2), of 10 March 2016 on Egypt, notably the case of Giulio Regeni (3), of 8 February 2018 on executions in Egypt (4), and of 13 December 2018 on Egypt, notably the situation of human rights defenders (5),

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having regard to the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) conclusions on Egypt of August 2013 and February 2014,

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having regard to the EU-Egypt Association Agreement of 2001, which entered into force in 2004 and was consolidated by the Action Plan of 2007; having regard to the EU-Egypt Partnership Priorities 2017-2020, formally adopted on 25 July 2017, to the joint statement issued following the 2017 EU-Egypt Association Council, and to the joint statement on the sixth meeting of the EU-Egypt Subcommittee on Political Matters, Human Rights and Democracy in June 2019,

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having regard to the EU Item 4 Statement at the UN Human Rights Council of 19 September 2019 which mentions Egypt,

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having regard to the new EU Strategic Framework and Action Plan on Human Rights, which aims to place the protection and surveillance of human rights at the heart of all EU policies,

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having regard to the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty, on Torture, on Freedom of Expression and on Human Rights Defenders,

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having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, all of which have been ratified by Egypt,

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having regard to the statement of 27 September 2019 by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on the protests in Egypt,

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having regard to the Constitution of Egypt, notably its Articles 52 (on the prohibition of torture in all forms and types.), 73 (on freedom of assembly) and 93 (on the binding character of international human rights law),

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having regard to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights of 1981, ratified by Egypt on 20 March 1984,

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having regard to the Arab Charter on Human Rights, to which Egypt is a party,

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having regard to UN Security Council resolution 2473 (2019) adopted in June 2019 which renewed measures designed to implement the arms embargo against Libya,

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having regard to Rules 144(5) and 132(4) of its Rules of Procedure,

A.

whereas it is reported that in the past weeks the Egyptian authorities have arbitrarily arrested over 4 300 people (almost 3 000 of whom are still in pre-trial detention), including at least 114 women — and at least 111 minors according to Amnesty International and the Belady Foundation — in response to peaceful demonstrations that began on 20 September 2019; whereas excessive force was reportedly used by police and security services to disperse demonstrators;

B.

whereas the anti-government demonstrations were protesting against austerity measures, endemic government corruption and systematic repression, and were demanding the resignation of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi;

C.

whereas the recent actions by the Egyptian authorities undermine the fundamental freedoms of expression, association and assembly, which are all enshrined in the Egyptian Constitution, as well as international human rights law; whereas this forms part of a broader crackdown on civil society and fundamental rights in Egypt, notably the freedom of expression both online and offline, the freedom of association and assembly, political pluralism and the rule of law;

D.

whereas the Egyptian authorities have continued to crack down on peaceful democratic opposition parties in Egypt, in violation of the rights to participation in public affairs and to freedom of expression, including the arbitrary detention of dozens of citizens in the ‘Hope Case’ and the arrest of dozens of other members of peaceful political parties since September 2019;

E.

whereas human rights lawyers, journalists, activists and members of the opposition have been jailed on serious charges, including for terrorism-related offences; whereas peaceful dissenters, pro-democracy activists and human rights defenders are put in jeopardy by being labelled as terrorists; whereas these arrests are solely related to their peaceful and legitimate work in defence of human rights;

F.

whereas the enforced disappearance of human rights defenders is becoming a systematic practice of the Egyptian authorities, before most re-appear in the hands of the State Prosecution, this being the case of Alaa Abdel Fattah, Asmaa Daabes, Esraa Abdel Fattah, Eman Al-Helw, Mohamed Ibrahim, Abdelrahman Tarek, Ezzat Ghoneim, Haytham Mohamadeen and Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy; whereas others, including Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, have still not re-appeared;

G.

whereas excessive use is being made of pre-trial preventive detention and precautionary measures in order to prevent human rights defenders and their lawyers such as Mahienour El-Masry, Mohamed El-Baqer, Esraa Abdel Fattah and Mohamed Ramadan from carrying out their legitimate human rights work in Egypt;

H.

whereas the Egyptian authorities have hindered progress in investigating and revealing the truth around the kidnapping, torture and killing of the Italian research assistant Giulio Regeni; whereas the Italian Parliament has suspended its diplomatic relations with the Egyptian Parliament and has called on the Member State parliaments to follow suit in solidarity;

I.

whereas Reporters Without Borders has documented cases of at least 31 media workers currently being held in detention in Egypt for their work, on the basis of politically-based prosecution and multiple due process violations; whereas six of these journalists have been arrested in relation to the recent protests; whereas foreign media workers are also targeted, with several international media correspondents having been deported or denied entry into Egypt; whereas international organisations have documented the blocking of news media websites and the blocking or restriction of access to online messaging applications, in particular during the last weeks;

J.

whereas, while Egypt’s NGO Law of 2019 scraps jail sentences and does away with the security-heavy agency previously designated to approve and monitor foreign funding, it nonetheless threatens to restrict civil society significantly, places furthers problematic restrictions on the right to freedom of association and significantly constrains the activities of both domestic and foreign NGOs;

K.

whereas women human rights defenders in Egypt continue to face various forms of state-led harassment, notably in the form of defamatory campaigns and judicial prosecution; whereas activists defending the rights of LGBTQI people and women face continuous repression, including under the guise of the preservation of ‘public morals’;

L.

whereas grave violations of the right to life continue in Egypt through the judiciary, which has issued and implemented an unprecedentedly high number of death sentences against numerous individuals — even sentencing children — including in the aftermath of military and mass trials that lacked minimum guarantees of a fair trial; whereas criminal and military courts have issued over 3 000 death sentences since 2014 and 50 persons are at imminent risk of execution;

M.

whereas the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR) has declared that several cases are pending in the courts concerning individuals convicted on the basis of evidence allegedly obtained under torture who are facing the death penalty; whereas these convictions appear to be in direct disregard of both Egyptian and international law and procedure;

N.

whereas accountability for serious human rights violations by the Egyptian security forces remains almost entirely non-existent, and there is no proper investigation of corruption allegations against the military;

O.

whereas at least 900 people were killed by the Egyptian security forces during the Rabaa Square protests in 2013; whereas, while numerous irregularities were condemned during the subsequent trial, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights described it as a serious miscarriage of justice, none of those responsible for the massacre has yet been tried;

P.

whereas Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process before the UN Human Rights Council, which begins in November 2019, offers a unique opportunity for the international community to scrutinise Egypt’s human rights record and put forward recommendations for improvement;

Q.

whereas many human rights activists are subjected to repressive measures, some in reprisal for participating in Egypt’s 2014 UPR; whereas ten human rights defenders and seven NGOs named in Case 173/2011 (the ‘Foreign Funding Case’) have suffered crippling asset freezes; whereas travel bans remain on at least 31 defenders and staff of independent Egyptian human rights NGOs involved in Case 173/2011, although 43 staff of foreign civil society organisations convicted in 2013 in the same case have since been acquitted;

R.

whereas Egypt has experienced several difficult developments since the 2011 revolution and the international community is supporting the country in addressing its multiple challenges; whereas the security situation in Egypt is fragile, with a high risk of terrorist attacks in the Sinai peninsula and major cities across the country by various Islamist organisations, despite the government’s use of aggressive and at times abusive tactics to combat them; whereas terrorist attacks have taken the lives of a large number of innocent civilians, including Copts; whereas military operations have continued to escalate in North Sinai since late 2013, and the government has conducted mass demolitions and the forced eviction of tens of thousands of residents, while preventing independent reporting by imposing a near-absolute media blackout and restrictions on movements in and out of Sinai;

S.

whereas no official, strong and united public response has been forthcoming from the EU and its Member States to the September-October 2019 crackdown in Egypt; whereas the 2017-2020 EU-Egypt Partnership Priorities adopted in June 2017 are guided by a shared commitment to the universal values of democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights, and constitute a renewed framework for political engagement and enhanced cooperation, including on security, judicial reform and counter-terrorism, on the basis of due respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms; whereas European efforts to engage Egypt to address the severest aspects of human rights violations have not yielded appreciable results;

T.

whereas Egypt is an important partner for the European Union and its Member States in a wide range of areas, including trade, security and people-to-people contacts; whereas on 21 August 2013 the Foreign Affairs Council tasked the High Representative with reviewing EU assistance to Egypt; whereas the Council decided that the EU’s cooperation with Egypt would be readjusted in accordance with developments on the ground; whereas the EU and Egypt adopted Partnership Priorities in June 2017 that aim to enhance cooperation in a wide range of areas, including the fight against terrorism, with all due respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms;

U.

whereas the EU FAC conclusions of 21 August 2013 stated that ‘Member States also agreed to suspend export licenses to Egypt of any equipment which might be used for internal repression and to reassess export licenses of equipment covered by Common Position 2008/944/CFSP and review their security assistance with Egypt’; whereas companies based in several EU Member States have continued to export surveillance technology and other security equipment to Egypt, thus facilitating hacking and malware as well as other forms of attacks on human rights defenders and civil society activists both physically and online; whereas this activity has led to the repression of freedom of expression online;

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