Egypt

Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale Excerpts

Thursday 27th March 2014 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what representations they have made to the Government of Egypt following recent court cases in that country.

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon (Con)]

My Lords, the Foreign Secretary made a Statement on 24 March, saying that he was,

“deeply concerned by the reports that 528 individuals were today sentenced to death by a court in Al Minya in Egypt”.

He urged the Egyptian authorities,

“to ensure full respect for defendants’ rights”,

and expressed,

“hope they will review this unacceptable sentence”.

On 6 February, as noble Lords may be aware, the Foreign Secretary also publicly raised concerns about the arrest of Al-Jazeera journalists in Cairo and about freedom of expression.

[Lord McConnell of Glenscorrodale (Lab)]

My Lords, since last summer, the Foreign Secretary has, understandably, condemned some of the actions of the new regime in Egypt and called for maintaining a dialogue with that regime. However, during that time we have seen not only the trial of the 20 Al-Jazeera journalists and the death sentences for the 529 accused on Monday but the prosecution of peaceful women student protestors, who face life sentences, and a whole host of other acts of repression and denial of basic human rights. Will the Government make a statement in the coming weeks, in the run-up to the elections that are due to take place in Egypt, outlining what other action has been taken in addition to dialogue and condemnation—for example, on export licences and co-operation in other matters—and what discussions have taken place in the EU and the UN to ensure some international co-ordination of efforts to persuade the Egyptian Government to stop this path towards repression and to open up the political space there if there are to be serious democratic elections in the future?

[Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon]

To begin with the noble Lord’s final point, he is of course quite right that openness and having a free, fair and fully pluralist style of elections are something that not only Her Majesty’s Government want to see but, as he has acknowledged, something that the UN is pursuing, as is the noble Baroness, Lady Ashton, in her capacity at the European Union. I reiterate once again that the UK Government remain deeply concerned about sentencing including, most recently, the sentencing to three years in prison of the democracy and human rights activists Ahmed Maher, Ahmed Douma and Mohamed Adel. The UK believes that the freedom to protest peacefully is vital in any democracy and calls on Egypt’s interim leaders to ensure that they uphold all Egypt’s international human rights obligations. The Foreign Secretary spoke to Foreign Minister Fahmy on 7 January and raised various concerns over Egypt, such as the arrest of human rights activists and journalists and the violence, including fatalities, at protests. I am sure representations will continue during what we hope will be free and fair elections later this year.