HUMAN RIGHTS IN EGYPT

That this House is very concerned about the unprecedented human rights crisis in Egypt, with the continuing crackdown on civil society, restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association, the use of torture, and reports of enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions and unfair trials; notes with alarm that the run-up to the Presidential elections has also been marked by serious and systematic violations, including politically-motivated arrests of potential Presidential candidates, such as leading Government critic, Abdel Moneim Aboul-Fotouh, former military chief of staff, Sami Anan, and Colonel Ahmed Konsawa; further notes also that human rights groups estimate that there are now more than 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt; and calls on the Government to review all forms of co-operation with the Egyptian Government, including arms exports, to ensure it is not facilitating serious human rights abuses in that country, and to raise its concerns about the situation with its Egyptian counterparts as a matter of urgency.