The European Union’s parliament passed a non-binding resolution decrying the “high level of repression” and the “deeply concerning human rights situation” in Egypt and called for the suspension of security cooperation and arms deals between Egypt and any EU member state. The resolution, which was passed on Thursday with 558 votes in favor, 10 votes against and 59 abstentions, strongly condemned the “torture and assassination” of 28-year-old Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni, whose tortured body was found in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo nine days after he was reported missing. Although member states are not required to abide by the resolution’s recommendations, the motion itself is seen as a scathing attack of Egypt’s current state of affairs. In addition to citing a lack of transparency in the investigation of Regeni’s murder, the resolution pointed to “a dramatic increase in reports of torture in police detention” and enforced disappearances, the crackdown on the country’s civil society leading to the shuttering of several NGOs, “sham criminal proceedings” and “the severe deterioration of the media environment,” among other concerns. Most pointedly, however, the resolution focuses on Regeni’s brutal murder, which became…
EU Parliament Passes Non-Binding Resolution ‘Recommending’ Halt of Arms Deals With Egypt
March 10, 2016
