Egypt calls in European ambassadors over rights resolution
CAIRO (AFP) - The Egyptian foreign ministry on Thursday summoned the ambassadors of European Union countries in Cairo to express its "complete rejection" of a European Parliament draft resolution critical of human rights.
"The ambassadors of 27 European Union countries have been summoned in order to inform them of Egypt's complete rejection of a draft resolution over human rights in Egypt," ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said in a statement.
The foreign ministry "will not accept any attempt by any country to comment on the human rights situation in Egypt, as it will not allow itself to lecture other countries over their domestic affairs," Zaki said.
On Wednesday, the speaker of parliament threatened to sever links with the European Parliament if it passes the resolution, according to the official MENA news agency.
"The People's Assembly (Egypt's lower house) will consider cutting ties with the European Parliament... as long as it continues to use the language of commands and condescension," Fathi Surur told MENA, rejecting the draft text as a "flagrant interference in Egypt's domestic affairs."
He said the resolution, if passed, threatened to "harm the historic relationship between Egypt and Europe."
The European Parliament is on Thursday due to discuss the resolution which criticises Egypt over the status of religious minorities, alleged torture practices and Egypt's decades-long state of emergency.
The resolution also calls for the immediate release of jailed dissident Ayman Nur, who mounted an unprecedented campaign against President Hosni Mubarak in the 2005 presidential elections and was jailed for fraud in a conviction widely seen as politically motivated.
International rights groups have repeatedly expressed concern about human rights in Egypt, including continued crackdowns on political dissent.
In December, the New York-based Human Rights Watch condemned "a pattern of abuse" made possible under Egypt's state of emergency, imposed in 1981 and in effect ever since.
The state of emergency allows the interior ministry to detain and interrogate persons without arrest warrants and to issue detention orders repeatedly for up to six months at a time without a hearing.
The government is currently drafting a new counter-terrorism law to replace the emergency law, but observers have expressed concern that the new law will also restrict human rights.
Egypt said that if the resolution is passed on Thursday, "it would have a negative effect on Egyptian-European relations and will cast a shadow on efforts of cooperation and coordination between both sides."
The draft resolution also urges Egypt to do more to protect the border with the Gaza Strip, now controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, regarded as a terror group by Israel and the West.
Earlier this month US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Cairo in an interview to do more to stop arms smuggling into the Gaza Strip, an issue which has strained Egypt's ties with Israel.
During a brief stop in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh at the tailend of a landmark tour of the Middle East, US President George W. Bush refrained from publicly touching on Egypt's human rights record.
The US leader instead gently broached the subject by urging Mubarak to take a leading role in boosting democracy in the region.