ECCD Affirms its Commitment and Regrets the Recent Comments
The Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy affirms its full commitment to rejecting the military coup of July 3rd 2013 and its consequences, and regrets the recent baseless personal comments against Mr, Ehab Lotayef, a well respected pro-democracy advocate with an indisputable track record of supporting legitimacy, freedoms and human rights in Egypt.
ECCD affirms its full commitment to its founding principles at the core of which is "to call for an immediate end to the military rule, and reject the military coup of July 2013 and all its consequences." As such, ECCD has not and shall not engage in any initiative or activity that promotes or may be perceived to promote any of the key figures of the coup as a choice for our people or insufficiently address the issue of legitimacy. Any personal initiative or engagement of one or a group of its members or supporters that is inconsistent with ECCD founding principles and this affirmation is not endorsed by ECCD and should never be construed as such. We understand that reasonable and sincere people may differ in their views on what is helpful to the cause of democracy and human rights in Egypt. We have engaged and will continue to engage other individuals and organizations working to oppose the coup and its consequences but our main focus continues to be our own work in Canada to raise awareness about the reality of the situation in Egypt, to provide a platform for Egyptian Canadians working for democracy, and to advocate for human rights, democracy, and legitimacy in Egypt.
The Egyptian Canadian Coalition as a platform for all sincere anti-coup, pro-Egyptian freedoms and human rights advocates, fully understands that its members and supporters might, from time to time, engage in personal initiatives based on an interpretation of ECCD founding principles that may not be shared by the organization. This should not lead pro-democracy workers to attack each other or impugn each other's commitment to our shared work. Our struggle is with the coup regime, not with each other. We therefore regret the recent attacks on the personal character, integrity, and commitment of Mr. Ehab Lotayef, a serving board member and past President of ECCD. Mr. Lotayef has been and remains an anti-coup and pro-freedoms and human rights advocate. His anti-coup, pro-democracy views are indisputable and are a matter of public record. The attacks on Mr. Lotayef are regrettable, baseless, and wrong.
We encourage all pro-democracy activists to solicit input and coordinate with other pro-democracy activists prior to embarking on initiatives that may impact the solidarity of the anti-military rule camp. Similarly we encourage all pro-democracy activists to evaluate individual initiatives on their own merit and refrain from personal attacks. Let us redouble our efforts to raise awareness and to advocate for human rights, democracy, and legitimacy in Egypt.
Ahmed Abdelkader
President, ECCD
About ECCD: Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (ECCD) is a politically independent, non-affiliated pan Canadian organization with chapters in Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Quebec City, Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Regina, Calgary, Vancouver, and Kingston, which advocates for democracy and human rights in Egypt.
For more information:
www.eccd.ca
عنوان البريد الإلكتروني هذا محمي من روبوتات السبام. يجب عليك تفعيل الجافاسكربت لرؤيته.