Egyptian Canadians Condemn Recent Violence in Egypt
- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
(Ottawa, July 2, 2015) The Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (ECCD) condemns in the strongest terms the unprovoked assassination of thirteen Egyptian political activists, including former parliamentarian Nasr Alhafie, at the hands of Egyptian Security Forces. ECCD equally condemns the regime's heedless strategy in dealing with our people in the Sinai peninsula.
While we unequivocally condemn violence, it must be emphasized that the regime's indiscriminate excessive use of force and its marginalization of our people in Sinai is what lead to the creation of a culture of violence that claimed the lives of 117 Egyptians on July 1st 2015 alone. Similarly, we hold the coup regime responsible for the cultivating the seeds of violence that claimed the life of Egypt's public prosecutor. Although the perpetrators are yet to be identified, the killing of the public prosecutor is used as a reason to legislate further violations of the rule of law by hastily issuing a set of new unconstitutional amendments intended to expedite the execution of President Morsi and hundreds of other political dissidents.
The regime of General Abdel Fattah El-Sissi who came to power after a military coup on July 3rd 2013, has this time truly crossed all lines and boundaries. This is no longer a charade of legal proceedings leading to politically motivated death sentences. El-Sisi has turned Egypt into a full fledged republic of fear where political opponents are assassinated in their homes while the world watches.
We strongly question the Canadian government's position and its continued support to El-Sisi's regime which continues to embarrass our government by refusing to allow Mohamed Fahmy, the Canadian Journalist, to return to Canada. Furthermore, we as Egyptian Canadians are appalled by the ongoing RCMP initiative to train the Egyptian security forces, the same forces that executed 13 political activists in their homes without any trial or due process.
Although our previous calls seem to have fallen on deaf ears, as Canadian Citizens we once again call upon Mr. Harper and Mr. Nicholson to denounce their support of General El-Sissi and his police thugs, and issue a statement to condemn the recent atrocities. If not for upholding our Canadian values of democracy, we ask them to do so in the name of Canada's long term foreign interest, which can never be served by supporting a blood thirsty tyrant who assassinates his own people to silence dissent.
We call on the Egyptian people to hold on to their dream of the January 25th revolution. The recent assassinations are but signs of a crumbling regime that lost touch with reality and still thinks that the Egyptian people can be subjugated to a tyrannical rule. The giant has been awakened, the revolution continues, and free democratic Egypt will be a reality.
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
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Mohamed Sherif Kamel: (514) 863-9202
Ehab El-Komy: (613) 852-1694
Ottawa: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Sherif Elkholy: (613) 295-3994
Toronto: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Deena Abul Fottouh: (289) 259-7902
Montreal: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Ahmed Abdelkader: (514) 928-8887
Vancouver: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Tarek Ramadan: (604) 721-4555
Calgary: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mohamed Hassanin: (403) 470-3687
Kingston: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mohamed Salah: (343) 333-0752
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