EU lawmakers adopt text criticising Egypt's rights record
STRASBOURG (AFP) — Members of the European Parliament adopted Thursday a resolution criticising Egypt's human rights record, even after Cairo summoned EU ambassadors to complain about the text.
At a sparsely attended plenary session, 52 of the 59 deputies present voted for the resolution, while seven abstained. The parliament seats 784 deputies.
The text criticises Egypt over the status of religious minorities, alleged torture practices and Egypt's decades-long state of emergency.
It 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.
He 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.
Ahead of the vote in Strasbourg, senior EU lawmakers vowed not to bow to Egyptian pressure, after the parliament in Cairo announced that it would sever links with the European institution.
Meanwhile the Egyptian foreign ministry summoned the ambassadors of European Union countries in Cairo to express its "complete rejection" of the European Parliament resolution.
