EU lawmakers urge scrutiny of Egypt's human rights record

European parliamentarians have urged their governments and the United Nations to bring Egypt’s “devastating” human rights situation under more global scrutiny

CAIRO -- European parliamentarians urged their governments and the United Nations on Thursday to bring Egypt's “devastating" human rights situation under more global scrutiny.

The lawmakers issued a statement calling on the U.N. Human Rights Council to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on Egypt at its upcoming first and highest-level meeting of 2022, set for Feb 28.

“We are extremely concerned about the international community’s persistent failure to take any meaningful action to address Egypt’s human rights crisis,” read the statement, signed by 175 parliamentarians from the EU bloc and the UK.

“This failure, along with continued support to the Egyptian government and reluctance to even speak up against pervasive abuses has only deepened the Egyptian authorities’ sense of impunity,” it added.