Saturday, March 3, 2018

When it comes to Egypt, the hypocrisy of the Canadian government By: Mohamed Kamel


When it comes to Egypt, the hypocrisy of the Canadian government

By: Mohamed Kamel*
March 3, 2018



It is not the first time that the Canadian government’s position from foreign affairs shows a high level of inconstancy that is a clear hypocrisy and violation of the Canadian values.
In general, when it comes to Egypt, the hypocrisy of the Canadian government is at a maximum, especially in regards to the silence on the documented violations of human rights, denying the right to freedom of speech and killing any hope of democracy.

On Human Rights:
The United Nation’s Human Rights Council, several United Nation organizations, and all Human Rights NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Amnesty Canada condemned the daily violations of human rights.
The EU parliament twice had a hearing on the situation and condemned it; especially in regards with the level of atrocities taking place in Egyptians daily life, including but not limited to mass arrests, execution without juridical due process, torture of detainees, forced disappearances and targeted killings.
Yet the Canadian government’s relation with the Egyptian authorities remains business as usual, in spite being among the first to condemn such violations taking place in the Crimean peninsula.

On media censoring;
Egypt is the third country with the highest number of journalist imprisoned, among the top ten in the number of media outlets closed and banned, and the top in the number of journalist murdered not in a war zone.   
Yet the Canadian government’s relation with the Egyptian authorities remains business as usual, in spite being among the first to condemn such act when a Turkish journalist was arrested.

On democracy;
In March 2018, Egyptian authorities, for the second time, will mock the democratic process by electing the self-proclaimed president ‘General Sisi’ while the legitimate president of Egypt is still imprisoned.  That regime arrested all who considered running against the Sisi but one, a Sisi puppet, chosen by him, and nominated by his entourage.
Yet the Canadian government’s relation with the Egyptian authorities remains business as usual, in spite being among the first to condemn such democratic violations in Venezuela.
This silence is in violation of all Canadian values, especially when we know that the current Egyptian authorities,  committed all these violations.  They came to power in July 2013, through a bloody military coup, against the Arab Spring and the first democratically elected president of Egypt.
The question will remain, will the Canadian government hold to the Canadian values and moral standards?

* Mohamed S. Kamel: is a Freelance writer, the editor of http://forafreeegypt.blogspot.com/, he is a professional engineer, a LEED Green Associate and a recognized project manager professional (PMP), he is Member of several civil society organizations, a co-founder, Secretary General of The Egyptian Revolutionary Council (ERC), a co-founder of the Egyptian Canadian Coalition for Democracy (ECCD-CECD), Egyptian Worldwide for Democracy and Justice (EW4DJ), Canadian Egyptian for Democracy (CEFD), National Association for Change in Egypt (Taghyeer – Canada), Alternative Perspective Media (APM-RAM), , Quebec Antiwar movement “Échec à la Guerre”, Coalition for Justice and Peace in Palestine “CJPP”, ex-president and co-founder of the Canadian Muslim Forum (CMF-FCM), member of the board of trustee in the Canadian Muslim for Palestine (CMP) and Community Center for Montreal Muslims (CCMM). He could be reached at Tel: 1-514-863-9202, and by email: public@mohamedkamel.com and followed at @mskamel