Egypt

At the April 2003 Strasbourg session of the European Parliament, John Bowis spoke in the Urgency debate on the human rights situation in Egypt. This was John's speech:

"Mr President, 'Egypt: where everyone wears a smile' is the slogan advertising Egypt to the world.
There are no smiles on the faces of the gay men and boys of Egypt who have been harassed and their homes raided, and
who have been entrapped via the Internet on trumped-up charges. There is no smile on the face of Wissam Abyad, in
prison and badly treated since January, after just one meeting. There is no smile on the face of Zaki 'Abd al-Malak. There
is no smile on the faces of the 21 Egyptians from the infamous 'Queen's Boat' discotheque trial, whose sentences have been
increased on appeal to three years' imprisonment and forced labour. There is no smile on the faces of those anti-war
demonstrators who were arrested on 20 March in Cairo and reportedly tortured. There is no smile, as we have heard, on the
members of Coptic Church in Egypt persecuted for their faith.

"Egypt has contributed so much to our civilisation, we must
urge it now to follow a civilised path on these issues.
You do not have to agree with other people's beliefs, their political opinions, and their sexual preferences. You do, if you
believe in the fundamental principles of democracy, have to defend their right to believe, their right to hold opinions, their
right to choose their personal lifestyles. Those are the principles this Parliament must uphold."

Click here for the text of the Parliament's resolution.