Letter to WEF founder Mr Klaus Schwab Re: Egyptian interim governments delegation in Davos 2014 As Davos opens its doors to the world’s business and political leaders to discuss how best to handle global economic concerns, people in the Arab world, particularly Egypt and Syria, continue to suffer from authoritarian rule that cripples their economic and social growth. As Egypt struggles with the repercussions of a bloody military coup that claimed the lives of thousands of Egyptians, including women, children, and university students, world leaders should be aware of the importance of democracy for economic stability. The military coup of July 3 led to the ouster of Egypt’s first ever democratically elected president, the arbitrary arrest of thousands of political activists, including elected officials from all major political parties. Independent media that opposed military rule have been shut down, journalists arrested and harassed, and freedoms of expression, assembly and association abrogated. The military-installed government continues to crack down indiscriminately against all critics from across the political spectrum. Secular and religious activists alike are behind bars for the sole reason of expressing their opinions. We are therefore shocked and dismayed that this years Davos assembly is providing a platform for the perpetrators of these crimes to speak about Egypts economic prospects. Mr. Beblawy, a speaker in this years WEF, is the prime minister of a government installed by military leaders who forcibly removed an elected president from power and killed and unjustly arrested thousands of protesters on preposterous charges, then labelled their opponents “terrorists” and “foreign agents”. Mr. Beblawy is the prime minister responsible for what Human Rights Watch described as the worst case of mass killing in Egypts modern history; the prime minister who has flouted the rule of law by declaring his political opponents as terrorists after telling the Egyptian people that no executive had legal authority to do that; and the prime minister whose government arrested peaceful activists for campaigning for a ‘no’ vote or protesting the process leading to the sham referendum on the military-sponsored constitution. His presence at your forum brings disgrace to the forum and can shed no light on either economic or political realities in Egypt: a government appointed by military leaders can bring neither democracy nor economic recovery. The current regime in Egypt is dragging the country into the abyss, both economically and politically. Economic stability is not feasible or sustainable in the absence of democracy and basic human rights for all. As your Excellency rightfully mentioned in the forum’s opening session on Tuesday, human values should be the center of discussions in the forum. “Values are important because we want to live up to the World Economic Forum’s commitment to improving the state of the world.” Hosting Mr Beblawy flies in the face of universal human values and is in effect an endorsement of everything that has gone wrong in post-coup Egypt. Sincerely, Yehia Hamed, Minister of investment in the democratically elected government of Egypt, which was forcibly and illegitimately, ousted by the July 3 military coup d’état.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 09:09:52 +0000
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