The federal must protest against the violence and stop training assistance for Egypt's army!

On Sunday, the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) called on Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to condemn the inappropriate violence against demonstrators by the Egyptian military on Friday and Saturday in Cairo - and to insist that independent human rights experts will examine the incidents. In addition, Germany should stop training Egyptian military officers to send a clear signal against arbitrariness and severe human rights violations of the army of Egypt.

"If unarmed demonstrators are hit with batons, kicked and beaten to death by security forces of a friendly state, diplomatic restraint may no longer be practiced," said the STP's Africa consultant, Ulrich Delius on Sunday in Göttingen. The violent deaths of at least nine demonstrators in Cairo on December 16 and 17, 2011 was not an exception. .Before - on October 9, 2011 - another 27 Egyptian Coptic demonstrators were killed as the security forces were causing a bloodbath among peaceful protesters of the Christian minority.

"Back then as now, the Egyptian government denies any responsibility for the army and the escalation of violence", said Delius. "Against better knowledge, soldiers who randomly beat and murder are said to be helpless victims of counter-revolutionary demonstrators. Those who argue like the new Egyptian Prime Minister Kamal Ganzouri act implausible and ridiculous."

Germany still operates under an agreement with Egypt signed in 1983 for military training assistance - a training program that will be used again in 2011 by ten Egyptian officers. "Germany should expose this program, as long as the Egyptian army arbitrarily violates human rights", demanded Delius. German weapons exports to Egypt were stopped in February 2011, but for years before, machine guns, ammunition, trucks, armored vehicles and communication equipment were delivered from Germany to the Egyptian army. In 2009 these exports amounted to 77.5 million €. In 2010, arms exports to Egypt worth 21 million euros were approved by the federal government.