The Egyptian Parliament's foreign affairs committee drafted a report to respond to a US Congress memorandum on the situation of Copts in Egypt, said the head of the committee Tarek Radwan on Monday. Coptic Solidarity, an American non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Washington, prepared a memorandum in December claiming that there is systematic discrimination against the minority Christian group by the Egyptian government. In response to this, the committee prepared a six-page report that began with an introduction on Egypt's history in preserving the rights of Copts and then continued to explain the situation after 25 January, stating that Muslims and Copts showed firm unity. The report continued that the situation changed under the Muslim Brotherhood regime in 2012, saying it was the reason behind sectarian strife in Egypt. The report denied violations against Copts in Egypt by providing evidence on state keenness on preserving their rights. The Egyptian Parliament has previously dedicated one of its main sessions to respond to a draft law that has been presented to the American Congress in order to highlight "violations against Coptic Christians in Egypt." Rashwan previously said that the bill presented to congress was approved by only six members and carries claims that may well be considered "lies." Aslo, Head of Egypt's State Information Service Diaa Rashwan attended the parliamentary session, where he said the information that the bill based its conclusions on is "corrupt and not based on any evidence that shows that there is violence or discrimination against Copts." Rashwan added that "all Egyptians are being targeted by terrorism," asserting that this idea should be conveyed to the American legislature. He demanded the Egyptian government to invite members of congress to visit the Egyptian Parliament to learn about the real situation and conditions of Copts, asserting that they should not listen to any entity that does not represent Christians. Moreover, head of parliament's human rights committee, Alaa Abed, denounced the bill. Last August, international NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a report accusing Egypt of committing systematic torture against prisoners. A parliamentary delegation recently made a number of visits to prisons to prepare reports aiming to clarify the real situation, as they see it, of prisoners in response to HRW's report. HRW's findings stirred anger among government institutions, pro-state media, and public figures, all of whom rejected torture claims and accused the NGO of publishing lies, inaccuracies, and acting upon a pro-Muslim Brotherhood agenda.
