Maat mourns the victims of terrorism and demands an end to the political disputes over the bodies of the victims

Community cohesion, unifying the international position and narrowing the scope of emergencies is an urgent necessity to confront the danger

Once again, terrorism reveals its ugly face to assassinate the joy of Egyptian citizens far away, leaving behind dozens of innocent civilian victims in their places of worship and courageous police officers and soldiers who have increased their lives from facilities they are securing.

The Maat Foundation for Peace, Development and Human Rights mourns with great regret the victims of the despicable terrorist incident that targeted two churches in the governorates of Gharbia and Alexandria on Sunday, April 9, 2017, and the Foundation offers its condolences to the families of the victims, the great Egyptian people and all the Egyptian state agencies in this great loss that coincided with the citizens' celebrations. Egyptians on a religious occasion that has its majesty and sanctity.

Maat Foundation affirms its firm and principled position that terrorism has become the biggest and most important challenge to respect for human rights in life, security and development, it would like to point out the following: -

1- It is absolutely unacceptable to justify violence and terrorism under any pretext, and in no way can it be linked to any political differences or interactions between the different forces, or to use its results and effects as an excuse to gain political points on the bodies of innocent victims.

2- Despite the sacrifices and bravery that the Egyptian police men and women showed in the churches until they were martyred at their doors, this should not make us forget the need to reconsider the security plans followed and investigate any failure that may have occurred and led to the arrival of the terrorists who carried out the bombing to the vicinity of the churches .

3- All parties must assume their societal responsibilities in facing the phenomenon of extremism, violence and terrorism and work to dry up its intellectual and financing sources and its incubating environment, and all parties must stop giving any legitimacy, political cover, or justification for terrorist crimes.

4- The homeland is now in dire need of societal cohesion and alignment on one ground, overcoming societal congestion and defiance to confront the imminent danger that threatens everyone.

5- Maat Foundation stresses the need to respect the constitutional guarantees stipulated in Article 154 related to imposing a state of emergency, and to ensure that basic rights and freedoms are not subject to derogation, and that the use of the state of emergency benefits is within the narrowest possible limits that enable law enforcement and justice institutions to achieve her job .

6- The Foundation reminds its repeated demands for the necessity to adopt a human rights stance that leads to the establishment of a binding international agreement to criminalize terrorism and all associated practices or those that lead to it, and to push for some countries and ruling systems that provide sanctuary and media platforms for terrorists to abandon this disgraceful behavior that is inconsistent with Moral responsibilities of states.

The Maat Foundation affirms its full solidarity with the families of the victims, their relatives and friends, and declares its commitment to declare national mourning and to stop any activities and events until the mourning period ends.