The head of the Egyptian parliament's Human Rights Committee Mohamed Anwar El-Sadat and other nine MPs are likely to be investigated for attending a conference in Geneva on human rights without getting prior parliamentary approval, parliament's deputy speaker Soliman Wahdan disclosed in a statement to reporters on Wednesday.
Wahdan said that parliament's internal bureau has received two complaints from a number of parliamentarians accusing El-Sadat and the MPs who accompanied him of violating parliament's internal bylaws, asking that they be investigated by the ethics committee.
"The bureau's rules in this respect state that if an MP receives an invitation that requires him or her to travel abroad to participate in an event, he or she should inform the bureau of this invitation in advance," he said, adding that the trip should be approved by parliament's speaker.
Wahdan, a leading member of the liberal Wafd Party, said parliament's internal bylaws (Article 9) entail that written correspondence between any of parliament's committees and foreign institutions should be conducted via the speaker and in accordance with the rules adopted by parliament's internal bureau.
"What is certain is that El-Sadat and the other MPs who travelled to Geneva last week had not informed parliament's bureau of the trip."
He revealed that "the two complaints will be discussed by parliament's internal bureau – including the speaker and his two deputies – in its meeting Thursday."
"The bureau will see whether El-Sadat and the other MPs should be referred to the ethics committee," said Wahdan.
Informed sources say the complaints against El-Sadat were filed by a number of his colleagues in the Human Rights Committee, most notably the committee's deputy chairman Atef Makhaleef.
On Tuesday, Makhaleef, an independent MP representing the east Cairo district of Matariya, launched a scathing attack against El-Sadat, accusing him of "treason" for attending the conference, which was organised by the Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue.
Makhaleef insisted that the Geneva Centre receives much of its funding from the Gulf state of Qatar to support the outlawed group of Muslim Brotherhood.
He also accused El-Sadat of exploiting his position as head of parliament's Human Rights Committee to serve the agenda of the US embassy in Cairo and other international human rights forums that are hostile to the regime of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and that aim to spread chaos in the Arab world.
The MP claimed that the US embassy contacted him over a month ago in a bid to encourage him to support El-Sadat's "radical pro-US agenda" on human rights.
Makhaleef argued that what he described as "this agenda" exploits false slogans like Arab dictatorships to spread chaos and disrupt the national security of Arab countries.
His remarks about the US embassy in Cairo stirred major controversy inside the Human Rights Committee, with some members, including deputy chairwoman Margaret Azer, dismissing claims that the US embassy is meddling in the internal affairs of the committee.
However, committee member MP Ilhami Agina agreed with Makhaleef that the US has an agenda aimed at disrupting Egypt's unity under the guise of defending human rights.
Agina said that "if what Makhaleef said about the US embassy in Cairo is true, it should be considered a dangerous precedent."
"[The US] ignited conflicts and civil wars in Libya, Iraq and Syria, and is trying its best to extend this agenda to Egypt," said Agina, adding that "the US should respect human rights on its land first before it gives lectures to other peoples on this issue."
El-Sadat dismissed these charges of "treason," insisting that he was in Geneva to defend Egypt's human rights record in coordination with the foreign ministry.
