Help promote human rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Donate Today
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube
Search
Close
  • English
  • العربية
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • Israel-Palestine
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
  • International Actors
    • DAWN's Advocacy
    • USA
    • Aid Conditionality
    • Human Rights Go to War
    • THE LOBBYIST HALL OF SHAME​
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Experts
  • Latest
Menu
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • What We Do
    • Who We Are
    • FAQs
    • Support Dawn
    • Work With Us
    • For the Media
  • Founder Jamal Khashoggi
    • Who Was Jamal Khashoggi?
    • Chronology of a Murder
    • UN Recommendations
    • International Reaction
    • In His Own Words
    • DAWN and Jamal
  • Countries
    • Saudi Arabia
    • Egypt
    • UAE
    • Israel-Palestine
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
  • International Actors
    • DAWN's Advocacy
    • USA
    • Aid Conditionality
    • Human Rights Go to War
    • THE LOBBYIST HALL OF SHAME​
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Experts
  • Latest
Donate

Biden Administration Should Not Invoke National Security to Enable Egyptian Abuses

April 24, 2021
in Dawn’s Advocacy, Egypt, Feature, Uncategorized, US - Egypt
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
An open letter to Secretary Blinken urges the Biden administration to refrain from using the national security waiver on the $300 million in Foreign Military Financing to Egypt for Fiscal Year 2020 that is conditioned on meeting several human rights standards. DAWN joined 13 other organizations to send a clear message that the Egyptian government must be held accountable for its human rights abuses and that it cannot continue to violate human rights standards without consequence.
 
***

The Honorable

Antony J. Blinken
The Secretary of State
2201 C Street, NW
Washington, DC 20520

Mr. Jake Sullivan
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20500
April 22, 2021

Dear Mr. Secretary and Mr. Sullivan:

We write to strongly urge the administration not to use the national security waiver on the $300 million in Foreign Military Financing to Egypt for Fiscal Year 2020 that is conditioned on meeting several human rights standards.

We are grateful for the administration's vocal support for human rights and democracy in Egypt. It is heartening to hear repeated statements of concern from the State Department regarding the Egyptian government's repression of civil society and undue restrictions on freedom of expression and the press. In particular, we welcome Secretary Blinken raising these concerns directly with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry, and telling him that human rights "would be central to the U.S.-Egypt bilateral relationship."

Last month, the State Department's annual Country Reports on Human Rights Practices identified a litany of serious violations of human rights by Egyptian authorities. These include consistent attacks on the freedom of expression; violations of the rule of law; extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances; widespread use of arbitrary detention; and politically motivated reprisals against individuals located outside the country.

In response to such abuses, since 2014 Congress has conditioned a portion of the $1.3 billion of annual military aid to Egypt. Unable to certify improvements in Egypt's abysmal human rights record, the two previous administrations have used a national security waiver provided by Congress each year to release the conditioned portion of military aid. By using the waiver, the United States signals that the Egyptian government will not be held accountable for its human rights abuses and that it can continue to violate human rights standards without consequence.

During his campaign for president, then-candidate Joe Biden promised "no more blank checks for Trump's favorite dictator." Overriding the human rights conditions would, on the contrary, continue the pattern of providing "blank checks" to the Egyptian government. This is a genuine opportunity for the administration to put human rights at the center of the relationship.

As the State Department has determined in its annual reports and as numerous human rights organizations have documented, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government has continued its consistent pattern of gross human rights violations, and has not come close to meeting any of the six legislative conditions related to human rights and the rule of law. By refusing to waive these conditions, the United States will send a clear message that it is serious about its commitment to supporting human rights abroad, that it will follow through on its promises, and that respect for human rights is inextricably linked to U.S. national security.

Thank you for your consideration, and we would welcome the opportunity to discuss these issues with you further.

Sincerely,

  • Amnesty International USA
  • Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies
  • Committee to Protect Journalists
  • Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
  • Egyptian Human Rights Forum
  • EuroMed Rights
  • Freedom House
  • Human Rights First
  • Human Rights Watch
  • MENA Rights Group
  • PEN America
  • Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)
  • Reporters Without Borders (RSF)
  • The Freedom Initiative

In Pictures

Photo Credits: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken delivers remarks about priorities for administration of US President Joe Biden in the Ben Franklin room at the State Department in Washington, DC on March 3, 2021. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / POOL / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Tags: Biden AdministrationEgyptForeign PolicyMiddle East and North AfricaSisi
Previous Post

Why Is Biden Blocking Accountability for the Torture of an American Citizen?

Next Post

DAWN Continues Growth With Addition of Four Key Staff Members

Related Posts

A Yemeni student is seen at the destroyed Shuhada-Alwahdah school in Al-Radhmah district, Ibb province, western Yemen, on April 12, 2022. Thousands of schools have been destroyed and abandoned in Yemen as a result of the civil war, according to teacher's unions, which warn that illiteracy among the younger generation is on the rise and the country's future is being gradually destroyed. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua via Getty Images) TO GO WITH Feature: Students at Yemen's "rubble school" struggle to keep learning
DAWN

Human Rights Go to War: Workshop Report and Recommendations

The following report is a summary of the proceedings from Human Rights Go to War, an expert workshop focused...

DAWN
August 3, 2022
01 August 2019, Yemen, Aden: People inspect the damage after a missile attack targeting a camp during a military parade. At least 60 people were killed on Thursday in two attacks targeting a camp and a police station in the government-controlled port city of Aden. The missile attack on the camp in the western section of Aden was claimed by Yemen's Houthi rebels. Photo: Wail Shaif/dpa (Photo by Wail Shaif/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Feature

U.S.: Human Rights Organizations Should Reassess Approaches to International Law During Armed Conflict

(Washington, D.C., August 3, 2022) – Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) urged human rights organizations working on...

DAWN
August 3, 2022
Democracy In Exile

Sisi's 'National Dialogue' in Egypt Is Just More Regime Window Dressing

As with the lifting of the state of emergency, Sisi’s call for a "national dialogue" doesn’t represent a reversal...

Mohammad Fadel
August 2, 2022
CAIRO, EGYPT - FEBRUARY 11:  Anti-government demonstrators wave an Egyptian flag in Tahrir Square on February 11, 2011 in Cairo, Egypt. After 18 days of widespread protests, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who has now left Cairo for his home in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheik, announced that he would step down.  (Photo by Carsten Koall/Getty Images)
Democracy In Exile

Egyptian Activist Ghada Naguib, Stripped of Citizenship, on Her 'Fate in Forced Exile'

In December 2020, activist Ghada Naguib became the first Egyptian to be stripped of her nationality because of her...

Muhammad Kamal
July 29, 2022
Next Post

DAWN Continues Growth With Addition of Four Key Staff Members

The Ethical and Political Stakes of Humanizing War

August 8, 2022

Saving Lives in Time of War

August 5, 2022
A Yemeni student is seen at the destroyed Shuhada-Alwahdah school in Al-Radhmah district, Ibb province, western Yemen, on April 12, 2022. Thousands of schools have been destroyed and abandoned in Yemen as a result of the civil war, according to teacher's unions, which warn that illiteracy among the younger generation is on the rise and the country's future is being gradually destroyed. (Photo by Mohammed Mohammed/Xinhua via Getty Images) TO GO WITH Feature: Students at Yemen's "rubble school" struggle to keep learning

Human Rights Go to War: Workshop Report and Recommendations

August 3, 2022

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Aid Conditionality
  • Anonymous Interviews
  • Anonymous Interviews Egypt
  • Anonymous Interviews Saudi Arabia
  • Anonymous Interviews UAE
  • Cases
  • Cases Egypt
  • Cases Saudi Arabia
  • Cases UAE
  • Countries
  • Culprits
  • Culprits Egypt
  • Culprits Saudi Arabia
  • Culprits UAE
  • DAWN
  • Dawn's Advocacy
  • Democracy In Exile
  • Editor's Pick
  • Egypt
  • Feature
  • Fellows
  • Foreign Policy
  • Human Rights
  • Human Rights Go to War
  • International Actors
  • Lobbyists
  • Palestine
  • Political prisoners
  • Press Release Egypt
  • Press Release Israel-Palestine
  • Press Release Saudi Arabia
  • Press Release UAE
  • Press Releases
  • Saudi Arabia
  • UAE
  • Uncategorized
  • United Nations
  • US – Egypt
  • US – Saudi Arabia
  • US – UAE
  • USA

SUPPORT OUR MISSION

Donate Today

About Us

Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN) is a nonprofit organization that promotes democracy, the rule of law, and human rights for all of the peoples of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Support Us

Donate Now

Newsletter

Facebook Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube

© DAWN All rights reserved. | Website Design by KRS Creative.

DONATE TODAY