Help promote human rights in the Middle East and North Africa

Donate Today
Facebook-f Twitter Instagram Linkedin Youtube Envelope
Search
Close this search box.
  • 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
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Advocacy
    • DAWN's Advocacy
    • The Lobbyist Hall of Shame
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
    • Reforming Foreign Policy
      • Aid Conditionality
      • Human Rights Go to War
      • China
      • Yemen: Toward Sustainable Peace and Democracy
    • US Foreign Policy in MENA
    • Joint Advocacy
  • 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
  • Democracy In Exile
    • About
    • Submission Guidelines for Democracy in Exile
  • Advocacy
    • DAWN's Advocacy
    • The Lobbyist Hall of Shame
    • DAWN's Culprits Gallery
    • Reforming Foreign Policy
      • Aid Conditionality
      • Human Rights Go to War
      • China
      • Yemen: Toward Sustainable Peace and Democracy
    • US Foreign Policy in MENA
    • Joint Advocacy
  • Experts
  • Latest
Donate

Five Questions for Egyptian Delegation to Washington

October 5, 2021
in DAWN, Egypt, Feature, Press Release Egypt, Press Releases, US - Egypt
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Genuine Opportunity for Human Rights Reform or Just More Whitewashing from President Sisi and the Egyptian Government?

عربي

(Washington D.C., October 5, 2021) – A delegation of Egyptian parliamentarians and politicians is visiting Washington this week to discuss human rights in Egypt following the Egyptian government's release of a National Human Rights Strategy in September, a strategy roundly criticized as an insincere effort meant to do little more than distract from Egypt's abhorrent human rights record.

U.S. officials and elected representatives meeting with the delegation, headed by the newly appointed National Human Rights Council member and former parliamentarian Mohamed Anwar Sadat, should question the delegation about systemic human rights abuses in Egypt to ensure the Egyptian government understands that an empty public relations strategy devoid of serious human rights reforms will be met with rejection.

"Given the billions of dollars in military support the U.S. government provides Egypt, U.S. officials have a responsibility to ask this delegation tough questions about these systemic abuses and not to allow themselves to be misled by a well-coordinated, lobbyist-backed public relations campaign," said John Hursh, DAWN Program Director. "If the Egyptian government wants anyone to take its efforts to project a more responsible image seriously, the first thing it must do is release thousands of unjustly detained prisoners, who are facing grotesque torture and rampant abuses in Egyptian prisons."

This delegation arrives as the Egyptian government continues its attempts to obfuscate and whitewash its human rights abuses. Since President Biden took office, the Egyptian government has intensified its lobbying efforts in Washington. From hiring new lobbyists to promising the public that there are "no human rights violations in Egypt," Sisi has worked hard to promote an image of Egypt that simply does not match its harsh reality.

Sisi's government has also seized on opportunities to appear useful to U.S. interests, even though these actions align with Egypt's interests and further its strategic objectives as much as those of the United States. The most instructive example is the credit the Sisi government received for facilitating a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in May. At the same time, Sisi's government has avoided taking even the most tentative moves towards meeting any of the Seven Necessary Steps Egyptian human rights organizations have demanded to stop the country's unprecedented decline in human rights.

"The Sisi government disregards all criticism and punishes all dissent, creating a society where people live in uncertainty and fear. U.S. officials and elected representatives should push back against these false narratives and disingenuous acts that serve to reinforce Sisi's repressive status quo," said Hursh. "DAWN encourages dialogue between U.S. and Egyptian officials, but for these exchanges to be meaningful, they must include hard questions over Sisi's human rights record and move past empty promises and unfulfilled actions," Hursh added.

Here are five questions that U.S. officials and elected representatives should ask the members of the Egyptian delegation.

  • What concrete steps is the Egyptian government taking to end the jailing of the more than 60,000 political prisoners detained in Egyptian prisons or held under indefinite pretrial detention, including issuing a moratorium for political prisoners facing execution after death penalty convictions from sham trials?

The Arab Network for Human Rights Information estimates that there are about 65,000 political prisoners within Egyptian prisons. Prisoners often endure appalling conditions and the use of torture is so widespread and so well documented that Egyptian human rights organizations aptly characterize torture within prison as "state policy." More than 1,000 prisoners have died in prison during Sisi's rule due to poor medical conditions and medical neglect, as purposefully withholding medical treatment is common.

Many political prisoners have not committed a crime, but merely exercised their right to the freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly. Many more, including journalists and human rights defenders, face indefinite pretrial detention, where the government recycles charges and detainees have no meaningful way to challenge their arbitrary and unlawful detention. Several prisoners face execution after Egyptian courts upheld death penalty convictions from sham trials earlier this year.

  • Will Egypt hold security forces responsible for forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings accountable? How many security officers have been sentenced to prison for the mass killings of protesters in 2013?

The Egyptian government routinely engages in forced disappearances, torture, and extrajudicial killings. The government also routinely fabricates outlandish reasons to excuse these crimes, such as rebranding extrajudicial killings "shoot-outs," as the government prosecutes counterterrorism activities and security officials act with legal impunity.

In 2013, government security forces massacred over 1,000 protesters in broad daylight in Rab'a and al-Nahda Squares, but held no security officers accountable, jailing only protesters. Since these massacres, Egyptian police and National Security Agency officials continue to act with impunity, torturing Egyptians, and targeting all perceived opponents of the government, including children held in detention.

  • How will parliament check the expansive economic power of the Egyptian military now that it is so entrenched in commercial and governmental activities that it distorts Egypt's economy?

Under Sisi, the military's control of the economy has dramatically increased, leading to a distorted economy that stifles private investment and rewards those loyal to the president. The military manages and administers major state-run projects and may employ as many as 5 million civilians.

These projects often have nothing to do with the military or national security and instead allow the military to reduce its official budget and reward senior officers by providing additional income and fringe benefits. While the actual amount of control that the military has over the economy is well concealed, there is no doubt that military businesses are flourishing under Sisi. These economic practices crowd out private businesses and undermine the country's long-term economic stability, while also generating resentment.

  • Why does parliament refuse to investigate large-scale human rights abuses committed by Egyptian security and police forces?

The Egyptian parliament is required to examine all matters and legislation relating to Egypt's human rights situation and many of these responsibilities fall to the Human Rights Commission, a standing committee within parliament. Among its duties, the Commission must review citizen complaints and assess Egypt's human rights situation in accordance with international and domestic human rights standards.

However, numerous human rights organizations report widespread abuses by Egyptian security and police forces, while Egyptian law makes these forces all but unaccountable. Egypt's National Security Agency frequently abuses its powers to harass, intimidate, and coerce human rights defenders from engaging in civil life with near total impunity. Despite considerable criticism of these practices from within and outside the country, the recently unveiled National Human Rights Strategy does little to address these and other criminal justice concerns.

  • When will President Sisi end the indefinite state of emergency and allow for genuine reform in Egypt's civil society and public sphere, including respecting minimum standards for freedom of expression, association, and peaceful assembly?

On January 22, 2021, President Sisi renewed Egypt's state of emergency for a 15th time, before extending it another three months on April 25, and then renewing it again on July 7. Ostensibly acting under the authority of Egypt's 1958 Emergency Law, Sisi has used this legislation to impose curfews and adopt strict security measures with little recourse. State security agencies may arrest and jail individuals challenging these measures, also without recourse.

This legislation was not intended for such indefinite use and the government's abuse of this law is beyond dispute. Parliament has facilitated this abuse and allowed Sisi to suspend key constitutional rights. While enforcing these measures, the Egyptian government continues to place numerous restrictions on the freedom of speech and freedom of information, frequently censoring the Internet and blocking access to news media. More recently, Egyptian authorities have gone even further and targeted the families of critics that have fled the country.

Photo: Mohamed Anwar Esmat Sadat, former member of parliament and nephew of the late Egyptian President Anwar al-Sadat, speaks to AFP in his office in the capital Cairo on September 13, 2018.

Source: MOHAMED EL-SHAHED/AFP via Getty Images

Tags: Egypthuman rights violationsSisi
Previous Post

African Union: Withdraw Israel's Observer Status

Next Post

Love and Lust Over Three Millennia: The Stories of Arab Women Writers

Related Posts

Los Angeles, CA - May 16:  Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park (District 11), speaks during a meeting where the Council deadlocked on a proposal, 7-7, to ask City Planning Director Vince Bertoni to consider rescinding a general plan amendment initiation for the Bulgari Resort Los Angeles, a planned 58-room hotel that would rise in Benedict Canyon, at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, CA, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Developer Gary Safady's proposal will continue in the process, with an environmental impact report being completed.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Advocacy

Los Angeles City Council Votes to Rename Street Outside Saudi Consulate as "Jamal Khashoggi Way"

(Washington, D.C., May 26, 2023) — The Los Angeles City Council has voted to pass Council Resolution 23-0349, a...

DAWN
May 26, 2023
Attendees walk past the logo of US multinational technology company Microsoft. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)
Advocacy

Microsoft Should Suspend Data Center Plans in Saudi Arabia, Groups Say

Enormous risk to privacy and human rights if Microsoft stores cloud data center in Saudi Arabia The full text...

DAWN
May 24, 2023
Jordan Prince Hamzah bin al Hussein delivers his speech during the plenary session at the Bella Center in Copenhagen on December 17, 2009 on the 11th day of the COP15 UN Climate Change Conference.  AFP PHOTO / ATTILA KISBENEDEK (Photo credit should read ATTILA KISBENEDEK/AFP via Getty Images)
DAWN

Jordan: Release Prince Hamzah and his Family from Arbitrary Imprisonment

(Washington D.C., May 23, 2023): Jordanian authorities immediately should act to secure the release of Prince Hamzah bin Al...

DAWN
May 23, 2023
Yassine Gaidi/Anadolu Agency
Advocacy

International Academics Call on Leaders to Support Democracy in Tunisia After Jailing of Opposition Leader

Dozens of academics sign open letter calling on the Tunisian authorities to release the head of the Ennahda Movement,...

DAWN
May 19, 2023
Next Post

Love and Lust Over Three Millennia: The Stories of Arab Women Writers

Los Angeles, CA - May 16:  Los Angeles City Councilwoman Traci Park (District 11), speaks during a meeting where the Council deadlocked on a proposal, 7-7, to ask City Planning Director Vince Bertoni to consider rescinding a general plan amendment initiation for the Bulgari Resort Los Angeles, a planned 58-room hotel that would rise in Benedict Canyon, at City Hall in downtown Los Angeles, CA, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Developer Gary Safady's proposal will continue in the process, with an environmental impact report being completed.  (Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

Los Angeles City Council Votes to Rename Street Outside Saudi Consulate as "Jamal Khashoggi Way"

May 26, 2023

Reckoning With the Nakba That Never Ended

May 25, 2023
Attendees walk past the logo of US multinational technology company Microsoft. (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP) (Photo by PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP /AFP via Getty Images)

Microsoft Should Suspend Data Center Plans in Saudi Arabia, Groups Say

May 24, 2023

Categories

  • Advocacy
  • Aid Conditionality
  • Anonymous Interviews
  • Anonymous Interviews Egypt
  • Anonymous Interviews Saudi Arabia
  • Anonymous Interviews UAE
  • Cases
  • Cases Egypt
  • Cases Saudi Arabia
  • Cases UAE
  • China's Uyghur Repression
  • Countries
  • Culprits
  • Culprits Egypt
  • Culprits Israel
  • 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
  • Israel-Palestine
  • Joint Letters
  • Lobbyists
  • Lobbyists Israel Palestine
  • 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
  • Yemen Conference

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