Arab Organisation for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) criticised the US administration’s decision to keep providing the Egyptian government with its estimated $1.3 billion in annual military aid despite its shoddy record on human rights.
AOHR UK also denounced the US officials’ justification for the decision, in which they claimed that “the decision did not diminish U.S. commitment to advancing human rights in Egypt. Washington has held tough conversations with the Egyptians on its human rights track record.”
This justification clearly proves that the US administration has turned its back on human rights principles and turned a deaf ear to tens of thousands of victims of the Egyptian regime’s violations, AOHR UK added.
AOHR UK emphasised that by giving the Egyptian regime this aid, the current US administration is directly involved in the criminal practices that the Egyptian regime has continued throughout its ten-year rule and sends a message to Egyptian regime officials that they are safe from sanctions.
According to the AOHR UK, the US administration’s defense of Egypt’s important role in all regional issues as a close regional ally of Washington, despite the Egyptian regime’s repression, gives the Egyptian regime a reward and pushes victims of the Egyptian regime and all oppressive regimes in the region to lose faith in international laws and human rights treaties, which have failed to protect victims and hold those responsible accountable.
The group also noted that the US statement contained ironic phrases like “The administration is effectively telling Sisi’s government that it saw improvement in the human rights situation over the past year.”
Such a statement was made in complete disregard of the suffering of the tens of thousands of arbitrary detainees who spend their lives in prisons that resemble cemeteries while being denied even the most basic human needs.
AOHR UK pointed out that 30 prisoners have died in Egyptian prisons since the start of the year as a result of deliberate medical neglect and poor detention conditions.
According to AOHR UK, the US administration’s continued military support for Egypt’s oppressive regime will not bring the region the stability that Washington seeks; rather, it will only lead to more crises.
In light of the regime’s ongoing crimes against its opponents, the breakdown of justice, the suppression of political life, and the suppression of freedom of opinion and expression, which would jeopardize security and stability in Egypt, AOHR UK urged all members of the US Congress to uphold the principles and laws of human rights and to put pressure on the US administration to stop providing military aid to Egypt.
