Human Rights Organizations Ask Urgent Question Amongst Executions of Peaceful Protestors: “Why Does U.S. Continue to Support General Sisi in Egypt?”
January 11, 2018
To Whom It May Concern:
In 2018, Americans must ask the question: “Why General Sisi?” and we must demand an immediate end to the increasing human rights violations and unlawful executions of peaceful protestors who stand against General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s military coup in Egypt.
In recent weeks leading up to the New Year, we have witnessed a disturbing trend of executions in Egypt. Most disturbing is the fact that those dying at the hands of the Egyptian military are not hardened criminals with a history, but are accomplished young people with bright futures ahead of them–doctors, engineers, fiancees planning their weddings.
The reason for their executions? They persist in peacefully protesting a military coup government which kidnapped their first-ever democratically-elected president and established one of the most authoritarian and repressive regimes in the Middle East.
It simply does not matter whether the democratically-elected president was Muslim Brotherhood or Secular. The principle of the matter is in a democratic nation, the will of the people and the electoral process stand, no matter what, and that is the foundation of freedom and democracy as we are so privileged to enjoy in the United States.
We must question why the United States government continues to support General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, when we know he is a dictator and he is operating a military coup government. We must ask why $1.3 billion in U.S. Foreign Military Aid is given to General Sisi without conditions or end-use monitoring. Our continued financial support of General Sisi’s military coup is illegal and goes directly against international rule of law.
With the impending “presidential elections” scheduled to take place in Egypt, General Sisi has been doing everything he can to secure his continued power, including lobbying the Egyptian Parliament to extend his own term as well as arresting and imprisoning (or threatening to arrest and imprison) the three current presidential contenders who are prepared to challenge him, including General Shafiq, Colonel Knoswa, and Khaled Ali.
By continuing to support General Sisi and other dictators and repressive governments, we are complicit in the ongoing instability and insecurity in Egypt and across the Middle East region. When we turn a blind eye to the havoc our political and military aid creates, it only serves to further inflame anti-American attitudes, political rhetoric, and extremist terrorist acts against American and Western interests.
It is going on five years now since General Sisi led an illegal military coup in Egypt and stole away and sense of freedom, democracy, human rights, or social justice. We cannot allow another year to go by where we do not immediately address the human rights violations, illegal executions, and crumbling economy and state of healthcare and education in Egypt.
Two things must be carried out in the most urgent manner: 1) We must send a delegation that can interview both Egyptian political prisoners and the former democratically-elected Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy who have been imprisoned since the military coup on July 3, 2013 and whose health is failing and basic human rights have been violated beyond all comprehension. The condition of the political prisoners must serve as an impetus for suspension of foreign military aid until these prisoners have been released and given full access to proper medical care. 2) We must immediately suspend all U.S. foreign military aid to Egypt pending a full and investigative review and placing the strictest conditions and end-use monitoring on any future reinstatement of funding to Egypt.
Finally, we must ask why General Sisi continues to remain in power in Egypt and why he continues to receive financial backing from the United States. It is time for the American people to begin asking questions, writing their government leaders, and speaking out like never before on matters of how their U.S. taxpayer dollars are spent and what impact those dollars are having not only on our country, but also on the state of the entire world.
Thank you for your time and attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
Hossam Al Motaim | Spokesperson, Homeland For All
Dr. Samia Harris | Founder, Democracy for Egypt
Safei-Eldin Hamed | Chair, Center for Egyptian American Relations (CEAR)
M. Cahit Oktay | President, TAMJA
Maissa Abdel Latif | Director, Women’s Coalition for Human Rights
Sara Flounders | Co-Director, International Action Center
Medea Benjamin | Co-Founder, CODEPINK
Missy Crutchfield | Co-Founder, Gandhi’s Be Magazine & Gandhi Global Center for Peace
Melissa Turner | Co-Founder, Gandhi’s Be Magazine
Mohamed Ahmed Ismail | Co-Coordinator, Egyptians Abroad for Democracy World
****FOR FURTHER INFORMATION THE CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS CRISIS IN EGYPT****
