12, April 2016 Egypt’s Repressive Policies
We are paying a
heavy price for coddling repressive regimes in the Middle East. Prior to
General Sisi’s rule, we delivered $1.3 billion of military hardware to prop up
decades of repressive rule of Hosni Mubarak. Since Sisi rose to power, a
climate of terror has been unleashed; the country’s top human rights defenders
are languishing in jail and have their bank accounts frozen.
Unconcerned with
gross human rights abuses we continue to sell billions of weapons to all the
Gulf States. Israel has also been the beneficiary of billions of economic and
military aid in spite of its decades of harsh occupation and settlement
expansion.
Outraged by the
escalating repression, leading American Middle East experts — including two who
served in the Obama administration —urged President Obama to confront President
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. They condemned the
arbitrary imprisonment of tens of thousands of Egyptians and the use of
torture and extrajudicial killings, including the brutal slaying of an Italian
student believed to have been carried out by state security. There is little
doubt that Egypt’s scorched earth policies are fueling much of the opposition.
Tamara Wittes, a fellow at the Brookings
Institution was more forthright stating “Egypt is neither an anchor of
stability nor a reliable partner.” Obama should heed these collective voices
and call an immediate halt to military aid to such a repressive regime that has
shown total disregard for human rights.
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