Hillary Clinton set to meet Sisi at UN General Assembly

US Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is set to meet several foreign leaders at the UN General Assembly next week including Egypt’s military-backed President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.

Whilst human rights campaigners continue to draw attention to Egypt’s escalating human rights abuses – where 60,000 political prisoners currently languish in jails where they are tortured, sexually abused and denied medical care – a number of world leaders have recently met or planned to meet with the dictator.

At the G20 summit in Hangzhou, China, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnball extended an invitation to Sisi so that the two countries could boost bilateral relations and co-operation in fighting terrorism. Sisi recently visited India where he met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi; the two leaders discussed how to take collective action against radicalisation and recruitment.

Sisi has used terrorism as a pretext to crack down on thousands of Egyptians who oppose his rule, yet many leaders see him as a key ally in the fight against Daesh and essential to maintaining security and stability in the region.

Human rights activists have strongly condemned world leaders meeting with the military backed president for being more concerned with boosting trade than taking a stand on human rights.