Egypt’s US embassy ties human rights workers to terror groups

The Egyptian embassy in the US has tweeted a statement connecting human rights workers who inform members of Congress of abuses committed by the Cairo regime with terror organisations.

the overwhelming majority of Congressional members who stand firm in refusing to be deceived by lies and falsehoods propagated by people who belong to a terrorist organization with a known record in disseminating hatred and inciting to violence ….. (6/7)

— Embassy of Egypt USA (@EgyptEmbassyUSA) August 11, 2021

In the same thread, the embassy praises the Biden administration’s “tremendous support” in bolstering bilateral relations between Egypt and the US.

This week, the Biden administration voiced its support for the US and Egypt’s security relationship on the grounds that Egypt plays a vital role in managing the Suez Canal and its role in the Israel-Hamas ceasefire in May, despite pressure from human rights advocates to leverage military aid on improved human rights.

READ: 9 Democrats back resolution slamming Egypt for unjust imprisonment of women

Advocacy Officer for the Washington Advocacy team at Human Rights Watch (HRW) Elisa Epstein tweeted a screenshot of the embassy’s tweet and added: “This tweet from Egypt’s embassy in the US is deeply harmful & concerning. Those of us who rightly inform members of Congress of Egypt’s human rights record are providing important context to push the US to abide by its own and intl law standards in setting US policy.”

In October last year, UN experts said that Egypt was using exceptional terrorism circuit courts to target human rights defenders, silence dissent and detain activists.

Human rights defenders in Egypt are regularly added to terrorist lists after arbitrary proceedings, HRW has documented, and security forces have arbitrarily arrested and detained thousands of people on unfounded terrorism-related charges.

War crimes and grave human rights abuses have been committed in Sinai in the name of counterterror, including extrajudicial killings, the torture of children and mass displacement and the destruction of homes.