Calls to Condition Egypt’s Aid Amid Human Rights Abuses

On Sunday, the Washington Post editorial board recommended that the U.S. government withhold promised military aid until all the nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) raided by Egyptian police late last year are “allowed to reopen and harassment of their Egyptian partners ceases.” In a similar protest to military rule, former IAEA chief Mohammed ElBaradei withdrew from the Egypt’s presidential race. ElBaradei said in a statement that “[his] conscience does not permit [him] to run for the presidency or any other official position unless it is within a democratic framework.”  Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Matt Bradley argues that while ElBaradei was a liberal favorite, his withdrawal “will do little to alter the existing balance of power among Egypt’s announced presidential field.” David Kirkpatrick of the New York Times agrees that ElBaradei had little chance at being elected, but says “his exit from the presidential race could also open the way for an endorsement,” possibly of former Muslim Brotherhood leader Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh.

Also this week, Human Rights Watch issued a report  titled “The Road Ahead: A Human Rights Agenda for Egypt’s New Parliament” on the framework of repressive laws that underpinned the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak and its recommendations for reform. According to the report, Egyptians have experienced many of the same kinds of human rights abuses over the past year “that characterized Mubarak’s police state,” and that under the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), “excessive use of force, torture, attacks on peaceful protests, and arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters, bloggers, and journalists have become commonplace.” The report suggests reforms to nine types of repressive laws, including ending the Emergency Law and military tribunals of civilians, revoking limits on free speech and the media, allowing independent NGOs to operate lawfully, decriminalizing free assembly and demonstration, and amending the definition of torture to be in line with international law, among others.