HRW: Trump meeting with Egypt president ignores rights abuses News
HRW: Trump meeting with Egypt president ignores rights abuses

[JURIST] Advocacy group Human Rights Watch [advocacy website] on Sunday criticized [press release] US President Donald Trump’s plan to meet with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, saying the move effectively endorses the country’s poor recent human rights record. Al-Sisi overthrew the democratically elected Mohamed Morsay in July 2013 and oversaw opposition protests that left 1150 people dead. The group says that Under al-Sisi’s presidency, tens of thousands of Egyptians have been arrested and security forces have committed human rights abuses including torture, disappearances, and extrajudicial executions. According to Sarah Margon [professional profile], Washington director at Human Rights Watch, “inviting al-Sisi for an official visit to Washington as tens of thousands of Egyptians rot in jail and when torture is again the order of the day is a strange way to build a stable strategic relationship.”

Egypt has been under the international spotlight lately for its human rights abuses, particularly, it’s treatment of journalists. In February, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon [official profile] welcomed [JURIST report] the decision by Egyptian authorities to release on bail two Al Jazeera journalists awaiting retrial on terror charges. The men were arrested [JURIST report] in December 2013 along with fellow Al Jazeera journalist and Australian national Peter Greste. In March Greste was released [JURIST report] from the Cairo detention facility and deported, under a law allowing the deportation of foreign nationals to their home countries.

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