Situation report on Canadian complicity in Egyptian abuses

Sisi declared Egypt's new president

By supporting Egyptian President Sisi’s iron-fisted regime, the USA and Canada are playing into the hands of ISIS and Al Qaeda.

Since February 2015, Egypt has been a member of the US-led military coalition waging air strikes against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.  Other regional allies with equally egregious human rights records include Saudi Arabia (featured in our 23 May blog post), Bahrain, and the UAE.

In this powerful article, The Nation journalist Rula Jebreal argues that turning a blind eye to Middle Eastern dictators because they are allies is both unprincipled and counterproductive (It’s Time for the U.S. to Support Democracy, Not Dictatorship, in Egypt, The Nation, 5 June 2015).

Instead, we should:

freeze our aid to Egypt and tie its resumption to concrete democratic reforms including welcoming the Muslim Brotherhood back into a democratic, inclusive political process.  We should also engage immediately with the office of the Grand Mufti of Egypt to convince him not to sign the death sentence of former President Morsi, pending next week.

For the full article see: It’s Time for the U.S. to Support Democracy, Not Dictatorship, in EgyptThe Nation, 5 June 2015

For more information, see the following links:

Situation with former President Morsi

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2015/06/egypt-court-adjourns-morsi-death-sentence-verdict-150602090515345.html

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/egypts-morsi-caused-his-own-downfall-baird-suggests/article13002476/

Mohamed Fahmy and the other Al Jazeera journalists

http://www.theobserver.ca/2015/04/01/canadian-government-refuses-fahmys-passport-application

http://www.torontosun.com/2015/04/01/canadian-government-refuses-fahmys-passport-application

Egypt’s Human Rights record

https://www.amnesty.org/en/countries/middle-east-and-north-africa/egypt/report-egypt/

http://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/03/egypt-judge-issues-mass-death-sentences

http://www.hrw.org/news/2015/06/08/egypt-year-abuses-under-al-sisi

Canada-Egypt relations

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/egyptian-ambassador-lauds-prudent-diplomatic-stance-by-canada-in-wake-of-coup

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For further analysis: Countering Islamic State: A Failing Strategy and Update on Canadian complicity in Saudi abuses

Photo credit: Anadolu Agency

Tags: Al Jazeera, Canada, Canadian aid policy, Egypt, Human rights, International Aid, Military