Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 8 May 2016

Shifting US stance on human rights violations in Egypt

Following an official statement from Ittihadiya after President Abdel Fattah El Sisi told a visiting U.S. congressional delegation that human rights in Egypt should not be judged from a “Western perspective,” two Bloomberg View contributors peg “U.S. Doubles Down on Egypt’s Dictator” on the shifting stance of US lawmakers who once sought to make US aid to Egypt contingent on political reform. One of El Sisi’s toughest critics was Chairman of the Senate of Appropriations Subcommittee Lindsey Graham, who led the push for the contingency legislation. “I think he is somebody we can do business with. I think he’s the right guy at the right time, but his actions will determine if I’m right or wrong,” Graham said. “We all understand that Sisi is not perfect, but the failure of Egypt would be a catastrophe for the world.”

The spate of human rights stories continues with the Washington Post’s editorial this weekend headlined “Egypt’s latest target: [redacted],” which treads over the prosecution late last month of 11 men accused of preferring the company of other men, a story that flew largely under the domestic press’ radar. [Pardon the circumloquacious phrasing, but the algorithms aren’t LGBTQ friendly…]

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.