HRW wants Macron to raise concerns over human rights in Egypt
On an otherwise quiet morning of Egypt in the international press, a drive by activists to draw attention to Cairo’s human rights record while President Abdel Fattah El Sisi is in France is getting some traction.
Human Rights Watch urged French President Emmanuel Macron to end France’s “disgraceful policies of indulgence” towards Egypt in a report covered by the AFP. HRW says Macron should make future economic cooperation and military support contingent on improvements in human rights. “A statement from Macron’s office last week said the talks would focus on security and regional security “but also the human rights situation to which France is particularly attentive.’” HRW France Director Benedicte Jeannerod says the fight against terrorism “is tarnished by huge abuses and is a pretext to stifle all kind of pacific protest, and we fear that this creates an atmosphere that is conducive to radicalization,” according to the Associated Press.