washington — The Biden administration’s approval this week of a $1.3 billion military aid package for Egypt despite its failure to hit human rights benchmarks has been criticized by rights experts.
The bill’s approval Wednesday overrode human rights benchmarks required to release a certain portion of the aid. A group of senators had earlier urged the administration in a letter to withhold the aid, citing the Egyptian government’s “targeting of political opponents and journalists.”
Egypt, a longtime ally of the U.S., was far from reaching those benchmarks, Yeganeh Rezaian of the Committee to Protect Journalists, or CPJ, told VOA. “No one can say Egypt is making human rights progress,” Rezaian said.
The senators’ letter cited Egypt’s failure to investigate “allegations of human rights abuses,” including enforced disappearances and torture in prison, especially for journalists and political dissidents.
This was the first time during Biden’s presidency that Egypt received the full amount of U.S. foreign military financing allocated to Cairo. In previous years, a portion of aid had been withheld because of human rights concerns, according to CPJ.
This year, the human rights requirements were waived in the interest of advancing cease-fire negotiations in Gaza, territory that borders Egypt, a spokesperson for Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Reuters.
“Egypt plays an important role in accessing Gaza for peace talks in Israel,” Rezaian told VOA. “But that’s why the security of journalists and freedom of information in the country is very important for everyone, inside and outside.”
CPJ researchers believe the world’s increased focus on the Israel-Hamas war has drawn attention away from other allegations of human rights violations in the same region.
In Egypt, CPJ has documented the arrests of four journalists who were subjected to enforced disappearances since March. Their cases highlight the “shameful record” of media persecution in Egypt, according to a joint statement published Monday by the CPJ and 34 other international rights groups.
The statement called for the release of Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida and Yasser Abu Al-Ela.
Authorities took all four journalists to undisclosed locations before their appearances in Egypt’s court. At least two have been subjected to physical torture during their imprisonment, according to CPJ.
“By releasing these folks, the government can show they believe in press freedom and democracy,” Rezaian told VOA.
Among those detained is Omar, a cartoonist for independent news website Al-Manassa. Omar was subjected to electric shocks and other forms of physical torture, his wife told an Egyptian news website.
Omar had published multiple “critical cartoons” about the policies of his government, Sophie Brondel of Cartooning for Peace told VOA. She added that authorities have questioned him about his cartoons during detainment. Cartooning for Peace was one of the 34 co-signers of CPJ’s statement.
“We can see in many authoritarian regimes that cartoonists are often among the first targets,” Brondel told VOA. “With their drawings, they have the capacity to also reach out to a broader public.”
Freemuse, another artistic freedom organization that signed the document, has been monitoring Egypt’s media landscape for years.
The organization noted an increase in how the government has “hammered down on freedom of expression,” Sverre Pedersen, Freemuse’s executive director, told VOA.
“Without free expression and free art, it’s not possible to have democracy,” Pedersen said.
Egypt has consistently been a top-10 jailer of journalists worldwide, according to CPJ data. The watchdog contends that torture and enforced disappearance of media workers are common practices under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
In the decade since el-Sissi came to power, media repression in Egypt has intensified. The country has become “one of the world’s most oppressive countries towards journalists,” with dozens of arrests and the blocking of over 500 news websites, according to Reporters Without Borders.
The Egyptian Embassy in Washington did not respond to VOA's email requesting comment.
“Our statement is the first step in terms of raising awareness,” said Rezaian of CPJ. “We want the statement to be amplified as much as possible and are hoping to move towards international pressure.”
