US lawmakers warn of rights deterioration in Egypt

WASHINGTON

U.S. lawmakers cautioned Wednesday of a worsening rights environment in Egypt, even as they said it is unclear how much Washington can do to improve the situation.

“I think the question we need to ask is whether the Egyptian people who have won and lost so much over the past four years are willing to live under the regime that resorts to the same old tactics of intimidation, repression and violence against their own people in the name of security,” Rep. David Cicilline said during a subcommittee hearing on Egypt. “I think ultimately they are not.”

Former Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was deposed from power during a July 2013 military takeover prompted by mass demonstrations in the country calling for his ouster.

Former Field Marshall and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi led the military seizure and went on to win a 2014 presidential poll, taking more than 95 percent of the vote from Egyptian Popular Current rival Hamdeen Sabahi.

“Elections for the sake of elections are not the only requirement for a democracy,” said subcommittee chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. “A government must also govern democratically and respect the rights of its citizens.”

Since Sisi came to power, successive mass trials have resulted in scores of defendants, generally opposition members, being handed long-term prison sentences or the death penalty. Morsi's now-outlawed Muslim Brotherhood has had its assets seized, and many of its members placed on trial. 

On Saturday, an Egyptian court referred 122 of 166 defendants, including Morsi, to the grand mufti to consider possible death sentences for charges of jail breaking and espionage.

“We absolutely must push the Sisi regime to enact democratic reforms and respect fundamental human rights, and I fear that Egypt will find itself once again in the midst of volatile leadership change,” Cicilline said.

But the extent to which Washington can bring Cairo to enact such reform is limited by strategic considerations.

When the U.S. suspended large parts of its annual $1.3 billion security assistance package to Egypt shortly after Morsi’s 2013 ouster, Russia was quick to fill the void.

Washington fully resumed its assistance in March but in the interim Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to a $3.5 billion arms deal with Egypt, worrying U.S. officials that they could lose a key regional ally.

“Recently, Egypt has taken moves that signal that it is willing to move away from the U.S. toward a closer relationship with Russia,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “We cannot afford to allow Putin to undermine our ties with Egypt. It would be a serious blow to our national security interests. But as friends it is also important that we also take issue with Cairo’s lack of progress on the domestic front,” she added.