Sisi of Egypt still has a blank check for repression | Middle East

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On June 14, just two weeks before the eighth anniversary of the coup against President Mohamed Morsi, an Egyptian court upheld the death sentences of 12 supporters of the late president. The decision did not surprise the human rights community. Since the overthrow of Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, on July 3, 2013, General Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has ruled Egypt with an iron fist, trying to eradicate any form of opposition.

More than 1,000 people died in the events of 2013, tens of thousands were imprisoned, many were forcibly disappeared and tortured. Since the coup, the Justice Committee of the Geneva-based rights group has also documented the cases of 92 political prisoners who have been executed in Egypt. Death sentences for another 64, upheld by the highest court of appeals and ratified by el-Sisi, could be enforced at any time.

The confirmation of the twelve death sentences is the climax of one of the most farcical trials in Egyptian history, which dealt with the brutal dispersal of the Muslim Brotherhood site in Rabaa al-Adaweya Square in Cairo after the coup. state. Instead of prosecuting security forces who perpetrated what Human Rights Watch described as “one of the killings of the world’s largest protesters in a single day in recent history,” Egyptian authorities tested the site’s leaders. . Many of those who survived the massacre were imprisoned in conditions equivalent to a premeditated murder and some of them have already died in prison, including Morsi himself.

Intelligence agencies were preparing public opinion for several months for a possible action against the leaders of the Rabaa site. In addition to a media campaign demonizing the demonstrations against the coup, a television series broadcast at Ramadan depicted protesters as terrorists, while absolving security forces of any responsibility for the massacre.

Despite repeated condemnations by human rights organizations, el-Sisi does not appear to be threatened by any possible international reaction to the executions. In fact, he currently seems to be at the peak of his power, both nationally and regionally.

During Donald Trump’s tenure as president of the United States, el-Sisi was encouraged to pursue his repressive policies. When Trump lost the U.S. presidential election against Joe Biden in November 2020, the Egyptian president tried to avoid any criticism of the new U.S. administration by changing the course on human rights. In December 2020, the foreign ministry announced that the government was working on a “national human rights strategy.” The media then began to speculate on the imminent release of political prisoners.

El-Sisi even took steps towards normalizing relations with Qatar, which were damaged after he joined Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in imposing a blockade on the country in 2017.

In May, when Israel launched its last assault on Gaza, el-Sisi seized the moment with unprecedented pragmatism to emerge as a major peace mediator and defender of Western interests. He promoted a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, for which he was widely praised in the West.

Meanwhile, he continued to reposition himself by slowly moving away from Abu Dhabi. His relations with Qatar improved, to the point that the death sentences were confirmed while his foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, was in Doha, talking to Al Jazeera.

On the other hand, opponents of the regime, the Muslim Brotherhood, were losing political ground in the face of the regime’s diplomatic offensive in the region and are on the verge of withdrawal.

Internal repression has successfully silenced all dissent in Egypt, with the active support of justice. Since the assassination of Attorney General Hisham Barakat in 2015, the regime has deliberately subordinated and armed the judicial system against its opponents.

Egyptian courts have legalized the pre-trial detention of tens of thousands of people for years, handed down death sentences and allowed the state to successfully confiscate the assets of businessmen. In 2015, it even went against the national interest in approving el-Sisi’s decision to transfer two strategic islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia.

Faced with little criticism from the West and feeling safer at home and in the region, al-Sisi does not feel pressured to stop his murderous campaign against the opposition.

Therefore, it is unlikely that he will refrain from ratifying the death sentences or moving them to life imprisonment.

Executions are more likely to take place, as there is no indication that there is a strong backlash from the West or the international community at large. Alternatively, el-Sisi can ratify death sentences, but can postpone executions indefinitely to use as a bargaining chip with his opponents abroad or in the event of external pressure on human rights or a democratic transition. .

The silence of the international community on the progressive campaign of extermination of the el-Sisi opposition contrasts with the recent events in The Hague, where the life sentence of Serbian military leader Ratko Mladić, nicknamed the “Bosnian butcher”. Mladić and el-Sisi are serial killers, but their career is over, while the other flourishes amid impunity.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial stance of Al Jazeera.





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