The Biden administration's decision to waive all human rights conditions on military assistance to Egypt disregards the country's long-running human rights crisis and the ongoing repression that undermines Egyptians' political and economic rights, Human Rights Watch said today.
The Biden administration has partially withheld military assistance from Egypt for the past three years based on human rights concerns, which US appropriations legislation requires them to consider. This is the first year the entire conditioned amount will be granted.
"Rights protections for the Egyptian people are the point of these Congressional conditions," said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. "The decision to roll through them might seem to serve a short-term gain but only adds to impunity for the Egyptian government as it continues its assault on its own population."
Currently, the US government gives Egypt $1.3 billion annually in Foreign Military Financing. For the current fiscal year, $320 million of this sum is conditioned on Egypt meeting certain human rights benchmarks or criteria. The US government makes an annual human rights assessment, and $225 million can be withheld if the government has not taken "sustained and effective" steps to improve a range of rights and freedoms, such as protecting freedom of expression and association, and strengthening the rule of law.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken waived these conditions due to the "US national security interest," a State Department spokesperson said. The spokesperson said that this decision was important to both "advancing regional peace" and in recognition of Egypt's contributions to various US national security priorities, including "to finalize a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, and surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need."
Another $95 million of aid is specifically tied to demonstrating progress on the release of political prisoners. The Biden administration determined that Egypt has made sufficient progress to grant these funds, the spokesperson said. Human Rights Watch calls into serious question this assessment given that thousands of prisoners are being arbitrarily detained on political grounds. US Senators Chris Coons and Chris Murphy share those concerns, writing in a joint statement that the Egyptian government has not made "clear and consistent progress" as required by the law.
Indeed, the human rights situation in Egypt is dire. In May 2024, a prominent opposition leader was imprisoned for trying to challenge President Sisi in the December 2023 elections. In recent weeks, Egyptian authorities arbitrarily detained and referred for prosecution at least four critics of the government for exercising their freedom of expression.
In waiving rights conditions put in place by Congress, the Biden government is placing short-term political considerations above longstanding human rights concerns, Human Rights Watch said. It is sending a message that these abuses will be tolerated under the right conditions. This approach has proven to be counterproductive. The rampant impunity for the military and security forces in Egypt and Israel, the two largest recipients of US military aid, has fueled additional abuses, war crimes, and most likely crimes against humanity.
"Once again, the US government is sending security assistance to a major rights abusing government despite conditions that are supposed to prevent it from doing so," said Sarah Yager, Washington director at Human Rights Watch. "Progress on human rights requires political will and we're just not seeing it here."
