President Barak Obama’s administration has submitted the Congress a report criticizing Egypt’s democratic trajectory.
“The overall trajectory for rights and democracy has been negative [.…]A series of executive initiatives, new laws and judicial actions severely restrict freedom of the press, freedom of association, freedom of peaceful assembly and due process, and they undermine prospects for democratic governance” the report was quoted by New York Times Sunday.
The newspaper revealed that the report was submitted to the Congress on May 12 without “public announcement.”
The report noted that the government failed to hold human rights violators accountable for “arbitrary or unlawful killings.”
Egyptian security forces have committed irregularities and killings against political activities, lawyers and detainees, distorting Egypt’s human rights record.
In an interview with a Germany ZDF channel Saturday, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi admitted that police officers have committed irregularities.
“I apologize to any Egyptian citizen if he was humiliated as I consider myself responsible for anything relevant to Egyptian citizens; also I need to make it clear for police officers or any governmental institutions’ officials that we deal with human beings and we all need to take care of them,” Sisi said Sunday in a speech.
Following the dispersal of the pro-Muslim Brotherhood sit-ins in Rabaa al-Adaweya and Nahda Squares in August 2013, the relations between Egypt and U.S. soured when part of the American annual aid to Egypt, worth at $ 1.5 billion, suspended in August 2013. However, the ties have been improved and U.S. has gradually unsuspended the partial aid.
Despite of the report’s criticism, it praised the Egyptian economic reforms, noting that Egypt is an important country, saying its “success or failure impacts the prospects of peace, stability, democracy and economic growth across the Middle East.”
