Ancient Egypt–

A Lebanon in the makingunder Dictator Al Sisi?

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By Latheef Farook

Early this month around 200 frontline European lawmakers called on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to address “human rights crisis” in Egypt under military dictator Abdel Fattah Al Sisi.
In their letter signed by MPs from across the continent, they urged the UNHRC to take “resolute action” ahead of the council’s upcoming session in March. They accused the international community of a “persistent failure to take any meaningful action to address Egypt’s human rights crisis.”

“This failure, along with continued support to the Egyptian government and reluctance to even speak up against pervasive abuses has only deepened the Egyptian authorities’ sense of impunity,” it said. The situation is such that former detainee RamyShaath says Egypt is a ‘republic of fear’.

Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, an army general, was installed in power by an Israeli sponsored military coup implemented by US-Israeli stooges Saudi Arabia ,Abu Dhabi and Kuwait.

The three countries-Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait-invested eleven billion dollars to create artificial food and fuel shortage paving the way for uprising which overthrew the democratically elected pro Islamic Brotherhood President Mohamed Al Morsy

Since then tens of thousands of Sisi’s critics languish in jails, and many have been tortured, forcibly disappeared or forced to live in exile for fear of repression.

Military Dictator Abdel Fattah Al Sisi
 Egyptian human rights lawyer Osama Bayoumi has been “forcibly disappeared” since his detention in Cairo, a rights group told Middle East Eye this month. .”Osama Bayoumi is working on a number of sensitive cases and his clients’ files are now in the hands of authorities after his laptop and phone were seized, a rights group says
Many real or perceived critics of Sisi, including lawyers and journalists, go missing after their detention for days, months or sometimes years. During that time, the detainees are usually tortured, mistreated or forced to make confessions to crimes they did not commit.
“The ENHR condemns the repressive practices of the Egyptian security authorities, including storming citizens’ homes at dawn, intimidating children, and women and the elderly, and seizing money and private property without obtaining permission from the competent prosecution
The Front for Defending the Independence of Lawyerssaid that at least 50 lawyers are being held in pre-trial detention in Egypt.


Egyptian lawyer Osama Bayoumi has been missing since his arrest early this month

Hossam Sallam ‘forcibly disappeared’ following an emergency landing of his flight in southern Egypt, says rights group (Photo supplied by We Record)

Hossam Menoufi Mahmoud Sallam, 29, was on board Badr Airlines flight number J4690 from Khartoum to Istanbul on 12 January when it landed at Luxor Airport in southern Egypt.

Sallam had been a supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood and had sought refuge in Sudan since 2016 for fear of facing persecution.The Brotherhood has been labelled a terrorist organization in Egypt and supporters and alleged supporters have been arrested in their thousands since 2013.

Many journalists, lawyers and government critics have been arrested at Egyptianairports. Sisi has overseen what HRW has described as the worst crackdown on human rights in the country’s modern history.
In the group’s World Report 2022, it said Egypt’s security forces have regularly acted with impunity, routinely conducting arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and torture of real or suspected political activists as well as ordinary citizens.

Immediately following the coup, Sisi began work on an eliminationist political programme designed to ensure the impossibility of another democratic uprising. The programfeatured a cocktail of intimidation, brute force, draconian legislation, media propaganda and judicial corruption. Several indicators suggest that Egypt is in worse shape today than it was at any point during the Mubarak era.

The post-coup regime has carried out several massacres against peaceful protesters, issued a string of draconian legislation and filled Egyptian prisons beyond capacity, a reality that has necessitated the expansion of Egypt’s prison system.

Sisi has shut down all oppositional media networks, creating an effective propaganda system that drives home the regime’s singular narrative, and used the judiciary as a “tool of repression”. All political opposition has been eliminated: the Muslim Brotherhood has been driven underground, serious political organizations have been banned, and would-be challengers to Sisi have been intimidated and arrested.

Sisi’s assault on basic human rights prompted Amnesty International to describe Egypt as an “open-air prison”.
Despite being propped up with billions of dollars in grants from loyal Gulf allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and also securing billions in international loans, Egypt’s economy has struggled mightily. The wealth gap has grown significantly under Sisi, and poverty among Egyptians has increased, largely as the natural byproduct of crippling inflation. The average Egyptian has thus found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet.

In fact, there is fear that things could get much worse.

An analysis by Robert Springborg, suggests that Egypt could follow Lebanon into “failed economy” status, particularly if it continues the implementation of Sisi’s economic program.

This is what Israel wants to implement its Greater Israel Plan which include part of Egypt.

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A Lebanon in the makingunder Dictator Al Sisi? - Views expressed by writers in this section are their own and do not necessarily reflect Latheefarook.com point-of-view

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