For three consecutive years, Egypt has been the top recipient of German arms despite concerns about President Sisi's human rights abuses
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock at a news conference with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry
(not pictured) in Cairo, Egypt, 12 February 2022 (Reuters)
By MEE correspondent
Published date: 13 February 2022
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday that human rights criteria will play a role in her government's decision to sell arms to allies, including Egypt.
Baerbock made the comments during a press conference with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in the last leg of her first visit to the Middle East after the coalition government came to power in December.
The coalition government, which includes Baerbock's Green party along with the centre-left Social Democrats and the neo-liberal Free Democrats (FDP), has vowed to reduce arms sales to countries outside the EU and Nato.
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Published date: 13 February 2022
Germany's foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said on Saturday that human rights criteria will play a role in her government's decision to sell arms to allies, including Egypt.
Baerbock made the comments during a press conference with her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in the last leg of her first visit to the Middle East after the coalition government came to power in December.
The coalition government, which includes Baerbock's Green party along with the centre-left Social Democrats and the neo-liberal Free Democrats (FDP), has vowed to reduce arms sales to countries outside the EU and Nato.
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The top German diplomat said that a bill due to be introduced later this year will stipulate no exceptions to the "restrictive policy" of arms exports, except in justified individual cases, and after a careful review.
"The human rights situation already plays an important role here," she pointed out, adding that "this will also have an impact on countries that have so far been major recipients of German arms exports."
Omid Nouripour, a Green Party politician, recently told the German news agency that arms exports to Egypt and Saudi Arabia should be withheld.
"There are more than 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt, a double-digit number of prisons have been newly built for this purpose," said Nouripour.
Baerbock also met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, and said they discussed the human rights situation, without providing details, the German news channel DW reported.
In the last three years, Egypt has been the top recipient of German arms sales globally.
In 2021, sales to Egypt boosted Germany's total record exports of €9.35bn ($10.65bn), up by 61 percent from the previous year.
A significant part of the latest sales were maritime and air defence weapons to Egypt, AP reported last month. Total German arms sales to Egypt in 2021 amounted to 4.3 billion.
In response to Baerbock's remarks, Shoukry said that a strong Egyptian military is crucial for the security and stability of Europe.
"What the navy has done in impeding any kind of illegal immigration since September 2016 to Europe, I think, is of the utmost interest to our partners in Europe," he said during Saturday's press conference.
Crackdown on human rights
Western arms exports to the Egyptian government have been condemned by international rights groups as a green light for more human rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch has accused Sisi of overseeing the worst crackdown on human rights in the country's modern history, including mass killings of protesters opposed to his coup in 2013, and subsequent repression of peaceful opposition after Sisi became president in 2014.
The top German diplomat said that a bill due to be introduced later this year will stipulate no exceptions to the "restrictive policy" of arms exports, except in justified individual cases, and after a careful review.
"The human rights situation already plays an important role here," she pointed out, adding that "this will also have an impact on countries that have so far been major recipients of German arms exports."
Omid Nouripour, a Green Party politician, recently told the German news agency that arms exports to Egypt and Saudi Arabia should be withheld.
"There are more than 60,000 political prisoners in Egypt, a double-digit number of prisons have been newly built for this purpose," said Nouripour.
Baerbock also met with President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo, and said they discussed the human rights situation, without providing details, the German news channel DW reported.
In the last three years, Egypt has been the top recipient of German arms sales globally.
In 2021, sales to Egypt boosted Germany's total record exports of €9.35bn ($10.65bn), up by 61 percent from the previous year.
A significant part of the latest sales were maritime and air defence weapons to Egypt, AP reported last month. Total German arms sales to Egypt in 2021 amounted to 4.3 billion.
In response to Baerbock's remarks, Shoukry said that a strong Egyptian military is crucial for the security and stability of Europe.
"What the navy has done in impeding any kind of illegal immigration since September 2016 to Europe, I think, is of the utmost interest to our partners in Europe," he said during Saturday's press conference.
Crackdown on human rights
Western arms exports to the Egyptian government have been condemned by international rights groups as a green light for more human rights abuses.
Human Rights Watch has accused Sisi of overseeing the worst crackdown on human rights in the country's modern history, including mass killings of protesters opposed to his coup in 2013, and subsequent repression of peaceful opposition after Sisi became president in 2014.
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The German foreign ministry in December issued a statement denouncing the sentencing of three Egyptian activists to five years in prison, which Cairo rejected as "unacceptable and unjustified meddling in internal affairs".
Earlier in February, close to 200 frontline European politicians signed a letter calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on Egypt to address the country's "human rights crisis".
The letter urged the UNHRC to take "resolute action" ahead of the council's upcoming session in March.
It 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 German foreign ministry in December issued a statement denouncing the sentencing of three Egyptian activists to five years in prison, which Cairo rejected as "unacceptable and unjustified meddling in internal affairs".
Earlier in February, close to 200 frontline European politicians signed a letter calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on Egypt to address the country's "human rights crisis".
The letter urged the UNHRC to take "resolute action" ahead of the council's upcoming session in March.
It 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.
Egypt: Opposition activist begins hunger strike over three year pre-trial detention
Walid Shawky has been in prison since October 2018 over allegations of belonging to a 'terrorist' organisation
A picture taken on 16 January 2022 shows the Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre in Badr city, 65 kms east of Cairo (AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 14 February 2022
A prominent opposition activist in Egypt began a hunger strike on Sunday in protest at more than three years in detention, according to a rights group.
Walid Shawky, a member of the secular April 6 Movement, has been detained since 2018, accused of "belonging to a terrorist organisation," a charge routinely levelled at opposition activists in the country.
Though the 35-year-old dentist was ordered released after the end of the maximum two-year pre-trial detention period, he was never freed, instead having new charges of belonging to a "terrorist" group levelled against him.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) added he was also accused of participating in anti-government demonstrations in 2020, despite having been in detention at that time.
'Catastrophic' rights record
Egypt is thought to have more than 60,000 political prisoners and is regularly singled out for its human rights record, which Amnesty International has described as "catastrophic".
Rights groups have accused Egyptian authorities of maintaining a policy of medical negligence, torture, and ill-treatment of political prisoners, resulting in the death of 49 people in 2021. Six died in December.
Egypt: 42-year-old political prisoner dies after denial of medical care
Walid Shawky has been in prison since October 2018 over allegations of belonging to a 'terrorist' organisation
A picture taken on 16 January 2022 shows the Correctional and Rehabilitation Centre in Badr city, 65 kms east of Cairo (AFP)
By MEE staff
Published date: 14 February 2022
A prominent opposition activist in Egypt began a hunger strike on Sunday in protest at more than three years in detention, according to a rights group.
Walid Shawky, a member of the secular April 6 Movement, has been detained since 2018, accused of "belonging to a terrorist organisation," a charge routinely levelled at opposition activists in the country.
Though the 35-year-old dentist was ordered released after the end of the maximum two-year pre-trial detention period, he was never freed, instead having new charges of belonging to a "terrorist" group levelled against him.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) added he was also accused of participating in anti-government demonstrations in 2020, despite having been in detention at that time.
'Catastrophic' rights record
Egypt is thought to have more than 60,000 political prisoners and is regularly singled out for its human rights record, which Amnesty International has described as "catastrophic".
Rights groups have accused Egyptian authorities of maintaining a policy of medical negligence, torture, and ill-treatment of political prisoners, resulting in the death of 49 people in 2021. Six died in December.
Egypt: 42-year-old political prisoner dies after denial of medical care
Read More »
According to the Arab Organisation for Human Rights, the number of deaths in custody since July 2013 has reached 918.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power after ousting his democratically elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in a military coup in 2013.
Since then, Sisi has been accused by local and international rights groups of overseeing the country's worst crackdown on human rights in its modern history.
Morsi himself suffered from poor health during his five years of detention, before collapsing in court and dying in June 2019.
The UN high commissioner for human rights accused Egyptian authorities of "arbitrarily killing" the 67-year-old Morsi, who was kept in a "brutal condition" in Tora prison.
According to the Arab Organisation for Human Rights, the number of deaths in custody since July 2013 has reached 918.
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power after ousting his democratically elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in a military coup in 2013.
Since then, Sisi has been accused by local and international rights groups of overseeing the country's worst crackdown on human rights in its modern history.
Morsi himself suffered from poor health during his five years of detention, before collapsing in court and dying in June 2019.
The UN high commissioner for human rights accused Egyptian authorities of "arbitrarily killing" the 67-year-old Morsi, who was kept in a "brutal condition" in Tora prison.
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