Raise Egypt human rights concerns, Amnesty tells UK

In 2011, following the Arab Spring, Egypt’s tourist arrivals fell about 40 per cent, only to rally in late 2014 and through this year, by the end of which the country had hoped to return to 2010 levels.

British Prime Minister David Cameron should press Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to take urgent, concrete steps to address grave human rights abuses by his government, Human Rights Watch said today. Given various arms deals with the Egyptian authorities agreed by the United Kingdom earlier this year – consisting of components for military vehicles – Amnesty is insisting that the United Kingdom authorities ensure that they do not transfer arms or equipment that may be used by the Egyptian authorities to commit or facilitate serious human rights violations. “Not in the name of the Egyptian people…”, Maha Azzam, the head of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council, told the crowd.

Sisi isn’t getting the five-star lavishness of Xi’s gold carriages-and-state-banquet visit, but he’s still a welcome guest to London.

Now we need the same kind of pressure to stop our government’s support for the enemies of democracy in the Middle East and beyond.

Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi suggested the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood could again play a role in public life if Egyptians would welcome that, ahead of a visit to Britain criticised by rights campaigners. Egypt’s draconian Protest Law (introduced by presidential decree) has formally outlawed gatherings of ten or more people not approved in advance by the Interior Ministry, but in truth the intention appear to be far more ambitious.

This febrile atmosphere was only heightened by the security situation in Sinai after the downing of a Russian airliner days before, which had taken off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh and which many, Cameron included, suspect may have had a bomb on board.

Sisi said more also needed to be done to tackle the spread of IS militants in Iraq and Syria. Sisi’s crackdown has also involved the detention of journalists and academics amounting to a direct attack on free speech. “I’m here because David Cameron has invited the man who arrested and put my only brother in jail”, she told Socialist Worker. Britain is Egypt’s single largest investor and the trip will include meetings with representatives from British companies to discuss enhanced co-operation in transportation, energy and infrastructure.

His comments came hours after campaign groups called on Cameron to raise Egyptian human rights concerns during Sisi’s visit. Now, a president could serve for a maximum of only two terms of office, he said, and Egyptians would “never again be ruled against their will”.

They were opposed by a group of around 300 Sisi supporters, who held placards reading: “We love you Sisi” and “Welcome Sisi”. “But if the Russian people now believe that as a result of Russian intervention they are unsafe in their favorite holiday spots in Turkey, the Gulf states and North Africa – let alone at home – the mood may swing against him”.