Why does Egypt's Response 'on Human Rights' Bother Activists?

The Egyptian politician, Dr. Mohamed El-Baradei, and others criticized the strong Egyptian response to the statement of 31 countries over the human rights file. Some of those politicians believed that Egypt made a mistake by responding in the same manner, adding that these countries are robust and have old records in respecting human rights, and accusing them of committing human rights violations does not provide an appropriate response.

Some activists stressed the need for Egypt to comply with what was stated in the statement in silence, while ElBaradei fears that Egypt will lose US support regarding the controversial Ethiopian Renaissance Dam case due to Egypt's talks about the failure of the United States to confront racism being practiced against African Americans.

I did not understand why does the Egyptian response bother them to such an extent?

Were they waiting for Egypt to remain silent in the face of a joint statement that was inserted into the Security Council’s work and criticized it for violations of human rights based on false and misleading information?

Egypt is not a state lacking in sovereignty to keep silent over this strange statement. It is a large and influential country in its region and has the ability to respond according to what it deems appropriate for its leadership.

The statement revealed a state of bad faith of some countries that took the human rights file as a pretext to turn the issue into a meaningless political quarrel between Egypt and the countries that signed the statement.

Egypt did not hide its intention to respond in the same way as those countries that found Egypt rejecting their accusations and uncovering the records of human rights violations inside them in a briefed and well-written statement delivered by Ambassador Ahmed Ihab Gamal El-Din, the Egyptian permanent representative of Egypt to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva.

The Egyptian statement called on those countries to firstly overcome their local human rights violations, giving an example in dealing soberly with the politicization of the human rights file.

The 31 countries, which signed the statement, face harsh human rights challenges, such as imposing restrictions on immigrants that amount to endangering their lives.

A few days ago, US President Joe Biden called to stop immigration from Latin America to the United States in a speech that contradicts his rhetoric during his election campaign.

The United States is also suffering from the lack of social justice and the spread of racism, while it doesn't recognize the danger of the terrorist Brotherhood against Egypt, despite its involvement in killing innocent people and burning churches, and attacking police vehicles.

Egypt has demonstrated that it is not a weak country, as it is the only ِArab country that survived the Arab Spring revolutions and managed to achieve security and stability for its citizens. It has even engaged in projects of social protection, comprehensive development, with a view to providing a decent life for its citizens.

We must not forget that Egypt is a country of 100 million people. It does not deny the existence of some inpidual violations, but it is not systematic ones. It is a country facing internal and external challenges amid its wars against terrorism.

Why do we go far ... when the United Nations Human Rights Council criticized the United States and Israel, they withdrew their membership from the Council immediately, but Egypt chose not to withdraw its membership in the Council and showed full commitment to many recommendations which was directed by the Human Rights Council member countries.

Finally, those who talk about human rights in Egypt and turn a blind eye to the danger of the Renaissance Dam on the water rights of 120 million Egyptians and Sudanese citizens have undoubtedly mental problems.

Egypt and Sudan have requested international intervention to solve their crisis with Ethiopia, but there was no effective reply that commensurates to the risk of the situation, especially Egypt and Sudan do not have the luxury of facing the thirst of their peoples when Ethiopia begins the second filling of the dam,

This article was prepared by Mahmoud Basiony in his personal capacity. The opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not reflect the view of SEE or its members.