Thread by @tekaldas

While I welcome the joint statement & am pleased the US joined, it will mean nothing without material actions to support it. Repression in Egypt hasn't continued unabated since 2014 for lack of statements

A thread on what works & what hasn't #HRC46

reuters.com/article/egypt-…

For years Western govts condemned the repression & violence visited on Egyptians by their govt. Many of those same govts have continued to send assistance to Cairo, sell weapons to Egypt & invite Sisi to state visits in their capitals while refusing to condition support on rights

Macron criticized human rights violations shortly before awarding Sisi, said rights violator, his nation's highest honor all while rejecting calls that he condition support on human rights

Actions like these aren't a mixed signal they're a clear signal

france24.com/en/live-news/2…

The message to Egypt is: we must criticize rights violations for a domestic audience but it's not a real priority

That's why while Western govts scraped the bottom of their thesaurus for different ways to express 'concern,' aid & arms flow as uninterrupted as Egypt's repression

How could Egyptian leaders reach another conclusion? Why would they entertain a change in practice if there is almost never any serious material pressure for them to change? They & their predecessors have spent decades ignoring most rights complaints & continue to receive support

If the 31 govts who signed the joint statement want to truly improve the rights situation in Egypt they need to put their money where their mouth is.

They must pursue a transactional relationship with Egypt, that attaches conditions for every bit of support they provide the govt

Every weapons deal, every loan, every grant, every state visit can and should come with clear & specific conditions

Egypt's partners won't force Egypt to become a liberal democracy. That's for Egyptians to decide, but they can start to chip away at the scale of the repression

It's not only bilateral aid that can be conditioned. Countries like the US have huge sway over international financial institutions like the IMF & EBRD who have poured tens of billions of dollars into Egypt over past several yrs with no real governance conditions. That can change

Which types of conditions could be considered?

An end to the abuse of pre-trial detentions for political prisoners who spend years without trial in custody

An end to the arrest of journalists

An end to terrorism charges for political critics

An end to blocking websites

Not all conditions need be political

There can also be conditions on economic governance & service provision. If Egypt can afford to be one of the world's largest arms importers it can afford to vaccinate its poor for free & yet it doesn't plan to

carnegieendowment.org/sada/83933

Lending should be responsible. Saying your goal is to achieve inclusive sustainable private sector led growth doesn't replace putting policies & conditions in place that make that a reality. There are ways to acheive this

bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…

If Egypt's partners want their concerns about human rights in Egypt to be taken seriously they must act seriously.

Rolling out the red carpet while showering the regime with money, weapons and praise will dwarf the occasional semi-sternly worded statement.

For clarity, I don’t support conditionality that I don’t believe the regime will ultimately accept if pressed.

My goal isn’t to limit Egyptians’ access to resources. It’s to ensure those resources benefit Egyptians as much as possible rather than primarily the ruling elite.