One of the most perplexing aspects of the months of instability in Egypt that have followed the removal of President Mohammed Morsi from office on July 3, 2013, is the number of prominent Egyptian liberals who have shown themselves to have a somewhat selective commitment to liberal principles, such as a belief in the legitimacy of elected leaders, and universal respect for basic freedoms and the rule of law. 

A piece on Al-Monitor's Egypt Pulse published on Feb. 4 suggests that Wael Nawara may fall into this category. Nawara accuses the members of the Working Group on Egypt, of which I am a member, of providing the “wrong advice” to US President Barack Obama in its Jan. 28 letter.

Nawara notes that the Working Group raised “valid criticisms” of the Egyptian government’s policies since the removal of President Morsi on July 3, but he claims that we have failed to set “these things in the larger context.”

I work for a human rights organization, and have been involved with promoting human rights in countries around the world for over 30 years. This complaint sounds very familiar to me. Governments and those who support them always claim that they are beset by special difficulties, or particular contexts, which excuse them from applying universally accepted human rights principles. I have learned to be skeptical of such claims, and see no reason why the military-backed interim Egyptian government should be given a pass. Human rights standards apply to them, too.