WASHINGTON — Purse-string holders in the US House released a foreign aid bill June 2 that removes human rights restrictions on assistance to Egypt, the latest sign that the United States is casting its lot with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi despite lingering concerns.
The proposed appropriations bill eliminates previous requirements that Egypt hold "free and fair" parliamentary elections and take steps to foster democracy and protect human rights before $1.3 billion in military aid can be released. Doing so would in effect revert US bilateral assistance to the way it was under strongman Hosni Mubarak, with Egypt only required to sustain its strategic relationship with the United States and uphold its peace treaty with Israel.
"What we want to do with Egypt is return to the way it was," said State and Foreign Operations panel Chairwoman Kay Granger, R-Texas. "We felt that [Egypt was] trying [to instill democracy] with Sisi and was keeping other agreements that were in our national security interests."
The bill comes as the State Department has informed Congress that it cannot certify Egypt's democratic progress under the existing law. In a blistering assessment sent to Congress on May 12 and obtained by Al-Monitor, the State Department bemoans a "pervasive lack of respect for international due process standards and other fair trial safeguards."
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