EGYPT
Unfortunately for Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, Donald Trump is no longer the U.S. president – so Donald’s “favorite dictator” (Donald actually called him that) no longer has his love, affection, and protection.
The United States government should stop all military aid to Egypt – which runs over $1 billion a year – until the Sissi government is thrown out of office. This brutal tyrant came to power through a violent coup against a democratically elected government, killing over 1,000 supporters of President Mohamed Morsi. Since that time, he has repressed his people, and terrorized, tortured and imprisoned thousands of journalists, humanitarian aid workers, and human rights activists.
In its annual human rights report, the U.S. State Department reports “significant human rights issues” in Egypt, including:
“Unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings by the government or its agents and terrorist groups; forced disappearance; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary detention; political prisoners or detainees; politically motivated reprisal against individuals located outside the country; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; serious restrictions on free expression, the press, and the internet, including arrests or prosecutions of journalists, censorship, site blocking, and the existence of criminal libel laws, which were not enforced; substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association, such as overly restrictive laws governing civil society organizations; restrictions on political participation; violence targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex persons and use of the law to arrest and prosecute arbitrarily such persons; and forced or compulsory child labor, including its worst forms.”
Abdel Fattah al-Sisi is horrible. His regime should not receive one more dollar from the United States. He has to go.