Human Rights in Egypt: El-Sisi Continues His Authoritarianism
The Egyptian government under military leader Abdel Fattah El-Sisi has continued carrying out a wide range of human rights abuses following the coup to remove Mohammad Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood from power in July of 2013. According to recent reports, the government is keeping a close eye on the situation at Egyptian Universities.
This comes after continued oppression against protesters who were challenging the legitimacy of El-Sisi’s regime, given that he came to power outside of the ballot boxes. Furthermore, in this early days and months following the coup, forces carried out very repressive tactics against protesters, which included killings and jailings. And these actions also happened at universities such as Al Azhar.
Just recently, the university was reopened. However, as Louise Loveluck and Mohamed Ezz of Christian Science Monitor explain, “As Egyptian students prepare for the new academic year, starting this Saturday, the authorities are determined to ensure that such violent clashes don’t happen again. Security measures on campuses have intensified, and university authorities have assumed control of faculty elections and won the right to fire outspoken staff.” In addition, “Anticipating fresh unrest, the authorities at Al Azhar have added new paperwork to applications for university housing. “I promise that I will not participate in any political activities at the university dorms,” reads one form that students must sign in order to secure a bed (Loveluck & Ezz, 2014).
And at Cairo University, police are on site monitoring metal detectors as students went into the university (Wochit, 2014, in Yahoo). In addition, there have been private security forces hired to ensure that violence does not break out at universities. However, the actions are not limited to students. For example, “Egypt’s cabinet has approved a new amendment to a statute regulating university employees, allowing the expulsion without appeal of staff members in apparent breach of university regulations.” In addition, early in his time in office, El-Sisi also reestablished the policy that top university posts will be appointed by the state. This is in line with policies under the Hosni Mubarak regime (Loveluck, 2014). And while there was faculty pushback, and while some recognize what this does to free speech of all citizens, the government has gone ahead with these positions.
The situation is Egypt continues to mirror those of Hosni Mubarak, and the authoritarianism is clearly evidence. Human rights in Egypt are not at the forefront of the policies of El-Sisi. This is a government that continues to repress the rights of all Egyptians, and thus, it is important to continue the call for human rights in Egypt, and for outside states to recognize the authoritarian practices of El-Sisi. Human rights in Egypt must be protected for all citizens, and under all governments; one should have criticized Morsi’s moves away from human rights, as well as those of El-Sisi.
The international community must continue to spotlight the abuses of the El-Sisi regime, and must call for an end to all undemocratic practices and policies. States cannot stand by and support such authoritarian actions just because the leader brings stability and fits their interests with regards to domestic and/or foreign policies.
