Biden Administration grants $1.3 Billion as Military Aid to Egypt and Waives Human Rights Conditions.

The Biden administration has disregarded human rights conditions in Egyptian state and has delivered the full amount of 1.3 billion of military funding for the first time after the beginning of his presidency, a State Department official told. This decision comes even as there are serious questions being raised over Egypt’s record on human rights in the treatment of its citizens which include the recent crackdowns on dissent by the el-Sisi regime. 

 Of the $1.3 billion in US foreign military aid to Egypt, usually $320 million is contingent on Egypt’s human rights situation. Severally, some of this amount has been withheld in recent years due to Egypt’s noncompliance with these standards. Nonetheless, Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, informed Congress that he was going to lift 225 million dollars of these conditions, stating that national security is in the U.S. interest. 

 “This decision is crucial to moving forward the process of achieving regional peace and to Egypt’s support of the U. S. national security interests such as the reunification of a cease fire in gaza, hostage negotiating, and delivery of humanitarian assistance towards palestine”, a State Department official relayed. 

 Blinken’s decision shows the further focus on Egypt as a significant ally that plays a significant role of the mediator between Israel and Hamas. Egypt is strategically located and being an ally it is well-suited to provide diplomacy to negotiate cease fire and avail resources for Gazans. However, it should also be noted that the Biden administration does not cease the reference to human rights in practice of its relations with Egypt. 

 Dem  Senator Chris Murphy, the chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s Middle East subcommittee also slammed the waiver, arguing that ‘Egypt is still a repressive autocratic state’, and that ‘waiving those conditions erode s the U. S. ’s commitment for human rights’. 

Murphy pointed out that Egypt has been a strategic regional partner. Still, the U.S. had paused military assistance because of Cairo’s human rights records, with a specific point on political prisoners’ situation. 

 Human rights violation Still, the government led by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has been accused of human rights abuses such as torture and enforced disappearances. However, Sisi has vehemently disputed the existence of political prisoners in the country and has insisted that his administration has prioritized stability and meeting the basic human needs of the citizens through offering them employment and houses among other things. 

 He said that Egypt had made satisfactory progress on political prisoners this year. Thus, the US has released $95 million in assistance to Egypt’s State Department. Some of these campaigns were to write laws that would change pretrial detention procedures and free some prisoners. But World Human Rights Organizations have criticized these reforms, saying that the abuses persisted. 

 Seth Binder of the Middle East Democracy Center, who also advocates for pro-democracy in the Middle East, condemned the waiver in as much as Egypt continues to arrest the Democrats. “There is no reasonable assessment that can indicate that there is improvement in the human rights situation in Egypt. It is a big crisis,” said the official, adding that although 970 had been released, there were at least 2278 new arrests during the same time. 

 The State Department, however, maintains that it remains to engage in a ‘stiff conversation’ with Egypt on the need to do more to improve the status of human rights in the country to maintain the relationship between the two countries.