More than 20 leading U.S. and international rights groups and think tanks separately made the same appeal, arguing that the U.S. practice of holding back some aid was leading el-Sissi to make “limited, albeit insufficient ” rights improvements in Egypt. Egypt agreed instead to provide the United States with artillery rounds for transfer for Ukraine, the Post reported, citing another leaked document. Congress in recent years has made the U.S. payment of roughly $300 million of U.S. military aid contingent on Egypt’s government showing progress on rights, although the State Department can partially override that, on national security grounds. Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, PEN International and other rights groups and think tanks in the other letter Friday credited the Biden administration’s financial pressure with helping persuade Egypt to free more than 1,000 political detainees. At the same time, rights advocates say, Egypt has detained nearly 5,000 others, and renewed pretrial detentions of thousands more.

Source: Ethiopian News July 28, 2023 17:10 UTC