Murphy Leads 9 Senate Colleagues In Urging Biden Administration To Withhold Military Aid To Egypt Over Human Rights Concerns

WASHINGTON-U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Near East, South Asia, Central Asia, and Counterterrorism, on Thursday led 9 senators in urging the Biden administration to withhold the $320 million of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to Egypt that Congress made contingent upon specific human rights conditions in the FY23 Appropriations Act. In a letter to U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the senators lay out the Egyptian government's failure to make meaningful progress in addressing human rights concerns and argue the U.S. should withhold these funds until Egypt takes sustained and effective steps to improve human rights.

U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tom Carper (D-Del.), and Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) also signed the letter.

The senators detailed the Egyptian government's targeting of political opponents and journalists: "Ahead of presidential elections last year, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's government arrested more than 400 demonstrators for protesting a government-sponsored pro-Sisi electoral event. During the election, the Egyptian government manipulated voter turnout through bribery, coercion, and forced mobilization. And after the election, they sentenced presidential contender Ahmed el-Tantawy and 22 of his campaign supporters to one-year in prison, after previously targeting Tantawy's phone with Predator spyware…The government has also continued to attack and harass journalists and media organizations with new arrests, investigations, bans, and refusals to issue licenses."

"According to the State Department's latest human rights report, the Egyptian government has not only failed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses, it has also continued to commit 'significant human rights' violations such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, torture and life-threating prison conditions, and severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, assembly, and association," the senators added.

The senators argue the U.S. can both enforce its law and maintain its security relationship with Egypt: "Egypt and the United States share mutual security concerns that merit the sustainment of our military-to-military relationship. These include efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, bolster Egypt's efforts to defeat extremist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Sinai, and to strengthen efforts to counter foreign terrorist fighters. We can continue to support these objectives while enforcing the law to withhold $320 million in military aid to Egypt due to a lack of necessary progress on human rights. As the decision to withhold a portion of Egypt's $1.3 billion appropriation for each of the last three years demonstrates, the bilateral security relationship can be effectively sustained at a reduced level of assistance while upholding our values."

They concluded: "The decision the administration will make as to whether to enforce the conditions set forth by Congress on holding Egypt accountable for progress on human rights is critical to advancing long-term U.S. interests in Egypt and American credibility on human rights globally. We urge the administration to withhold the full $320 million as called for by the FY23 Appropriations Act until Egypt's human rights record improves."

Murphy has consistently been a vocal proponent of withholding a portion of security aid to Egypt based on human rights concerns. Murphy raised the issue during the nomination hearings for the new U.S. Ambassador to Egypt and the new Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. He raised it again in June of this year when he chaired a hearing on the FY25 budget request for the Middle East and North Africa. Last October, Murphy applauded U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Ben Cardin's decision to block a portion of foreign military financing to Egypt until the country takes meaningful steps to improve human rights conditions.

Full text of the letter is available HERE and below.

Dear Secretary Blinken,

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs appropriations bill directs the administration to withhold $320 million of Foreign Military Financing (FMF) to Egypt absent improvements on human rights. Over the last year, Egypt's human rights record has continued to deteriorate, despite the Egyptian government's claims to the contrary. Therefore, we urge you to withhold the full amount of $320 million.

Of that amount, $225 million is tied to "sustained and effective steps" by the Egyptian government to: 1) strengthen the rule of law, democratic institutions, and protect women and religious minorities; 2) protect fundamental freedoms, including the ability of NGOs and media to operate freely; 3) hold security forces accountable when they violate human rights; 4) investigate and prosecute cases of extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances; and 5) provide regular access to U.S. officials to areas where U.S. assistance is used.

Over the past year, the Egyptian government's track record on these criteria has declined. Ahead of presidential elections last year, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government arrested more than 400 demonstrators for protesting a government-sponsored pro-Sisi electoral event. During the election, the Egyptian government manipulated voter turnout through bribery, coercion, and forced mobilization. And after the election, they sentenced presidential contender Ahmed el-Tantawy and 22 of his campaign supporters to one-year in prison, after previously targeting Tantawy's phone with Predator spyware.

The government has also continued to attack and harass journalists and media organizations with new arrests, investigations, bans, and refusals to issue licenses. Even when it takes some steps, such as closing the infamous "Foreign Funding" case, which long targeted civil society, it maintains travel bans and asset freezes on several of the individuals in the case and targets others. According to the State Department's latest human rights report, the Egyptian government has not only failed to investigate allegations of human rights abuses, it has also continued to commit "significant human rights" violations such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance, torture and life-threating prison conditions, and severe restrictions on freedoms of expression, assembly, and association.

An additional $95 million of the FY23 FMF allocation is tied to the Egyptian government's "clear and consistent progress" in releasing political prisoners, providing detainees with due process of law, and preventing the intimidation and harassment of American citizens." Egypt continues to detain thousands of political prisoners, including at least two United States legal permanent residents. At least one American citizen has also been held in pre-trial detention for nearly a year. Since the administration refused to certify the Egyptian government had made progress on this condition last year, al-Sisi's regime has released approximately 1,000 prisoners. But for each political prisoner who has been released, Egypt has detained at least two more. In addition, authorities have recycled nearly 1,000 political prisoners to new cases, most of whom continue to languish in pretrial detention beyond the two-year legal maximum but also some who have completed their sentences. Lastly, human rights groups have raised concern that Egyptian authorities use of remote video conferencing for pretrial detention renewal hearings is denying prisoners their due process rights.

Egypt and the United States share mutual security concerns that merit the sustainment of our military-to-military relationship. These include efforts to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, bolster Egypt's efforts to defeat extremist groups, including the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in the Sinai, and to strengthen efforts to counter foreign terrorist fighters. We can continue to support these objectives while enforcing the law to withhold $320 million in military aid to Egypt due to a lack of necessary progress on human rights. As the decision to withhold a portion of Egypt's $1.3 billion appropriation for each of the last three years demonstrates, the bilateral security relationship can be effectively sustained at a reduced level of assistance while upholding our values.

The decisions to withhold these funds the last several years have resulted in the Egyptian government taking some steps in some areas to address U.S. concerns. But the steps to date have been wholly inadequate and undermined by regressions in other areas; we must therefore continue to demonstrate our concern for Egypt's long-term stability by again withholding these funds until the government takes sustained and effective steps to improve human rights, as U.S. law requires.

The decision the administration will make as to whether to enforce the conditions set forth by Congress on holding Egypt accountable for progress on human rights is critical to advancing long-term U.S. interests in Egypt and American credibility on human rights globally. We urge the administration to withhold the full $320 million as called for by the FY23 Appropriations Act until Egypt's human rights record improves.

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