Musings From Abroad

US withholds $85 million military aid to Egypt. Here’s why

Published

1 year ago

September 15, 2023

The United States has made bold its threat to Egypt with plans to withhold $85 million in military aid over the government’s refusal to free political prisoners.

The position was made public in a congressional notification obtained quoted by Reuters and a US senator. According to the report, the Biden administration was encouraged to withhold an additional $235 million by Democratic Senator Chris Murphy, and two other sources familiar with the situation indicated a decision on those funds was anticipated soon.

“We are consulting with Congress as we finalize our actions,” said a State Department spokesperson when asked about Murphy’s comments on the Senate floor.

A State Department letter to congressional committees outlining the foreign military financing revealed that of the $85 million being withheld, $55 million will be sent to Taiwan and the remaining $30 million to Lebanon.

“The administration rightly decided to withhold that first tranche – $85 million tied to the release of political prisoners – because there’s just no question there has not been enough progress,” Senator Murphy said.

“I would urge the administration to finish the job and withhold the full $320 million … until Egypt’s human rights and democracy record improves,” he added.

According to US demand, Egypt must “make clear and consistent progress in freeing political prisoners, providing detainees with due process of law, and prohibiting the intimidation and harassment of American citizens” before receiving the $85 million.

Seth Binder of the rights organisation Project on Middle East Democracy noted that the $85 million that was withheld “is a notable turnaround from last year.” Yet, the administration would essentially be telling al-Sisi that it feels the Egyptian government has improved its record on human rights if it withholds less money than it has in the previous two years, which is just untrue.

Egypt has a depressing history of rights abuses in recent years as Egyptian authorities continued to crush all forms of peaceful dissent and stifle civic space.

“They’ve arrested tens of thousands of people, including journalists, human rights defenders, activists, protesters, artists, football fans, politicians – even very unlucky bystanders because some policemen suspected them of being Muslim Brotherhood members or critical of the authorities,” says Hussein Baoumi, Egypt researcher for Amnesty International, who now lives outside the country.

Related Topics:Egypt Featured Human Right President Joe Biden

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Musings From Abroad

Finnish court imprisons Nigeria’s Simon Ekpa for aiding terrorism

Published

9 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Simon Ekpa, a Nigerian separatist leader based abroad, has been placed under detention by the Päijät Häme District Court in Finland on suspicion of inciting others to commit acts of terrorism.

According to the local daily, Helsingin Sanomat, the court rendered the ruling on Thursday following his arraignment by the Central Criminal Police for his involvement in the terror attacks that have afflicted the southeast area of Nigeria.

“The police suspect that the man has promoted his efforts from Finland with means that have led to violence against civilians in the region of South-Eastern Nigeria,” stated Otto Hiltunen, the crime commissioner and investigation head.

“The man has carried out his activity, among other things, on his social media channels.”

Hiltunen also informed the court that the police suspected four additional individuals in Finland of funding Ekpa’s activities.

According to the story, Ekpa is of Nigerian descent and was born in the Finnish city of Lahti.

His offence occurred between August 23, 2021, and November 18, 2024, according to court documents cited in the publication.

Ekpa is not the only person the police have arrested. In February 2023, they caught him at a private Lahtian flat, but he was freed the same day.

Through the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, Ekpa has continued to be outspoken on social media, raising money and agitating for a Biafran nation to secede. In the southeast part of Nigeria, both factions have been involved in acts of violence, murders, and maimings.

Since gaining formal independence in 1960, Nigeria has seen the emergence of several separatist organisations. The latest surge of calls for self-determination among different ethnic groups has been louder under its immediate previous President Muhammadu Buhari.

Musings From Abroad

Malian singer Rokia Traore arrested in Italy, to be sent to Belgium

Published

1 day ago

November 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

After Italy’s top court denied her appeal, well-known Malian singer, Rokia Traore, who was detained in Rome in June due to a global child custody dispute, will be sent over to Belgium in the next few days, her attorney announced on Wednesday.

The 50-year-old Traore is a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR and one of Africa’s most well-known vocalists.

“Rokia suffered an injustice. She was arrested without the Belgian criminal court hearing her voice. Now, the battle for Rokia’s rights moves to Brussels,” lawyer Maddalena Del Re said in a statement to Reuters.

The attorney also stated that in its decision late Tuesday, Italy’s Court of Cassation upheld an extradition decision from the European Court of Justice.

Under a European arrest order, Traore was taken into custody on June 20 at the Fiumicino airport in Rome. In October 2023, she was given a two-year prison sentence in Belgium related to a dispute over her daughter’s custody.

She had flown to perform outside Rome’s Colosseum, and she has been imprisoned in Civitavecchia, close to the Italian city, since her detention at Fiumicino.

Lawyer Del Re said that because a conviction was rendered without the defendant’s presence, the Belgian process goes against both international norms and Italian constitutional standards.

After she disregarded a court order to turn over her baby to her Belgian father, the singer’s divorced ex-partner, she was initially taken into custody in France in 2020 on a Belgian arrest warrant.

She disobeyed orders not to leave France until her extradition case was handled by taking a private jet to Mali months after being conditionally released. Mali is where her daughter resides.