By Michael Hernandez
WASHINGTON D.C.
With strategic rivals vying for influence in Egypt and instability gripping the region, it is unlikely that the United States will push the Egyptian government into improving the country’s human rights record, say experts.
Al-Jazeera journalists Peter Greste and Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed were sentenced to seven years in prison by an Egyptian court for "falsifying news" and belonging to or assisting the banned Muslim Brotherhood on Monday. Mohamed was sentenced to a further three years for possessing a bullet casing.
The sentences are the most recent in a series of rulings against opposition proponents, including supporters of former Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi.
A total of 683 people were sentenced to death in a court ruling in April, including Mohammed Badie, the spiritual leader of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood, for their role in an attack on a police station in which an Egyptian police officer was killed last August. More than 500 others were sentenced to death in March.
The United States has condemned the decisions, with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry describing the latest as “chilling” and “draconian.”
Still, it is unlikely that the United States will leverage its US$1.5 billion in annual assistance to push for rights improvements in the country. Washington had previously frozen military aid to Cairo in October, and partially resumed it in April following reports that Russia was progressively looking to further its foothold in the country.
“The problem we face is Russia has already started to court Egypt, as has China,” Anthony Cordesman, the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, said while speaking to AA.
In addition to not wishing to see its strategic rivals gain ground in Egypt, the United States is also keen to maintain access to the Suez Canal, a vital resource for commercial and military movement, as well as its over flight rights in Egyptian airspace.
“American influence and leverage is often something that has to be used very carefully,” said Cordesman. “So you wait for the window that gives you the opportunity rather than trying to smash your way through it.”
And to be sure, Egypt faces numerous challenges at home, further complicating Washington’s ability to coax reform from Cairo.
Deteriorating security in the Sinai Peninsula, political discord and an unraveling economy are significant hurdles for Egyptian authorities to address with no imminent solution.
As Sunni militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, threaten to dislodge Iraq’s central government from power, and as ongoing strife fuels instability in Syria, the U.S. is acutely focused on preserving its national security interests in the region said Hardin Lang, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress think tank in Washington.
“With events in Iraq and Syria, particularly Iraq over the last couple of weeks, I think there’s probably a renewed effort on the part of the State Department and the administration here in Washington to try to shore up where possible core elements of the security infrastructure of the Middle East,” he said.
Coupled with regional instability and a progressively assertive Russia and China, Washington will likely have to relent on reform at least temporarily until Egypt's domestic deep-seated issues see some semblance of resolution.
“I think we’re still going to have to come to a moment where it wouldn’t require much for Sisi’s administration to take a couple of steps to begin to show the openings of some basic returns of political freedoms, allowing certain actors out of jail,” said Lang. “It wouldn’t take a great deal to get us back on track.”
Germany condemns 'repressive' Egyptian jail terms
Germany’s human rights commissioner condemned Egypt’s “repressive” measures against the media Tuesday, following the jailing of three Al Jazeera journalists.
Christoph Strasser said: “I am shocked with these long term prison sentences. In this month-long trial the minimum standards of law have not been fulfilled in any way.”
On Monday Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed were imprisoined for seven years by an Egyptian court for "falsifying news" and belonging to or assisting the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Strasser added: “Since the new government took office in Egypt, we are observing with concern new repressive measures against the media, civil society, political opposition and human rights defenders. This policy cannot and will not lead to the long-term stabilization of Egypt.”
He called for the government to respect human rights and freedom of expression. “Free media coverage is an indispensable value for all democracies. The Egyptian authorities must ensure that trials are consistent with the human rights standards to which Egypt has committed to comply with and implement.”
UK journalists protest over Egypt verdict
Hundreds of journalists gathered outside the BBC’s broadcasting house in London for a one-minute silent protest over the conviction of journalists in Egypt.
Al-Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohammed were sentenced to seven years in prison by an Egyptian court for "falsifying news" and belonging to or assisting the banned Muslim Brotherhood.
Liliane Landor, Acting Director of the BBC World Service groups, told Anadolu Agency that she was “absolutely taken aback, surprised and shocked” at the guilty verdicts handed down to Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt.
“We never thought after all this weight that these journalists would be incarcerated for seven years,” she added.
“It leaves us as journalists very despondent. It is not just Egypt, it is all around the world. It is not just these three journalists, it is hundreds of journalists, whether you look at Pakistan, Afghanistan, the Arab world or India. There are journalists around the world who are in prison at the moment whose names are not even known,” she said.
She said she hoped that the appeal would be successful and the journalists would walk free.
“People need to know that people in the outside world are standing in solidarity with them,” said Landor.
Egyptian authorities have waged a wide-ranging crackdown against members of the Muslim Brotherhood since July, when Morsi was ousted and imprisoned by the army.
