France gives Egypt’s Sisi cavalry welcome as rights groups raise alarm
FRANCE - France welcomed Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi with a cavalry parade through Paris yesterday, but the countries’ hopes of nurturing ties on the trip were overshadowed by a furore over Cairo’s rights record.
Both states - which share concerns about instability across the Sahel, threats from jihadist groups in Egypt and the political vacuum in Libya - have cultivated closer economic and military ties during Sisi’s rise to power.
But 17 French and international human rights groups issued a statement ahead of the visit accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of turning a blind eye to what they say are increasing violations of freedoms by Sisi’s government.
Cairo has repeatedly denied such charges.
French officials have dismissed the criticism, saying the government had a policy of avoiding public declarations about other countries’ rights records and instead raises concerns in private. Drums rolled and trumpets blared as the French Republican Guard escorted Sisi through the centre of the capital and across the Seine over the Pont des Invalides. A masked Macron welcomed him at the Elysee Palace. Macron’s government in November criticised Egypt for the arrest of members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) after they briefed senior diplomats in Cairo and was met with a firm rebuke.
“The president ... will obviously continue to express his positions on this subject,” a French presidential official told reporters, adding that Paris saw a “positive signal” after the release of the EIPR officials hours before Sisi came to France.
“It is a partnership in favour of the stability of the region,” the French official added. The partnership came under strain in November after anger in Egypt over Macron’s defence of caricatures depicting the Prophet Mohammad, considered blasphemous by Muslims.
“This tarnishes the image of France in the eyes of democracy in Egypt and the region especially when Macron stands up against violence and extremism in France and then gives long statements about values,” said Amr Magdi, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, one of the 17 groups that signed the joint statement.
“But when he is tested in Egypt and the region he sides with the oppressors and not values he says he is defending.”
Between 2013-2017, France was the main weapons supplier to Egypt. Those contracts have dried up, including deals for more Rafale fighter jets and warships that had been at an advanced stage. Diplomats say that is as much to do with financing issues as with France’s response to human rights concerns. (Reuters)