Egypt, Italian Likely Killed by Police

Islamic barbarity in the name of the state

We regularly repatriate artifacts to the Egyptians to curry favor with their repressive military dictatorship. Egypt is coming under scrutiny after the death of the Italian researcher Giulio Regeni, 28, a graduate student at Britain's Cambridge University. Regeni had been researching independent trade unions in Egypt and had written articles critical of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government. He was reportedly arrested by Egyptian security forces and then a few days later, he was found dead by the side of a road in Cairo. The autopsy revealed that Regenio had seven broken ribs, signs of electrocution on his penis, traumatic injuries all over his body, and a brain hemorrhage. Regeni had been hit on the back of the head with a sharp instrument. His body also bore signs of cuts from a sharp instrument suspected to be a razor, abrasions, and bruises. He was likely assaulted using a stick as well as being punched and kicked, the source added. A second autopsy in Italy "confronted us with something inhuman, something animal", Italian Interior Minister Angelino Alfano told Sky News 24 television last week. Rights groups say police often detain Egyptians on scant evidence and that they are beaten or coerced. Scores have disappeared since 2013, the groups say. Egypt denies allegations of police brutality. Now, even the State Department has been forced to temper its solidarity with the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi with a few timid words of criticism (Charles Tiefer, US State Dep't Joins World Storm Over The Torture-Murder By El-Sisi's Egypt of Italian Student Forbes Feb 13, 2016). 

Regeni’s murder should be fitted into the broader currents of U.S. human rights oversight of Egypt. Egypt just completed a set of parliamentary elections.  The opposition – not just the Islamist groups, but, the youthful reformers who had brought down Hosni Mubarak five years ago – had been locked up or scared off from participating.  As Senator Leahy told Forbes: “The truth is, it is high time for all of Egypt’s allies, including the United States, to make it clear to Mr. Sisi that the abuses he has encouraged to flourish can no longer be tolerated.” Why has the U.S. not been even blunter? Besides the longer-term caution in confronting el-Sisi, right now we need Egypt to join us against ISIS in Libya.  Indeed, the Administration may loosen, not tighten, the human rights oversight of Egypt.  In previous years, fifteen percent of United States aid to Egypt was covered by human rights conditions.  They could be, and were, waived, but that required an official report by the Administration which exposed the conduct of the Egyptian regime. Neil Hicks, in the Huffington Post, just brought out: “Furthermore, on the day that Under Secretary Sewall spoke in Cairo news emerged that the Obama Administration removed the human rights conditions from its budget request to Congress for foreign assistance to Egypt.”

Perhaps for the time being, artifacts should stay here not only to signal a growing intolerance of human rights abuses by the military dictatorship, but also to remind citizens here of a time when the glory of Egypt was not sullied by brutalist military rulers intent on quashing all and any challenges to their power.