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Egypt's allies urged to denounce 'farcical' presidential election Egypt's allies urged to denounce 'farcical' presidential election
(about 3 hours later)
The only challenger to general Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi is one of his most ardent supporters Sisi government has ‘trampled over’ requirements for free and fair elections, rights groups say
Associated Press in Cairo Ruth Michaelson in Cairo
Tue 13 Feb 2018 10.26 GMT Tue 13 Feb 2018 14.56 GMT
Last modified on Tue 13 Feb 2018 10.47 GMT First published on Tue 13 Feb 2018 10.26 GMT
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More than a dozen international and regional rights groups have said that next month’s presidential election in Egypt does not meet the minimum requirements to be called free and fair, and called on Cairo’s western allies to denounce the “farcical” election. Egypt’s western allies have been urged to denounce the country’s “farcical” presidential election, after authorities detained a top anti-corruption official and the former running mate of a challenger to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
The incumbent, the general-turned-president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, is virtually certain to win the March vote, his only challenger being an obscure politician and one of his most ardent supporters. Fourteen international and Egyptian rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, condemned the forthcoming March presidential elections, accusing the Sisi government of having “trampled over even the minimum requirements for free and fair elections” in his bid for a second term.
Moussa Mustafa Moussa entered the race in the eleventh hour, sparing Sisi and his government the embarrassment of a single candidate election.Opposition party leaders who called for a boycott of the vote are being investigated on allegations they are seeking to destabilise the country. They released a statement demanding the US, EU and individual European states allied to Egypt “should speak out publicly now to denounce these farcical elections, rather than continue with largely unquestioning support for a government presiding over the country’s worst human rights crisis in decades”.
The 14 groups, including Human Rights Watch and the International Commission of Jurists, said on Tuesday that Sisi’s government had suppressed freedoms, arrested potential candidates and rounded up their supporters. The NGOs condemned the election on the same day that Egypt’s former top auditor Hisham Geneina was seized at his home in New Cairo by police, according to his lawyer, Ali Taha.
As head of Egypt’s military Sisi overthrew his democratically elected Islamist predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013, and has since cracked down hard on dissent, jailing thousands of Morsi supporters and scores of activists behind the 2011 uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Geneina had run the short-lived election campaign of former military chief of staff Sami Anan, who was detained last month and accused by the army of running for office without permission, bringing his presidential bid to a halt.
He was elected to office in 2014, and has since silenced most critics in the media, rolled back freedoms won in the 2011 uprising and placed draconian restrictions on demonstrations and the work of rights groups. Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak steps down after almost 30 years in power amid anti-government Arab spring protests. Rallies continue all year.
“The Egyptian government has trampled over even the minimum requirements for free and fair elections for the planned March 26-28 vote,” the 14 groups said in a statement. “Seven years after Egypt’s 2011 uprising, the government has made a mockery of the basic rights for which protesters fought.” Islamist parties win drawn-out parliamentary elections.
In a related development, Egypt’s military said on Monday that it would take action to “safeguard its honour and dignity” following incendiary comments by the country’s former top anti-corruption official. Mohammed Morsi of Muslim Brotherhood wins presidential election. Mubarak sentenced to life in prison for complicity in killing 800 protesters in 2011.
Hesham Genena told a private Arabic-language TV station that the former military chief of staff Sami Anan was in possession of documents incriminating the country’s leadership. The documents are kept abroad and would be released if any harm came to Anan, he said. Army overthrows Morsi.
The military arrested Anan last month, days after he declared his intention to run for president. It says he faces charges of incitement against the military and forgery. Security forces kill hundreds in pro-Morsi camp.
In a statement, the military said Genena’s comments raised suspicions about the state and its institutions, and that it would refer the matter to relevant authorities to initiate legal proceedings. Former army chief Abdel Fatah al-Sisi wins presidential election.
Genena, who was to have been among Anan’s top campaign aides, was not immediately available for comment. He led Egypt’s watchdog agency until Sisi fired him in 2016. Morsi sentenced to death. Egypt's appeal court orders retrial in 2016.
Isis claims responsibility for bombing Russian plane in Sinai. Crew and 224 tourists killed.
IMF approves three-year $12bn loan to Egypt designed to help country out of economic crisis.
Suicide bombers kill dozens at two churches as worshippers celebrate Palm Sunday.
Egyptian airstrikes on northern Sinai after militants assault on a mosque kills 305 people.
Sisi announces he will run for a second term.
“He’s wanted over his latest statements concerning Sami Anan and the alleged documents and files he possessed,” Taha said.
Geneina, who led Egypt’s anti-graft agency until he was fired by Sisi in 2016, previously gave an interview to Huffington Post’s Arabic site, where he alleged the existence of video footage proving complicity by the country’s top leadership in crimes committed during a period of military rule after the country’s 2011 revolution. He said the evidence previously possessed by Anan had been stashed abroad, to be released in case any harm should come to him in Egypt. “In light of what Hisham Geneina has said about General Sami Anan possessing documents ... this is a crime intended to raise doubts about the state and its institutions,” the military said in a statement.
Geneina’s arrest came after he was brutally assaulted by unarmed assailants two weeks ago. Egypt’s interior ministry later released a statement alleging that his injuries came from a brawl following a traffic collision. Geneina and his family denied this, calling it “a failed kidnapping and assassination attempt”.
Formerly the country’s chief anti-corruption auditor, Geneina made headlines in 2016 when he said publicly that government corruption had cost Egypt $68bn (£49bn) over a four-year period. He was then sacked, arrested and sentenced to a year in prison, later suspended on appeal.
The March election narrowly avoided becoming a one-man race after a single candidate, Moussa Mustafa Moussa, who previously campaigned in favour of Sisi, registered as the only challenger at the last minute.
Five other candidates, including a former prime minister, the nephew of the former president Anwar Sadat, a human rights lawyer and a military colonel, have all dropped out of the race after arrests or harassment.
On a visit to Cairo on Monday, the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, defended American support for Sisi’s government at a time when Egypt is facing a barrage of criticism over its renewed repression of electoral democracy.
“We have always advocated for free and fair elections, transparent elections, not just for Egypt but in any country,” he said.
EgyptEgypt
Abdel Fatah al-SisiAbdel Fatah al-Sisi
AfricaAfrica
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
Human rights
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