Joe Biden administration gives nod for Egypt arms sale despite Cairo arresting US activist Mohamed Soltan's kin
Authorities in Egypt conducted raids at several homes and detained members of the family of Mohamed Soltan, an Egyptian-American human rights activist, his organization Freedom Initiative said on Tuesday, February 16. A lawyer for Soltan, who now resides in the US after spending almost two years in prison in Egypt, said the arrests were part of a campaign against his family to silence him. Soltan, who was a political prisoner between 2013 and 2015, was tortured and sentenced after protesting against the 2013 coup by Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, a former Egyptian general and currently the country’s president. The Joe Biden administration, meanwhile, approved plans for arms sale to Cairo to improve the security of its strategic partner in the Middle East to facilitate US' own foreign policy goals and national security.
Homes of as many as six relatives of Soltan were raided in the early hours of Sunday, February 14, morning in Mounofiya and Alexandria, it was said in a statement. While a couple of his cousins -- Moustafa Soltan and Khairi Soltan -- were detained immediately, a third one -- Ahmed Soltan -- was interrogated about his contact with Mohamed and was asked to turn himself in once his injured leg healed. The whereabouts of Soltan’s father, who was in the prison and moved last summer after similar raids and arrests took place, the group added.
Alarming news from Egypt:
— The Freedom Initiative (@thefreedomi) February 16, 2021
Family members of FI President, @soltan, were arrested on Sunday in reprisal for his HR advocacy, support of the newly formed congressional Egypt Human Rights Caucus, & ongoing federal lawsuit filed under the TVPA. pic.twitter.com/OofMBqDROU
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Soltan's father, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood who was already in prison, was moved last summer after similar raids and arrests and his whereabouts are unknown, the group said.
“Now the Egyptian regime is arresting his relatives to try to intimidate him into silence,” Soltan’s lawyer Eric Lewis said. “Such tactics have no place in the international community. Egypt cannot seek the benefits of membership in that community while denigrating human rights and behaving with impunity and lawlessness.”
CNN reported that President Joe Biden was yet to speak with el-Sisi and it was not unclear if he will. It said despite el-Sisi cracking down on dissenters since taking office in 2013, the Biden administration is yet to indicate what actions it may take against Cairo, which still gets more than a billion dollars annually in military aid.
Biden administration approves arms sale to Egypt
On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced that plans were approved for selling missiles worth $197 million to Egypt. In a statement, the state department notified the Congress about the plans, which it said would "support the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a Major Non-NATO Ally country that continues to be an important strategic partner in the Middle East."
During his presidential campaign, Biden though took a stern stance vis-a-vis the el-Sisi regime. In July last year, Biden welcomed the release of Mohamed Amashah, an American medical student who had been imprisoned by the Egyptian authorities for 486 days without trial and slammed former president Donald Trump over his relation with el-Sisi to say if he got into power, Egypt’s crackdown on human rights would not go unaddressed. He also called el-Sisi as Trump’s “favorite dictator”.
Mohamed Amashah is finally home after 486 days in Egyptian prison for holding a protest sign. Arresting, torturing, and exiling activists like Sarah Hegazy and Mohamed Soltan or threatening their families is unacceptable. No more blank checks for Trump’s "favorite dictator." https://t.co/RtZkbGh6ik
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 12, 2020
On the Soltan issue, however, the state department said it was aware. Spokesperson Ned Price said on Tuesday that the department is “aware of” and “looking into reports of the detention of family members of human rights activist and American citizen Mohamed Soltan”, CNN reported.
“We have and we continue to engage the Egyptian government on human rights concerns and we take seriously all allegations of arbitrary arrest or detention, as we've said in other contexts,” Price said at a press briefing. “We will bring our values with us into every relationship that we have across the globe. That includes with our close security partners. That includes with Egypt.”
Soltan's family targeted last year after he filed lawsuit against ex-PM
Soltan was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment after he was shot at by security forces during a protest against the country’s military takeover. He was tortured in prison and then went on a long hunger strike following he was released and deported to the US in 2015. Since then, the 33-year-old has been actively campaigning against el-Sisi’s repression and also filed a lawsuit at a DC federal court against former Egyptian prime minister Hazem el-Beblawi for alleged torture and human rights violations.
“As a direct result of his seeking to hold Beblawi accountable under a US statute that provides a remedy for torture victims, Soltan's family in Egypt was harassed and arrested in two separate raids by Egyptian security forces,” the Freedom Initiative alleged. The 2020 raids that followed the lawsuit saw “enforced disappearance” of five of Soltan’s cousins, as per Human Rights Watch.
Soltan’s relatives were asked by the security officers that arrests could continue if Soltan did not withdraw the lawsuits, according to the statement released on Tuesday.
The raids against Soltan’s family were condemned by 21 human rights organizations, the US Congress and state department, Egypt Working Group and even Biden who demanded the release of Soltan’s family members.