The Biden administration is overriding human rights conditions on military aid to Egypt, as confirmed by a State Department spokesperson on Wednesday. This decision grants Egypt its full allocation of $1.3 billion in military aid for the first time under this administration, despite ongoing human rights concerns in the country.

The move comes amid Washington's reliance on Cairo, a long-standing ally, to mediate the ongoing, unsuccessful ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas regarding the war in Gaza.

Of the $1.3 billion in U.S. foreign military financing allocated to Egypt, $320 million is typically subject to conditions, resulting in partial withholding of the funds in recent years. Secretary of State Antony Blinken informed Congress on Wednesday that he would waive a certification requirement for $225 million related to Egypt's human rights record this year, citing "U.S. national security interests," as stated by the spokesperson via email.

"This decision is important to advancing regional peace and Egypt’s specific and ongoing contributions to U.S. national security priorities, particularly to finalise a ceasefire agreement for Gaza, bring the hostages home, surge humanitarian assistance for Palestinians in need, and help bring an enduring end to the Israel-Hamas conflict," the spokesperson said.

Democrat Chris Murphy, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's Middle East subcommittee, noted that Washington had previously withheld military aid from Egypt on human rights grounds while still maintaining its strategic relationship with the country.

"It's no secret that Egypt remains a deeply repressive autocratic state, and I see no good reason to ignore that fact by waiving these requirements," Murphy said.

Cairo has remained a close regional ally of Washington despite allegations of widespread abuses under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government, including torture and enforced disappearances. Sisi denies the existence of political prisoners in Egypt, arguing that stability and security are paramount. He claims that the authorities are advancing rights by focusing on providing basic needs such as jobs and housing.

The war in Gaza, which began with the attacks by Palestinian militants on southern Israel on 7 October, has heightened Washington's reliance on Cairo for diplomatic efforts, including ceasefire negotiations. Additionally, Egypt plays a crucial role in facilitating the entry of much-needed humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza.

Blinken issued a similar waiver on human rights conditions last year but withheld part of the military aid due to Egypt's insufficient progress on releasing political prisoners. This year, he decided that Egypt had made adequate efforts on this issue to release $95 million linked to progress. The spokesperson noted that Egypt had undertaken steps such as drafting legislation to reform pretrial detention and the broader penal code, releasing some political prisoners, and lifting travel bans and asset freezes related to foreign funding for NGOs.

However, rights groups have raised concerns about the effectiveness of the proposed pretrial detention reforms and the continued travel bans on some human rights lawyers.

Seth Binder, Director of Advocacy for the Washington-based Middle East Democracy Centre, highlighted that while approximately 970 prisoners were released since last September, at least 2,278 Egyptians were arbitrarily arrested during the same period, according to data from the centre and Egyptian human rights organisations.

“There's no reasonable assessment where one could say there's been progress on the human rights situation in Egypt. It remains a huge crisis,” Binder said, pointing to the tens of thousands of political prisoners still held in the country.

The State Department spokesperson said Washington was continuing "a rigorous dialogue with the Egyptian government on the importance of concrete human rights improvements that are crucial to sustaining the strongest possible U.S.-Egypt partnership."

Image source: Reuters