By Tim Nanns
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned Human Rights Watch (HRW) for “the promotion of lies and misinformation” in a Tuesday statement, after HRW issued a report on Monday criticising President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and his government for human rights abuses during Al-Sisi’s first year in power.
The ministry especially highlighted the “non-objective reports the organisation consistently issued for Egypt since the 30 June revolution” and accused the watchdog of promoting an “agenda contrary to the interests of the Egyptian people”.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Badr Abdelatty declined to comment to Daily News Egypt on whether the ministry believes that the agenda mirrors that of the Muslim Brotherhood, or whether the HRW’s condemnation stretched back to the reign of Mohammed Morsi. He stated that the ministry’s statement only referred to Sunday’s report on Egypt. During Morsi’s time, HRW also regularly criticised the Islamist president.
In its recent report, HRW accused the Egyptian government of committing a long list of human rights abuses and of restricting civil rights, and claimed it was “effectively erasing the human rights gains of the 2011 uprising”.
The HRW report also drew criticism by the Liberal Democracy Institute (LDI), a Cairo-based think tank, which runs the initiative “Watch the Human Rights Watch” and condemned HRW on Tuesday for “the severe abuse of human rights values”. The LDI announced it was “preparing a claim against HRW to submit to the United Nation’s Human Rights Council” and that it suspects that HRW’s funding comes “directly or indirectly” from the Muslim Brotherhood or groups affiliated with it.
In the past, the foreign ministry repeatedly issued similar statements, condemning any foreign intervention in internal Egyptian affairs.
