WikiLeaks and Egypt: Shame About That Internal Repression

Last February, the US Ambassador in Cairo sent this "scene-setter" for the visit of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, to Egypt.

The priorities in the cable are telling. President Obama's heralded Cairo speech, delivered in June 2009, is the platform for Eight months after President Obama's heralded Cairo speech, for "our Strategic Dialogue and...a new framework for regular bilateral meetings with the Egyptians to explore areas for cooperation and coordination, including examining our respective assessments of strategic threats such as Iran".

But wait a minute. Didn't Obama also speak about the merits of open societies, with political participation and respect for all religions? In the 12th of 14 paragraphs, the cable finally notes the internal situation. It opens with the aspiration, "We continue to promote democratic reform in Egypt, including the expansion of political freedom and pluralism, and respect for human rights", and ends with reality: "The GOE has also used the Emergency Law to target political activity by the Muslim Brotherhood, bloggers and labor demonstrators. The Interior Ministry suppresses political opposition through arrests, harassment and intimidation."

(Interesting Postscript: This week, Al-Ahram published an opinion piece from the head of the European Union delegation to Cairo, Marc Franco. Days after the disputed Egyptian elections, Franco enthused, "Looking back over the last few years, it is only fair to say that Egypt has made courageous steps towards promoting a culture of human rights at all levels of Egyptian society.")

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