Thus wrote Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in remarks entitled Troubling Signs on Egypt's Path to Reform, published in the Congressional Record on 3 February.
In December, President Obama signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act for 2012. Section 7041(a)(1) of division I of that Act provides that prior to the obligation of $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2012 U.S. military aid for Egypt, the Secretary of State shall certify that “the Government of Egypt is supporting the transition to civilian government including holding free and fair elections; implementing policies to protect freedom of expression, association, and religion, and due process of law.”
These unprecedented requirements, which I wrote, were included for two reasons. First, we want to send a clear message to the Egyptian people that we support their demand for democracy and fundamental freedoms. Second, we want to send a clear message to the Egyptian military that the days of blank checks are over. We value the relationship and will provide substantial amounts of aid, but not unconditionally. They must do their part to support the transition to civilian government. If the assault against international and Egyptian nongovernmental organizations continues, several of the requirements for certification could not be met.
More information, and a few thoughts, after the squiggalawhazit...
Discontent with the reactionary responses of the Egyptian Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) junta to the ongoing social and political turmoil in Egypt is nothing new in American discourse, from either politicians, pundits or plebs. Nor is this the first time that Senator Leahy himself has indicated that aid to Egypt should be dependent upon progress toward reforms reflecting the “shared values” among the Egyptian people and the American people. In an opinion-piece for Politico on 1 December 2011 (End blank checks to Egypt's military), Leahy wrote:
This is a time for our country to stand unequivocally on the side of the Egyptian people. That does not mean walking away from Egypt’s military. But nor should there be business as usual.
U.S. military aid should include incentives to change and consequences for any slide back into repression.
[...]
We continue to share key interests with Egypt. It is time to make clear that we also share key values with its people.
Anyone who reads (please, do read them...) the full text of Leahy's remarks in Politico (1 December) and those in the Congressional Record (3 February) will note a change in tenor, a change prompted perhaps above all by a series of events in Egypt related to the operations of domestic and foreign Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs). On the morning of 29 December 2011, Egyptian security forces accompanied by public prosecutors raided the offices of seventeen NGOs across the country and seized documents, receipts, computers, cameras and an array of other materials. The justification for these raids and seizures includes accusations of 1) operating without the necessary registrations from the Egyptian government and 2) receiving illegal foreign funding. As a result of the preliminary investigation by the Ministry of Justice, indictments were handed down on 5 February against forty-four individuals from five NGOs. Per Issandr el-Amrani (The Arabist):
Konrad Adenauer (2): Andreas Jacobs (DE) and Christina Baade (DE)
International Center For Journalists (5): Patrick Butler (US), Natasha Tynes (US), Mida(?) Michelle (US), Yehya Zakaria (EG) Islam Shafiq (EG)
Freedom House (7): Charles Dunne (US), Sherif Ahmed Sobhi Mansour (US), Samir Salim (Jordan), Mohamed Abdel Aziz (EG), Nancy Gamal Okeyl (EG), Basem Ali (EG), Magdy Moharam (EG)
International Republican Institute (14): Sam Lahood (US), Sherien Sahany (US), Christine Angel (US) Sort Chik (Serb), Hans Homis (Serb), John George (US), Reeda Khedr (Palestinian), Osama Azizi (US), Sian Mark (US), Elizabeth Dugan (US), Ahmed Shawqi (EG), Ahmed Abdel Aziz (EG), Ahmed Adam (EG), Essam Borei (EG)
National Democratic Institute (16): Julie Hughes (US), Almadin Krotovich (Serb), Bomeedir Milic (Serb), Layla Gafar (US), Robert Becker (US), Kabir Moderibee (US), Mariana Koravitch (Serb), Sitia Sia Leenhag (US), Dana Dikono (US), Ali Suleiman (Leb), Maron Safir (Leb), Michael James (US), Mohamed Ashraf (EG), Radwa Sayid (EG), Hafsa Halawa (EG), Amgad Morsi (EG)
Issandr el-Amrani also provides an updated link to a piece in The Guardian by Abdel-Rahman Hussein in which the charges are made explicit:
Judge Ashraf al-Ashmawy confirmed on Monday the case had been referred to the Cairo criminal court, where the NGO workers will face charges of "accepting funds and benefits from an international organisation" to pursue an activity "prohibited by law".
They are also accused of carrying out "political training programmes", supporting election campaigns and illegally financing individuals and groups, the judge said in a statement.
[n.b.: I recognize that there is a discrepancy between the forty-four individuals listed by el-Amrani and the forty-three listed by Hussein; I'm not yet sure of the source of that discrepancy (angry marmot)]
All of the individuals listed in the indictment have been barred from leaving Egypt. This aspect of the story has served to escalate tensions between the Egyptian and American governments, particularly the incident on 21 January when Sam LaHood, son of Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, was turned away from boarding a flight to Doha at Cairo International Airport.
In the last several days, noteworthy pieces have been published in both The Washington Post (Egypt's witch-hunt threatens a rupture with the U.S. [1 February]) and The New York Times (Egypt will try 19 Americans on Criminal Charges [5 February]) addressing the question of aid for Egypt in light of the raids of NGOs, concurrent with the visit of an Egyptian military delegation to the States. Although the precise schedule of this delegation's meetings in Washington has not been releases, Senators Levin (D-MI) and McCain (R-AZ) will meet the delegation and have announced their intention to highlight the relationship between military aid and the treatment of NGOs:
Both Levin and McCain are set to meet with a visiting delegation of high-level Egyptian military officers next week in Washington, and they both said they will deliver the message that U.S. military aid to Egypt is tied to this issue.
"They should know that this action on their part jeopardizes a normal relationship between us," Levin said in a brief interview on his way out of the Democratic caucus lunch. "They know that, and that includes the impact it could have on aid."
In my opinion, the raids of domestic and foreign NGOs was a stupid move, yet one completely in accord with the SCAF's continuing invocation of “foreign agents” subverting the Egyptian revolution, of which they presume to be guardian. In this sense the SCAF is perpetuating a meme with a lengthy history in Egyptian politics and society, one crassly exploited not only by Mubarak but also by the despots who preceded him.
How this will all play out is of course a mystery right now. What is clear is that the relationship between the U.S. and the SCAF junta ruling Egypt is approaching, if not already at, a crisis-point. This will be an interesting week...