Congress gives Egypt a pass on religious rights violations
Lawmakers praise Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as a far better alternative than the Muslim Brotherhood.
Congress is giving short shrift to a federal commission’s conclusion that religious freedom in Egypt remains in jeopardy one year after Abdel Fattah al-Sisi won the presidency.
The US Commission on International Religious Freedom for the fifth year in a row is recommending that the State Department categorize Egypt as a “country of particular concern” subject to sanctions. The Obama administration has repeatedly ignored that advice, and even those lawmakers most invested in the issue of religious freedom hope to keep it that way.
"I think that Egypt is probably in the past year or so the most improved country in the world given where they were under the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood," said Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., the chairman of the International Religious Freedom Caucus. “When they’ve changed directions in such a positive way, we need to encourage them to continue and not slap them in the face.”
The report, released April 30, praises Sisi’s calls for religious tolerance but faults Egyptian authorities for failing to do enough to protect religious minorities — particularly Coptic Christians — and their property and places of worship. It also raises concerns with growing state control over mosques and a crackdown on dissent associated with the fight against extremism.
