The Hill News

Representatives from the military council that has been ruling Egypt since Hosni Mubarak’s fall from power last February are in Washington this week for a series of official meetings. Their visit comes amid a continuing crackdown inside Egypt against civil society that included an armed raid last December 29 on the offices of ten non-governmental organizations, including the U.S.-based International Republican Institute (IRI), the National Democratic Institute (NDI), and my organization, Freedom House. Despite promises made by Egyptian authorities to the highest levels of the U.S. Government, we remain closed, our computers, files, and cash still in the possession of the Ministry of Justice, and our staffs continue to face hostile interrogation by investigating judges. Nowhere else in the world has any of our offices been raided as they were in Egypt.

During their visit, the Egyptian delegation needs to hear a clear and consistent message from both Capitol Hill an! d the administration: U.S. assistance to Egypt â€" which totals $1.3bn to the military alone, about a fifth of Egypt's military budget â€" depends on the administration’s being able to certify to Congress that the Egyptian government is taking steps to move toward civilian government and protect civil liberties; recent developments make such certification impossible. This will trigger a suspension in American aid to Cairo, and only a clear and irreversible end to the campaign against civil society organizations, foreign as well as Egyptian, can lift this suspension. Moreover, U.S. support for desperately needed loans from the International Monetary Fund will be difficult to muster as long as the Egyptian authorities run roughshod over civil society.

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