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CAIRO (Reuters) - U.S. failure to criticize Egypt over the arrest of opposition activists and the intimidation of voters in elections has made a mockery of Washington's commitment to Middle East democracy, a rights group said.
New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a letter to the U.S. State Department that its comments on Egypt's parliamentary elections were "utterly disconnected from the reality of what is happening in Egypt today."
The elections are spread over six days and conclude on Wednesday.
U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Thursday said Washington had not received "any indication that the Egyptian government isn't interested in having peaceful, free and fair elections."
Monitors have reported the use of armed thugs by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) to intimidate voters during the elections, in which the Muslim Brotherhood has posed the strongest opposition challenge.
Police arrested hundreds of campaign workers from the Brotherhood, an officially banned Islamist group, last week ahead of voting on Thursday. The Brotherhood fields candidates for parliament as independents to sidestep the official ban.
Riot police have deployed around polling stations in opposition strongholds, letting few if any voters through. The NDP has resorted to bribery to get out the vote, monitors say.
Human Rights Watch said in its December 2 letter to U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that McCormack's remarks badly served "those many Egyptians who have voted or attempted to vote in the face of this pattern of violence, intimidation and fraud.
"It badly undermines the administration's credibility, including your own, when it speaks of its commitment to democratic freedoms in Egypt and the region," the group said.
The United States earlier this year put public pressure on Egypt, a close ally, to allow more political freedoms.
President Hosni Mubarak's decision to allow the country's first multi-candidate presidential election this year was widely seen by analysts as a result of U.S. pressure.
The Brotherhood was blocked from contesting that election by tight terms on candidacy.
The Islamists, who are opposed to U.S. policy in much of the region, have increased their strength in parliament more than five-fold so far. The NDP is close to securing the two-thirds majority it needs to maintain control over the constitution.
The Brotherhood said the authorities had robbed them of 13 or 14 wins by denying their supporters access to the polls on Thursday. The government has blamed much of the violence on the Brotherhood.
Horemheb Member # 3361
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Now the Egyptian elections are our fault, jesus!!! We would not help the brotherhood under any conditions, is that the complaint? They are not democratic.
sonomod Member # 3864
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And why is America's job to police the world?
Isn't this exactly what the 'former' (ahem, sarcasm) colonial masters of Europe want us not to do?
Get involved?
Troubles101 Member # 4543
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quote:Originally posted by Snoozin: [QB] ... U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack on Thursday said Washington had not received "any indication that the Egyptian government isn't interested in having peaceful, free and fair elections."...
Supporting a dictatoric regime once again against the will of its people ? Didn't the US learn anything from 9/11?
Humanized Member # 8471
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Suntimes -November 28, 2005
longtime American allies, are starting to show signs of panic: Police have barred voters from polls and thugs have attacked Brotherhood supporters in recent days in an apparent effort to blunt the group's growing momentum.
Even before the final round of voting Thursday, Brotherhood loyalists have increased their seats in parliament fivefold. That's not enough to unseat the ruling party, but is still seen as a slap to President Hosni Mubarak.
In some ways, despite the violence, it's going as well as President Bush could hope. A scant nine months after Mubarak took the first steps toward reform under U.S. pressure, it is indisputably clear that Egyptians hanker for choice and change.
Yet, two things about the elections could prove deeply worrisome for the West:
*One is the Brotherhood itself, and what it might do now that it has gained enough power to influence government policy.
*The second is the turmoil Egypt likely would face during any transition, as the aging Mubarak and his long-ruling elite struggle to decide whether to give up power, and if so, how much and how fast.
A chaotic Egyptian government, torn by infighting, would be bad for America.
Hostility toward Israel
So far, the Bush administration has stressed that it just wants a free and fair vote. It sees no distinction between legal candidates and those who support the Brotherhood and ''does not have a preferred outcome,'' says State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.
Still, there is American discomfort with the Brotherhood.
Brotherhood leader Mohammed Mehdi Akef said in an interview Sunday that his group would not press to reverse Egypt's peace treaty with Israel, now that it has greater influence in parliament. But he made clear it is not friendly to Israel either.
''We do not recognize Israel, but we will not fight it,'' he said.
Horemheb Member # 3361
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I think several points are in order here. First, theocracy and democratic government are incompatable. The United States should not, nor should the Mubarak government support any party which is based on religion. It is much like the Chavez mess in Venezuela. They have actually elected a government dedicated to destroying democratiic institutions. Secondly, a party that refuses to work for peace with Isreal is also not acceptable. Obviously the Germans are not going to allow the Nazi party back on the ballot. There are practical realities in the middle east that need to be understood and it seems to me the brotherhood falls short.
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