QUESTION: On Egypt. Do you have an update on the case of Mr. Sharkawi? Have you talked to the Egyptian Government about his situation?
MR. CASEY: Yeah. I do have a little bit. I know this is a subject that we talked about briefly the other day. And as you know as a matter of general principle, we’re deeply concerned by reports of continuing arrests and repression of civil society activists by the Egyptian Government. But we are troubled by the recent reports that Mohammed el-Sharkawi as well as Karim Shaer, another civil society activist, were arrested. And during their arrest and detention were tortured in custody and then denied independent medical treatment. If those allegations are true, that would certainly be a violation of Egypt’s own laws as well as accepted international human rights standards and practices.
The Embassy in Cairo has raised this issue with Egyptian officials. And first and foremost, we’re urging them to provide any and all necessary medical treatment to Mr. Sharkawi and Mr. Shaer and to thoroughly investigate these cases and any others like them. Certainly, if the allegations are true, what we want to see happen is that the Egyptian Government should take immediate steps to punish those responsible and put into place institutional measures to prevent those kinds of incidents from occurring. And as you know, we continue not only in these cases but in others as well to urge the Egyptian Government to protect the rights of their citizens to assemble and speak out peacefully. And we’ve noted our concerns about, as you know, a number of the other cases as well.
I’m deeply concerned my neighbor may be torturing his son with those tools I lent him. I wonder if I should do anything about it. Oh no wait, maybe he’ll stop if I lend him my lawnmower too.
This is apparently considered fairly “strong” language in districtese (depressing, no) and is far less wishy-washy than what the US ambassador to Egypt said. Extracts from Daily Star article:
“”We are at the very least disappointed,” says Ricciardone when asked for his reaction to the detainment of activists during a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt. “We don’t know all the facts. We know that there are at least two sides to every story. We’ve heard one side. I think its incumbent upon the government not to explain to the United States of America, we’re not owed an explanation, but I think to Egyptians, what the true facts are.”
Ricciardone adds that, if reports of violence by security forces are true, the government should also explain the steps it plans to take in response to the behavior of security forces.
“If the facts are not as portrayed by the opposition, then they should be brought out,” says Ricciardone. “If the facts are even remotely as portrayed by the opposition, then they should also be brought out, and what measures the government will take to respond to those facts should also be explained.”
…
“The media has its role to portray the facts, not exaggerate them, not give a small part of the picture,” says Ricciardone, “and that’s true when we’re talking about allegations regarding abuses in Egypt or allegations regarding American policy.”