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Seven years ago #Sisi staged a coup with the financial backing of Gulf monarchs who ensured the survival of Sisi's regime. The $5.2 billion #IMF loan will only further entrench his rule - unless @KGeorgieva insists on transparency & conditionality. #Egypt https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/03/sisi-corruption-egypt-imf-loans/
Hazem el-Beblawi is a key civilian figure in Egypt’s corrupt military regime. As the interim prime minister after the coup, he presided over the bloodiest period in modern Egyptian history. Beblawi now sits on the IMF executive board, and stands accused of torturing a US citizen.
Mohamed Soltan grew up in Ohio. He was shot at #Rabaa and unjustly imprisoned for almost two years. He was subjected to inhumane treatment, including being left alone in a cell next to a decomposing corpse. Prison guards encouraged him to commit suicide. In 2015 he was freed.
In what could be a landmark lawsuit, @soltanlife brought a case against his former torturers. Citing the Torture Victim Protection Act, Beblawi stands accused of having “directed and monitored” the mistreatment of Soltan while he spent 643 days in prison. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/legal-issues/mohamed-soltan-us-citizen-held-as-political-prisoner-files-torture-lawsuit-against-egypts-ex-prime-minister/2020/06/01/b484d330-a1d5-11ea-b5c9-570a91917d8d_story.html
Soltan brought the lawsuit against Beblawi on June 1.
On June 15, security forces launched coordinated raids against his family members in #Egypt & arrested 5 of his cousins. The security officers told his cousins if Soltan drops the case against Beblawi, they would be let go.
On June 15, security forces launched coordinated raids against his family members in #Egypt & arrested 5 of his cousins. The security officers told his cousins if Soltan drops the case against Beblawi, they would be let go.
The message Sisi’s regime is sending to @soltanlife is clear: Drop the case against Beblawi or we will continue to hold your family hostage. This course of events seems to have done little to deter the #IMF.
@IMFNews @KGeorgieva https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/24/egypt-rights-defenders-relatives-arrested
@IMFNews @KGeorgieva https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/06/24/egypt-rights-defenders-relatives-arrested
Soltan’s case is emblematic of the systemic financial #corruption & egregious #torture in Egypt. In 2016, Sisi fired Geneina, the head of the Central Auditing Agency, after he reported that Egypt had lost 600 billion Egyptian pounds (~$76 billion) because of official corruption.
The ACA is supposed to "fight corruption." But Sisi has placed one of his sons in the ACA and used the agency to tighten his personal grip over Egypt’s sprawling state bureaucracy. Read this by @POMED. https://pomed.org/report-corruption-egypts-administrative-control-authority/
There are virtually no independent oversight agencies left in Egypt, meaning there is almost no guarantee that the IMF’s aid - now totaling $20 billion to Egypt - will not end up in the hands of sinister actors.
Is the IMF okay with this?
Is the IMF okay with this?
