Six human rights organisations have called upon the leaders of the European Union and Belgium not to celebrate Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s participation in the joint summit between the EU and the African Union in Brussels.

“Egyptian President Sisi has systematically attacked the press, imprisoned journalists, and silenced critical voices,” said Tom Gibson, Committee to Protect Journalists’ EU representative. 

“The European Commission should abide by its values and demand during Sisi’s upcoming visit that Egyptian authorities cease their repression of the media. The Commission cannot let business carry on as usual.”

Ahmed Mefreh, the Executive Director of the Committee for Justice, added that Egypt seeks to be a major partner to the EU but according to its own conditions. The Egyptian regime relies on diplomacy to evade accountability for his crimes, while continuing his violations that reflect the destructive consequences of the prevailing impunity in Egypt. “The EU must support efforts to establish a monitoring mechanism on Egypt at the UN Human Rights Council and strongly voice the negative impact of Egypt’s human rights policy on their allyship. Partnership with Egypt should be founded on respect for human rights,” Mefreh concluded.

The organisations, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS), Committee for Justice (CFJ), Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), EuroMed Rights, Freedom Initiative and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), said that Sisi’s participation is another attempt to whitewash his dirty reputation and called upon high-profile European officials not to meet Sisi unless they will address his human rights crimes in Egypt.