Egyptian Activist: Obama Provides Political Cover for Morsi's Brutality

As President Obama prepares to talk about the state of our union, Egyptian human rights activist Bahieddin Hassan claims the state of Egypt is worse because of Obama’s support of President Mohamed Morsi.

In an open letter to President Obama, Hassan recounts being a guest at the White House in 2009 and telling Obama he was concerned for the people of Egypt. According to Hassan, Obama said he would stand with the “peoples of the region and engage with them.” 

However, Hassan contends that a mere eight months later the Obama administration traded working with people in the region for working with regimes, and the results have been disastrous.

Hassan says that after the Egyptian revolution emerged from the Arab Spring, “hopes were high that Egyptians would… be able to work to dramatically improve the human rights situation in the country.” Unfortunately, “Egyptian young people continue to live in frustration” and when they take to the streets to express it they are “met with violence.” 

Violence that stems from the administration of the man Obama appears to support–Mohamed Morsi.

After listing numerous Egyptians who have been killed while standing up to Morsi or the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan wrote: “The stances of your administration have given political cover to the current authoritarian regime in Egypt and allowed it to fearlessly implement undemocratic policies and commit numerous acts of repression.”

Hassan closed his letter by asking Obama to at least quit talking about success in Egypt long enough to allow the Egyptian people to bury their dead, “comfort… grieving families, [and] treat the victims of rape and torture.”