Al-Sisi’s Berlin Charm Offensive
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi was recently welcomed in Berlin amidst the most serious human rights crisis in Egypt’s modern history. Many, especially in Egypt, read the fact that Germany rolled out the red carpet for the army general-turned-autocrat as an all-out success for al-Sisi. But given the decidedly mixed reaction he received in Berlin, al-Sisi cannot be sure that his “stability” image will actually succeed on the international stage.
Just two years ago, the man now welcomed by German President Joachim Gauck with full military honors led the Egyptian army in a coup that ousted the country’s first democratically elected president. In both his military and now presidential capacity, al-Sisi has presided over a massive crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, secular opposition movements, journalists and civil society. Violence and repression in Egypt today resemble “the darkest days of Mubarak’s three-decade rule” according to Amnesty International; protestors have been killed in mass, over 40,000 political prisoners are behind bars, torture is routine, and unfair trials have seen hundreds sentenced to death.
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