NGO Verdict in Cairo, Failure in Washington

Here is what happened in Cairo in the case of 43 NGO workers whose crime was to promote democracy in Egypt:

The verdict, read out by judge Makram Awad, also ordered the closure of the offices and seizure of the assets in Egypt belonging to the U.S. nonprofit groups as well as one German organization for which the defendants worked. These are the International Republican Institute, the National Democratic Institute, Freedom House, a center for training journalists, and Germany’s Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

So: Americans convicted, organizations closed, assets seized. And what was the American reaction to this outrageous judgment? We’re “deeply concerned.”

Here is Secretary Kerry’s statement in full:

That’s a weak and inadequate statement and it will have little impact in Cairo or anywhere else--except perhaps to encourage other regimes to do the same.

“Deeply concerned?” Why do we not condemn this assault on democracy? Some of the most distinguished American NGOs have had assets seized and personnel sentenced to prison--in absentia, to be sure, except in one case where the individual is in Egypt and is sentenced to two years. Kerry’s message is that we don’t much care: he urges the Egyptian government that just took this step to “work with civic groups!”  That would be laughable--if it were not dangerous for democracy and human rights in Egypt.

Secretary Kerry is compounding previous errors in Egypt by letting the Muslim Brotherhood government know that it will pay no price for this step, and letting Egyptians fighting for democracy know that the United States does not have their back. If we will not even protect Americans who work for human rights and for freedom in Egypt, think what we will do for Egyptians. The apparent answer is, sadly, that we will do nothing except issue a statement saying we are “deeply concerned.”