Human Rights Watch has reported that the Egyptian government used unwarranted police
force during a 2013 protest that caused an estimated 900 deaths.
The question is: what has
happened in Egypt since the Arab Spring, and has the country improved since then?
First, we should give a quick run down of Egypt’s recent history.
As a result of a
huge uprising in 2011, President Hosni Mubarak and his
oppressive regime were forced to resign.
This was after being in power for nearly 30
years.
Then in 2012, Mohamed Morsi, with the support
of the political group called the Muslim Brotherhood, was elected.
However, he
was deposed in a 2013 coup d’etat and Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the current President, took
his place in 2014.
This was at
first welcomed, because many people blamed Morsi for the shrinking economy and
shortages of electricity and fuel.
But since Morsi’s ousting in 2013, violence and oppression has become increasingly
common in Egypt, which is what the human rights groups are currently protesting.
The
opinion is that President Sisi has appointed those who are close to him to office, while
cracking down on his non-supporters, especially the Muslim Brotherhood.
They have also been cracking down on freedom of speech and jailing opponents.
The Egyptian government notably jailed three Al-Jazeera reporters in 2013.
And in
2014, more than 500 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were sentenced to death on
charges of murdering a high-ranking policeman.
In addition to all of this, the Egyptian economy has also been poor since the
revolution.
There are some signs of potential recovery now, but in January, Egypt’s
currency hit a historic low against the US dollar.
Tourism, which generates a significant
amount of Egypt’s GDP, has fallen, on average, since 2011, and the US Bureau of
Consular Affairs recommends that American citizens avoid urban areas after dark.
Terrorists in Egypt have also remained a significant concern to the public and the
government.
According to the Congressional Research Service, the Sinai
Peninsula is home to a mix of terrorist cells including radical Bedouin
Arabs, foreign fighters and Palestinian militants, which target both Egypt and Israel.
The
most powerful of these groups is called Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis, which swore allegiance to
ISIS in November of 2014.
Needless to say, things in Egypt are bad and may not change anytime soon.
The US
is still sending military and economic aid to the country.
And although the UN is giving
the Egyptian government a sort of grace period to work on their democracy, that’s not
going to last forever.
Other countries in the region are facing very similar power struggles since the Arab
Spring.
To learn about the situation in Libya, Egypt’s next-door neighbor, check out this
video now.
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