Egyptian parliament condemns US treatment of black protesters

As global outrage against the US mounts due to the killing of two black men by police last week, Egyptian lawmakers have decided to weigh into the issue condemning cops for "crushing peaceful protests".

"I think that all ‎Egyptian MPs and defenders of human rights should ‎move to condemn the repeated brutal use of force ‎against black Americans and expose the bloody face of ‎the United States and its politicised use of the issue of ‎human rights to extort other nations," said MP Margaret Azer, deputy ‎chairman of Egypt parliament's human rights ‎committee.

"The United States, which likes to ‎give lectures on human rights to other nations and issue ‎periodical reports on civil liberties in the world, was ‎caught red handed violating human rights and crushing ‎the peaceful protests of black Americans in the city of ‎Dallas and other US cities."‎

Given the Egyptian regime's own track record of crushing peaceful protests - including the killing of up to 1,000 peaceful pro-democracy protesters in Cairo in one day - many have been sickened by the Egyptian parliament's political point scoring.

Many also see the irony in the parliamentarians' condemnation of the "illusion of American democracy" amid a stifling atmosphere for Egyptian pro-democracy activists.

Muslim Brotherhood members and liberal activists have been imprisoned en masse, while a military coup in 2013 brought President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi to power who presides over parliament and who most are unequivocally loyal to.

Nonetheless it is Egyptian lawmakers accusing the US of hypocrisy and MPs voicing their "annoyance" at being lectured by the US government - and human rights groups - amid their own short fallings.

Independent MP Yosri al-Moghazi blasted America's record on discrimination, police brutality and social inequality.

"Instead of reforming ‎themselves, the Americans opted to put a cover on ‎these ills and extort other nations on the issue of human ‎rights," he said.

Moghazi also called for a review of the recent incidents in America by the Egyptian parliament's human rights committee.

This should be conducted in the same way "committees in the US ‎congress not only issue periodical critical reports of the ‎record of human rights in Egypt and other Middle ‎Eastern countries".

An 'American Spring'

The recent protests in the US led by the 'Black Lives Matter' movement were described by MP Abdel Rehim Ali as the possible beginnings of an "American Spring" that could "expose the falseness of the white man's democracy in America".

The independent MP and journalist also took a shot at human rights watchdogs Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for their "silence" after the incidents of violence against black US citizens by police.

"The fatal shootings of black Americans ‎on American streets have erupted amid silence from ‎radical liberal organisations like Human Rights Watch ‎and Amnesty International," said Ali.

"We know why they kept silent, because they ‎get money from America."

That is despite the fact that Amnesty International did issue a letter to Baton Rouge police, warning them to act within the confines of international law.

Amid the barrage of criticism from Cairo was a statement from the Liberal Free Egyptians Party, who ‎also condemned the excessive use of force against African ‎Americans.

"The US ‎administration and media, which have always accused ‎Egypt of issuing a tough protest law have nothing to say ‎now about their police brutality against black protesters," ‎said the party's spokesman Ayman Abul Ela.

"The ‎recent incidents of excessive force and police ‎brutality in America have uncovered the falseness of ‎American democracy and its flawed reports about ‎human rights in the Arab world."

A time for reflection

While recent events have certainly reinforced long-standing criticisms about US' treatment of its citizens based upon race, the use of human rights abuses on both sides as political cannon fodder will do neither side any favours in terms of advancing human rights.

With the US' controversial foreign policy record and history of abuses against its ethnic minority citizens, many have for a long time recognised the hypocrisy of US lecturing on human rights.

Running parallel to this is Cairo's own controversial crackdown on political opposition, free speech and peaceful protest, which is not lessened by American double standards.

To many observers, the fingerpointing of politicians from any country may only serve to reinforce images of leaders who are disconnected from the brutal reality of human rights issues - ones whose only interest in them is for political point-scoring.