SIS denounce HRW director interview with pro-muslim brotherhood channel

CAIRO – 22 July 2019: The State Information Service (SIS) has condemned director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division, Sarah Leah Whitson interview with Mohamed Nasser’s televised program on Mekamleen channel, which is known to be pro-Muslim brotherhood, a group labeled as terrorist organisation by the Egyptian law.

In a statement issued Monday, SIS said that Whitson action indicates that Human Rights Watch lacks all of the professional standers and proves its bias tackling everything related to the Egyptian affairs.

The following is SIS full statement:

State Information Service: Whitson’s Interview on “Mekamleen” reveals Human Rights Watch’s collusion with terrorism

The appearance of Sarah Leah Whitson the director of Human Rights Watch’s Middle East and North Africa division on televised program with Mohamed Nasser on “Mekamleen” a pro Muslim Brotherhood (A terrorist group) television station that broadcasts from Turkey leaves no doubt about HRW’s absolute lack of the most basic standards of professionalism and objectivity in its coverage of the situation in Egypt.

According to statement posted by SIS on its Human Rights website) http://hrstudies.sis.gov.eg/), Whitson’s interview on “Mekamleen” revealed HRW’s obvious bias to an entity classified in Egypt and a number of nations around the world as a terrorist group, and this in turn proves that HRW is in overt collusion with some terrorist groups.

There are clear indicators that attest to the extent of the terroristic incendiary role of Mekamleen among them:

• Mekamleen is considered a propaganda platform of the Muslim Brotherhood, as its establishment coincided with the fall of the Brotherhood from power in Egypt in Mid-2013. Mekamleen’s main function appears to be the intensive promotion of the agenda of the terrorist group which entails spreading rumors and false information about the Egyptian State and jeopardizing the country’s stability. Mekamleen also carries out campaigns of incitement against Arab governments through hosting elements of the Brotherhood on their programs on a regular basis.

• Mekamleen never disclosed the source from which it acquires funding of its inflammatory activities which in turn raises suspicions that its actually funded by secret accounts belonging to the Brotherhood. This is supported by the fact that Mekamleen never faced any financial difficulties.

• Mohamed Nasser is notorious for his hostile propaganda against the Egyptian State; that in addition to the fact that Nasser is wanted by the authorities on account of his implication in the “vanguards of Hasm” terrorism case in which he was convicted by the judiciary and sentenced to 8 years in prison on account of charges that include “attempting to overthrow the government”, “the incitement to kill police officers” and spreading false rumors. Nasser is know to have openly committed the offense of incitement to murder on more than once occasion. For example in one of his episodes on Mekamleen that was aired in January 2015 Nasser said “Kill his officers, I want to tell the wide of every officer that your husband will get killed, if not today then tomorrow, your husband will get murdered” then he later added “If you see an officer kill him and get it done” “The police will not be able to continue, kill them” “I am telling every officer’s wife and son, you husband will die, your children will be orphans” . Nasser Also called for suicide attacks saying “Instead of committing suicide go throw yourself among them you will die anyway” .

• In another episode where Nasser interviewed “Salama Abdel Kawi” a prominent member of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist group in 2015, Nasser asked Abdel Kawi an incendiary question about permitting the killing of Egyptian State officials, Abdel Kawi responded “Whoever is able to do this, then it will bring him closer to God”.

In light of this Human Rights Watch’s total bias to the Brotherhood terrorist group is proven beyond any doubt. This proof is supported by HRW’s systematic smear campaign on the human rights situation in Egypt that started with biased and false statements and reports that were strongly rebutted by the Human Rights Unit of the State Information Service and proceeds now to new level with Mrs. Whitson’s appearance on a terrorist media platform like Mekamleen. Nasser’s clearly incendiary pro Brotherhood terrorism narrative against the Egyptian people and their government leaves no room for interpretation which makes the appearance of senior HRW official as a guest absolutely unacceptable under any conditions.

Mrs. Whitson focused on her 70-minute interview that aired from Istanbul the beating heart of Turkey on the human rights situation in Egypt, she also discussed the state of human rights in several other countries in the region and the world however she did not even point once to the egregious violations committed by the government of President Recep Teyep Erdogan against the Turkish people on a daily basis. This causes our astonishment and raises question regarding Mrs. Whitson’s selective approach.
Its seems that HRW and Mrs. Whitson should be reminded of some grave Turkish violations of human rights including the following:

• The total number of Turkish citizens purged from their jobs since the incident of 2016 have reached a staggering 170,372 individuals and some of which are distributed as follows:

o 17,844 Army officers
o 16,409 Military cadets
o 5335 governors and administrative staff members
o 33,417 police officers
o 4463 judges and public attorneys
o 55,288 teachers
o 7220 employees in the Ministry of Justice
o 7249 physicians and medical staff
o 3330 Imams and Preachers
• That in addition to sacking 22,474 citizens from their jobs in the private sectors.
• Shutting down 200 media outlets and blocking access to 100,000 websites.
• Shutting down 1719 NGOs
• Shutting down 1284 private schools and 15 private universities.

• Arbitrarily detaining 159,506 individuals under emergency laws since 2016 according to reports released by the Office of the United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights.

• The suicide of 60 individuals after arbitrary measures were taken against them, 8 of them committed suicide in prison.

• Turkey is considered the largest jailer of Journalists; according to international organizations 68 journalists languish in Turkish prisons while Turkish sources put the estimate at a horrifying 319.

The State Information Service strongly condemns human rights watch's unprofessional conduct and deplores its overt support of terrorism. SIS also calls upon international public opinion to pay serious attention to how HRW deviated from its core functions as a human rights organization and to see how it transformed itself into a political actor or rather a political tool that terrorist entities and their State sponsors use in their futile quest to compromise Egypt's unity and stability.