Twenty-seven countries, including the United States, France, Germany, Turkey, and Japan, broke their relative silence on Egypt’s human rights situation since the ouster of Mohamed Morsi last year. Amy Hawthorne, a resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council’s Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East, outlines the change in international sentiment in her article on EgyptSource, “Tip-toeing Toward Criticism: 27 Countries Rebuke Egypt at UN Human Rights Council.” 

The statement read at the Human Rights Council condemned the deterioration of the freedom of expression and demanded accountability for the death of protesters–a charge that Egyptian diplomats vigorously denied–yet remained relatively mild in light of the degree to which the human rights environment has deteriorated. 

Hawthorne notes that, although the focus on Egypt’s human rights is a positive development, it does not necessarily reflect a shift away from working with the new authoritarian regime. To read her article, click here.