Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) on Wednesday described the Egyptian military’s mistaken attack on Mexican tourists as part of a series of violent incidents, and called for scrutiny of American aid to Cairo.
Leahy, who has questioned the legality of US assistance to Egypt, noted that the key ally’s security forces have been accused of committing a range of abuses without consequence.
“This was a terrible avoidable tragedy that unfortunately was not an isolated occurrence,” he said in a statement. “There have been other incidents of mistaken or indiscriminate attacks by Egyptian forces against civilians that have not been properly investigated.”
Sunday’s attack during a counterterrorist operation left eight Mexican tourists and four Egyptians dead. The Egyptian government said it believed the group had consisted of Islamist militants allied with the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq (ISIL).
Survivors reported that helicopters were used. On Monday, State Department spokesperson John Kirby said that the Apache helicopters given by the US to Egypt are permitted for counterterrorism operations.
Last year, Leahy temporarily blocked the provision of Apaches to Cairo.
Mexico’s top envoy arrived in Egypt on Wednesday, with both family members of victims and a mandate to find facts. She is scheduled to meet with Egypt’s military leader, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
According to a federal law initially proposed by Leahy when he was in the House of Representatives, foreign security forces aren’t allowed to receive US assistance if they have been found to commit human rights abuses with impunity. Leahy last month asked Secretary of State John Kerry to confirm that US military aid to Egypt complies with the statute.
“The United States should insist that the Egyptian government permit regular monitoring, including by independent journalists, of all US military aid to ensure its proper use, and appropriate accountability if it is misused,” he said Wednesday.
The US has for decades supported dictatorial rule in Egypt–most notably, that of longtime former President Hosni Mubarak. The practice received increased scrutiny in 2013, when the Egyptian military, led by Sisi, overthrew the country’s only democratically-elected president, Muslim Brotherhood leader Muhammed Morsi.
As Leahy alluded to, Sisi’s government has in recent months come under fire from people around the world after an Egyptian court sentenced three Al-Jazeera journalists to prison. They were convicted of having “broadcast false news” just after the overthrow of Morsi.
Two of the journalists, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, are currently serving three year sentences. The other, Peter Greste, is an Australian citizen and was deported in February. Greste was tried in absentia.
