The Obama administration is petitioning Interpol to deny Egypts request for the arrest of American and other nongovernmental workers accused of illegally operating democracy programs and stirring unrest, in a push to prevent further escalation of the planned prosecution that sparked the worst crisis in U.S.-Egypt relations in three decades.
| More smart diplomacy from Champ. We should have gotten these people out of Egypt just as soon as it became evident that there was trouble with the military government. Think the Muslim Brotherhood is going to treat our people any better? |
According to people familiar with the case, State Department counsel Harold Koh and Justice Department Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz are trying to convince Interpol to dismiss as politically motivated Egypts request for worldwide notices seeking the arrest of some personnel from several nongovernmental organizations that receive U.S. funding.
Cairos continued plans to prosecute the NGO workers is a sharp rebuke to the U.S., which has been pressing Egypt to drop the criminal charges against 43 nongovernmental workers17 of them Americansfrom the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, International Republican Institute, Freedom House, and International Center for Journalists.
| They may all be legitimate as far as we're concerned, but it's becoming clear that a fair bit of the rest of the world doesn't like -- or is learning not to like -- our quangos. This is why we should have had them registered as diplomats, and had them abide by diplomatic rules of engagement and procedure. |
Tensions between Washington and Cairo eased on March 1 when seven American democracy workers were allowed to leave Egypt after their institutions paid some $5 million in bail to lift the travel ban against them. These Americansincluding IRIs Sam LaHood, son of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHoodstill face charges in a trial slated to resume on Tuesday, but are not currently wanted for arrest in Egypt.
Shortly after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton signed off on military aid to Cairo, Egypt asked Interpol to issue so-called red notices for other nongovernmental workers who were not in Egypt at the time, or in some cases, who never worked there at all.
| So they cashed our check and then went after our people. Nice. They don't stay bought... |
As many as 10 of them are Americans. Among them are prominent figures in Washington, like Freedom Houses Charles Dunne, a former U.S. diplomat who also served on the National Security Council under President George W. Bush.
If convicted, they could face a hefty financial penalty and up to five years in an Egyptian prison.
The State and Justice departments, as well as Interpol headquarters in France and its bureau in Washington, all declined to comment on Egypts request for the red notices, which are usually viewed as precursors to filing extradition papers. The United States is making known in every relevant forum, and before every relevant agency, its objection to these politically motivated trials in Egypt, State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez told National Journal.
Successfully convincing Interpol that Egypts prosecution is politically motivated would prevent the organization from issuing the red notices, because its constitution mandates neutrality and strictly forbids it to undertake any intervention in matters of political, military, religious or racial character.
The United States, unlike many of the 190 countries participating in the international police organization, is not obligated to arrest anyone on its soil subject to a red notice because it does not view this as probable cause for an arrest warrant, according to Douglas McNabb, a Washington-based international criminal lawyer.
Individuals wanted under red notices can appeal Interpols decision in a process that can take months or even years, said McNabb, who specializes in Interpol notice removal and international extradition.
Its serious when someone files a red notice, McNabb told NJ. Its used to try and locate an individual with a view of later having them put in extradition proceedings.
Those who are listed under Interpols red notices are effectively landlocked, McNabb said, because they are likely to be arrested if they travel to other countries.
There may be even bigger legal battles ahead for the U.S. government if Egypt chooses to follow up with extradition requests. In that case, the U.S. would have to abide by its extradition treaty with Cairo and arrest the suspects, McNabb said. A U.S. judge would then decide whether the individual is extraditable or not. However, the U.S. government would be forced into the uncomfortable position of having to represent Egypt in court-- against the American defendants it considers to be wrongly accused of violating Egypt's highly restrictive laws on civil society.
| At what point would we abrogate the extradition treaty -- about the moment Ray LaHood's boy is arrested? |
The Egyptians acceleration in its planned prosecution of the pro-democracy workers is sure to anger U.S. lawmakers and activists who were concerned Cairo might be emboldened by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clintons recent decision to waive new congressional conditions on the package of $1.3 billion in military aid.
| It certainly makes clear that someone in Egypt is delighting in twisting the screw on us and making us look stupid and weak. |
My worry is the [Egyptians] are going to feel they now have a green light to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, Dunne told National Journal, referring to Clintons decision to waive restrictions that would have required her to certify Cairo was respecting the transition to democracy, and implementing policies to protect due process of law and freedom of expression, association, and religion.
| So we hold all further financial transfers, remove all American military and diplomatic personnel, list Egypt as 'unsafe' for Americans to travel thus killing the tourist trade, decline to sell them wheat and corn, and flip 'on' the kill switches on the military equipment we've sold them. |
Fayza Abul Naga, the Egyptian minister who coordinates foreign aid, has for years tried to clamp down on these NGOs and spearheaded the recent investigation of what she called their illegal activities. Naga, in a March 9 op-ed in the Washington Post, blasted Washingtons decision to redirect some funds to programs run by local and American civil society groups to aid the democratic transition in Egypt after Hosni Mubaraks ouster.
IRIs Egypt country director Sam LaHood, has dismissed as malarkey the claims by Naga, who is a holdover from Mubaraks government.
Shes alleged that the U.S. government is actively trying to sow unrest, trying to divide Egypt, and undermine the revolution, LaHood told National Journal upon returning to Washington last month. For a minister of another country to allege those things in a court of law and in public seems outrageous, and she points to our organizations as tools that are doing that.
| That's how you see it. She's an Egyptian and sees it differently. Isn't it rather imperialist of you, Sam, to tell her how she ought to feel? |
Despite the politicized pall over the case, the NGO workers face technical charges of managing an unregistered international organization. They sound like the things you might get a $20 ticket for-- but are being prosecuted as criminal charges, Dunne said. The Egyptian government had for years left pending the applications of some groups Washington considers most critical to democracy programs in the country-- like those of IRI and NDI-- even as it tacitly allowed them to operate.
Dunne, who has no plans to return to Egypt, said his lawyers plan to argue Freedom House did nothing wrong in court next week. The group had submitted its registration papers just before the late December raid in which the Egyptian authorities seized all their equipment and paperwork and sealed the offices. IRI and NDI had been granted permission to monitor the parliamentary elections just before Egyptian prosecutors raided their bureaus, backed by police and military forces carrying machine guns.
Freedom Houses Sherif Mansour, an Egyptian who just received American citizenship days ago, has not been in Egypt since July and was surprised to find out about the charges against him through a news conference in February. They one-sidedly declared me a fugitive, said Mansour, who like Dunne still hasnt seen any official documents proving he is actually being charged with crimes in Egypt.
That shows how political this case is, Mansour said.
It is basically meant to indict people in front of the media and publish their image from the start."
| Yup, and it's working on the streets of Cairo. |
Meanwhile, the prosecution has effectively sidelined some U.S.-funded democracy programs in the Egypt. Our ability to operate as a fully functioning operation is nonexistent at the moment, Dunne said. With Egypt investigating as many as 400 organizations in the country, Dunne said, theres a terrible concern
about the chilling effect on Egyptian civil society.
| In turn we should sideline Egypt's ability to grab and spend our money, and use the military equipment we've sold them. |
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[BBC] About 80 children rescued from a 
[Washington Post] An Egyptian court on Tuesday convicted 43 nonprofit workers, including at least 16 Americans, of illegally using foreign funds to foment unrest in the country and sentenced them to up to five years in prison.