Ghaffar Khan Society: June 2021

Monday, June 21, 2021

An Open Letter to Joe Biden

Dear Mr. President:

I am not a Roman Catholic. Nevertheless, I endorse Pope Francis's principled position in Fratelli Tutti that all Catholics should advocate for the abolition of the death penalty worldwide.

You, Mr. President, make much of your Catholic faith. I assume that you are sincere. And so I call upon you as a sincere Catholic to contact Egyptian President (General) El-Sisi and demand that he grant clemency to the twelve political prisoners who were sentenced to die on June 14, 2021.

Your own State Department has documented the human rights abuses that have become routine under the El-Sisi regime. As you must be aware, the individuals that the regime intends to execute are journalists, lawyers, human rights advocates, former members of the Egyptian parliament, and others who struggled to liberate Egypt from decades of rule by military junta and to create a democratic government in its place.

In 2011, they actually succeeded. In 2013, however, the forces of reaction returned to power. I realize that none of this is news to you. After all, you were part of the Obama Administration which talked a good game about human rights while it looked the other way as Egypt's first democratically elected government in 7,000 years was overthrown in a military coup.

It is time, Mr. Biden, for you to make amends for your complicity in that coup. It is time for you to live up to your motto: "Don't keep the faith, spread it." It is time for you to emulate Pope Francis's principled stand and do the right thing. Your silence in this matter will only extend your complicity in murder. Call El-Sisi--I'm sure he'll take your call--and tell him that your conscience will no longer allow you to turn a blind eye to his criminality. Tell him to grant clemency to his political opponents or risk U.S. sanctions and the loss of $1.3 billion in aid.

I await news of your intervention.

Statement of Conscientious Objection to War in Any Form