Barak Obama said on Friday: "The people of Egypt have rights thatare universal. That includes the right to peaceful assembly andassociation, the right to free speech and the ability to determinetheir own destiny. These are human rights. And the United Stateswill stand up for them everywhere."
This was the first time any US administration of the past 50years has associated itself with the cause of democracy in Egypt.
In Washington, on November 10 last, Secretary of State HillaryClinton stood alongside Egyptian despot Hosni Mubarak's ForeignMinister, Aboul Gheitto, to tell a Press conference: "I amdelighted, once again, to welcome the foreign minister and hisdistinguished delegation ... back to Washington. The foreignminister and I have developed a close and productive workingrelationship and I always look forward to our discussions.
"The partnership between the United States and Egypt is acornerstone of stability and security in the Middle East and beyondand we look to Egypt for regional and global leadership on a widerange of issues."
In February 2009, just a month after Clinton had arrived at theState Department, her officials delivered a report on human rightsin Egypt: "The Government limited citizens' right to change theirgovernment and continued a state of emergency that has been in placealmost continuously since 1967. Security forces used unwarrantedlethal force and tortured and abused prisoners and detainees, inmost cases with impunity ... Security forces arbitrarily arrestedand detained individuals, in some cases for political purposes, andkept them in prolonged pre-trial detention. The government's respectfor freedoms of Press, association and religion declined during theyear."
There is no record of any response from the US administrationuntil the Egyptian people took to the streets.
At the weekend, Foreign Secretary William Hague weighed in to saythat Britain, too, has always been "in favour of greater freedom anddemocracy, of a more open and flexible political system ... (and)freedom of expression" in Egypt.
When it was put to David Cameron afterwards that MohamedElbaradei, the Egyptian former head of the UN's nuclear watchdogagency, had alleged that Britain and the US had backed repressionfor 30 years, the weak reply fell far short of outright denial: "Idon't believe that's the case."
There is no record of any UK government taking a stand for humanrights in Egypt over the 29 years of the Mubarak dictatorship.Obama supporters might wonder, too, why 'universal' human rights donot seem to apply even yet to Saudi Arabia.
In the month after its report on Egypt, the State Departmentpublished its assessment of human rights under the feudal rule ofthe Saud family.
"Disappearances; torture and physical abuse; poor prison anddetention centre conditions; arbitrary arrest and incommunicadodetention; denial of public trials and lack of due process in thejudicial system; political prisoners; restrictions on civilliberties such as freedoms of speech (including the internet),assembly, association, movement, and severe restrictions onreligious freedom; and corruption and lack of governmenttransparency. Violence against women, violations of the rights ofchildren and discrimination on the basis of gender, religion, sect,and ethnicity were common."
Ten months later, in January 2010, the Washington Post reported aUS official in Dubai saying: "The Obama administration is quietlyworking with Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf allies."
The report referred to "efforts (to) build on commitments by theGeorge W Bush administration to sell warplanes and anti-missilesystems to friendly Arab states . . . Gulf states, particularlySaudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are undertakingmultibillion-dollar purchases of US-made defensive systems".
The website of the UK Embassy in Riyadh continues to carry anintroduction to the country aimed at intending British visitors:"Saudi Arabia and the United Kingdom have long been close allies andthe breadth and depth of Britain's relationship with the Kingdomcontinues to increase ... Continuing close contact between theBritish and Saudi royal families highlights the range of therelationship ... Two-way trade between our two kingdoms continuesto grow."
The readiness of UK governments to put relations with the Saudidictatorship ahead even of British law was seen in Tony Blair'sintervention in December 2006 to halt a Serious Fraud Officeinvestigation into the bribery of corrupt Saudi princes to the tuneof hundreds of millions of pounds by the arms company BAE Systems togrease the Pounds 42bn arms deal with the ruling family.
What has prompted the US and Britain now suddenly to discover acommitment to human rights in Egypt has been the sound of anger andmarching feet. Nothing else.
CAPTION: Making a point: mass street protests across Egypt'slargest cities have shaken Western leaders and President HosniMubarak (below)
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