Egypt el-Sissi elected new President of the African Union

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi was elected President of the African Union at the summit of the continental body in Ethiopia.

Also at the African Union meeting on Sunday, a statue of the last Ethiopian emperor was unveiled. A clash then broke out between the security guards for some African leaders and the guards of the African Union, delaying the procession of heads of state to the main meeting.

El-Sisi went to the summit after being elected president, stating that he would focus on security on the African continent.

"Our work must continue to improve peace and security in Africa in a comprehensive and sustainable way," said El-Sisi. "Mediation and preventive diplomacy will remain one of the priorities of the African Union."

The new president of the African Union said that "the fight against terrorism requires the identification of those who support it and fund it and fight it collectively. While we are aware of the difficulty and complexity of the struggle, it remains the only appropriate way to uproot terrorism and eliminate it. "

Rights group Amnesty International warned that the presidency of el-Sisi could undermine the human rights mechanisms of the African Union.

"During his tenure, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has shown a shocking disregard for human rights. Under his leadership, the country has suffered a catastrophic decline in rights and freedoms, "said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty's campaign director for North Africa. "The potential impact of his presidency on the independence of regional human rights mechanisms and their future engagement with civil society is a source of real concern."

The human rights group has stated that Egypt since 2015 has orchestrated a sustained political attack on the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, which aims to monitor the antecedents of African states in terms of human rights. human rights. "Dozens of cases alleging gross human rights violations have been filed against Egypt at the ACHPR," he said.

Egyptian leaders have been absent from meetings of the African Union since 1995, year of the badbadination attempt of former leader Hosni Mubarak.

El-Sisi's election ended Rwandan President Paul Kagame's one-year term.

Presidents of the African Union have set agenda items to be dealt with during their one year term.

During his tenure, Kagame dramatically challenged the election results in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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