NGOs launch complaint against French military operation in Egypt

By Shweta Desai

PARIS (AA) – Two international non-governmental organizations have filed a legal complaint with the judiciary to investigate the French state’s role in committing crimes against humanity in a covert military operation in Egypt.

Based on its 2021 investigation on Operation Sirli in Egypt, US-based NGOs Egyptians Abroad for Democracy and Codepink on Monday filed a complaint at the National Anti-Terrorist Prosecutor's Office, the news platform Disclose reported.

They want the French judiciary to investigate French officials complicit in committing crimes against civilians by providing assistance to the Egyptian authorities through information and intelligence and holding them accountable.

The complaint, seen by Disclose, stated, “the targeted attacks that resulted in the systematic killing and wounding of civilians suspected of smuggling and unrelated to terrorism in (the Egyptian Western Desert), constitute crimes against humanity.”

The NGOs also referred the matter to three UN special rapporteurs to “take steps to obtain additional information on the targeted attacks, including through a visit to Egypt.”

Operation Sirli was a secret intelligence mission launched by France in February 2016 to secure Egypt’s 1,200-kilometre-long (745.6-miles) border with Libya and prevent any eventual terrorist threat.

According to confidential defense documents obtained by Disclose, the Egyptian forces diverted the original mission of surveillance of terrorist activity and providing aerial intelligence in favor of targeting smugglers.

French soldiers sent to Egypt between 2016 and 2019 alerted their superiors at the military intelligence on numerous occasions about the airstrikes against civilians accused of drug smuggling.

The information reached the Elysee Palace, but neither then President Francois Hollande nor incumbent Emmanuel Macron took any action to end the mission. The French Defense Ministry defended the Sirli mission and clarified that it was “subject to a clear framework and strict preventive measures,” as per information on the Disclose website.