The French authorities are determined to conceal abusive practices as part of Operation Sirli in Egypt, but two NGOs are as committed to seeking justice. Human rights group Egyptians Abroad for Democracy and feminist network CODEPINK-Women for Peace, both based in the United States, filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg on 8 February for violation of the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The appeal comes after the dismissal of a complaint against X. [Under French law, X is noted in a complaint to indicate that the prosecutor is left responsible for naming the person charged]. The complaint, submitted by the two NGOs, related to accusations of complicity in crimes against humanity and torture in connection with revelations by Disclose in November 2021 about France’s involvement in crimes committed by the Egyptian state against civilians.

“Justice will prevail if we persist,” says Mohamed Ismail, the director of Egyptians Abroad for Democracy, even if “the French judiciary turns a blind eye to the systematic slaughter carried out at the Libyan border with France’s help”. By appealing once again, to Europe’s highest human rights judicial authority, the Egyptian activist hopes to secure a “detailed assessment of [Operation Sirli’s] procedures for actual evidence and, ultimately, “to put an end to crimes against innocent civilians”.

Denial of justice 

When he lodged a first complaint two years ago, Mohamed Ismail did not imagine for one minute that he would witness such a denial of justice. Since 2022, no fewer than three prosecutors have dismissed complaints against the French authorities, even before any criminal investigation was ordered.

On 3 January 2022, following a referral by green party Europe Ecologie-Les Verts, the then public prosecutor of the Court of Cassation and a member of the Court of Justice of the Republic, Francois Molins, cleared the incumbent foreign and defence ministers of wrongdoing. In his response to green members of parliament, Molins was adamant that the former ministers, Jean-Yves Le Drian and Florence Parly, could not “be party, personally, to a criminal offence intentionally, either as perpetrators of, or accomplices in, an offence that may have been committed by Egyptian officials.” He acknowledged, however, that “if [the facts revealed by Disclose] were proven, they would be of the utmost importance”. 

A year later, the Paris judicial tribunal’s unit dedicated to countering crimes against humanity prevented an independent investigation from being ordered. On 19 December 2022, prosecutor Sophie Havard dismissed the first complaint filed by the NGOs Egyptians Abroad for Democracy and CODEPINK for complicity in crimes, crimes against humanity and torture. The magistrate said the offences were “not adequately reasoned”. After the NGOs provided further testimonials on acts of intimidation and crimes committed by the Egyptian regime, the case was dismissed once again by the general prosecutor, Marie-Suzanne Le Quéau. No explanation whatsoever was given either. 

Violation of the right to life

The NGOs say that the French state’s continued refusal to order a serious and independent investigation into its own actions violates at least three articles of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms ratified by 46 states, including France: Article 2, which guarantees “the right to life” and the duty to investigate cases where this right has been breached; Article 6, which protects “the right to a fair trial” by an impartial and independent tribunal; and Article 13, which allows all persons subject to trial to have access to an effective remedy at a national level should their rights be violated. The latter article is intended to provide a guarantee that compels states to uphold fundamental rights without having to appeal to the ECHR.

“Those who commit crimes should not go unpunished: this is a fundamental principle of the rule of law,” explains Haydee Dijkstal, a lawyer for Egyptians Abroad for Democracy.“But this principle has been flouted on two counts: not only because France has not ordered an investigation into the crimes [reported by the NGOs], but also because it has failed to suggest a satisfactory mechanism for challenging them before an independent and impartial court”.

Intimidation of NGOs which have lodged complaints

While France has been very careful not to react, its partners in the Middle East have not hesitated to make direct threats to Egyptian human rights defenders. In October last year, the Turkish authorities detained for a month Ghada Naguib, Egyptians Abroad for Democracy’s representative in Istanbul. The NGO says Naguib was targetted at the request of the Egyptian authorities because of her public action against Operation Sirli.

The involvement of two Arab media outlets supporting President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s regime lends credence to this assertion. Although there is no evidence to support the allegation that Ghada Naguib was in touch with Disclose before her arrest, an article in Saoudi media outlet al-Arabiya claims that she was arrested “because of her mysterious relationship with a French journalist arrested by the French authorities for spreading false information about Egypt”. A reference to Ariane Lavrilleux, a co-author of revelations on Operation Sirli who was detained for 39 hours in September last year as part of an investigation for endangering secret national defence information. The words were lifted directly from Egyptian site Vetogate, which is controlled by the country’s intelligence services.

While failing to inform, the two mouthpieces for al-Sisi’s dictatorship are revealing of the Egyptian authorities’ fear of seeing their partnership with France destabilised by civil society. Another reason why Ghada Naguib is “determined to obtain justice”.

A botched internal inquiry by the Ministry of the Armed Forces

The French judiciary is not the only institution in the country that has been reluctant, so far, to open the “black box” of state secrets. President Emmanuel Macron’s government initially pledged to investigate possible abusive practices as part of Operation Sirli but it has since remained silent.  

A few days after our revelations were published, in November 2021, the French government confirmed the existence of its secret mission in Egypt and ordered an investigation to “check the rules that had been laid down and their implementation”. The farce ended three months later with a self-congratulatory statement classified as a defence secret. “Prevention of a potential risk of abusive practices has been monitored over time,” the Ministry of the Armed Forces responded. In plain language, the internal inquiry, which military staff are keeping confidential, found that no abuse had been committed. Should we then conclude that the ministry’s sleuths failed to find the memos of the Directorate of Military Intelligence [direction du renseignement militaire, DRM)] — although they are freely accessible on the Disclose website — in which French military personnel repeatedly sent warning signals to their superiors? 

The Parliamentary Delegation for Intelligence [délégation parlementaire au renseignement], which includes elected representatives and magistrates with defence secret clearance, tried to find out more by calling for the ministers concerned to be questioned. In vain. The delegation’s request was dimissed, as it explained in its annual report released in October 2022. The reason reportedly given for the refusal was the “need to ensure that checks would not disrupt in any way the smooth running of the services’ operational activity [concerning all matters relating] to exchanges with foreign services”. Words that suggested Operation Sirli was still ongoing in 2022.

The dozens of “confidential defence” memos revealed by Disclose show that intelligence provided by France has been used to shell civilians on at least 19 occasions since 2016 and may have caused several hundred deaths.

We do not know if Operation Sirli is continuing or whether it is taking place under the same conditions that prevailed when it was launched in February 2016: the French Ministry of the Armed Forces did not respond to our requests on this matter. It remains to be seen whether the European Court of Human Rights will put an end to the code of silence surrounding this deadly operation at the highest levels of the state.

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Writing: Ariane Lavrilleux and Mathias Destal
Editing: Pierre Leibovici
Translation: Béatrice Murail