Due Process Abuses In Egypt Strengthen Extremist Groups Like ISIS, Says Texas A&M Law Prof

This week’s sentences of life imprisonment for leading political activists in Egypt are blatant abuses of due process rights and affronts to the rule of law, says Sahar Aziz, a professor at the Texas A&M University School of Law who specializes in national security, civil rights law, and Islamic and Middle East law. Such abuses only serve to strengthen extremist groups such as ISIS because they are able to point to the corruption of the authoritarian states as a justification for their existence, Aziz explains. “As more and more citizens become disenfranchised and fear their own government's abuses, they are more vulnerable to recruitment by ISIS, particularly the youth whose futures are bleak,” she argues. To book an interview with Professor Aziz, contact Lesley Henton, Division of Marketing & Communications, Texas A&M University, at [email protected].