Egypt Arrests, Silences Critics for Coronavirus Outbreak

A doctor arrested after writing an article about Egypt’s fragile health system. A pharmacist picked up from work after posting online about the shortage of protective equipment. An editor kicked out of his home after questioning the official coronavirus numbers. A pregnant doctor arrested after a colleague used her phone to report a suspected coronavirus case.

As Egyptian authorities grapple with the growing coronavirus outbreak, security agencies have tried to quell criticism of the government’s handling of the health crisis.

According to human rights groups, at least 10 doctors and up to 10 journalists have been arrested since the virus hit Egypt in February. Other health workers say administrators have warned them to shut up or be punished. A foreign correspondent fled the country for fear of being arrested, and two others were reprimanded for “professional violations”.

The coronavirus is increasing in the country of 100 million, threatening to overwhelm hospitals. As of Monday, the Ministry of Health recorded 76,253 infections, including 3,343 deaths, the highest number of deaths in the Arab world.

“Every day I go to work, I sacrifice myself and my whole family,” said a doctor in Greater Cairo, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, like all doctors interviewed for this story. “Then they arrest my colleagues to send us a message. I don’t see light on the horizon.

In 2013, Abdel Fattah Sisi, then Egypt’s defense minister, led the military removal of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, after his brief government sparked protests across the country. Since then, as president himself, Sisi has eradicated dissent, imprisoning Islamist political opponents, secular activists, journalists, and even belly dancers.

Now the crackdown has spread to doctors who talk about their working conditions.

A government press officer did not respond to requests for comment on the arrests of doctors and journalists.

In recent weeks, authorities have gathered medical supplies to prepare for more patients. The military has established 4,000-bed field hospitals, expanded testing, and ordered companies to produce face masks and other supplies.

But healthcare workers are sounding the alarm on social media. Doctors say they are forced to buy surgical masks at their meager wages. Families advocate for intensive care beds.

The pandemic has brought the Egyptian Medical Union, a non-political professional group, into a new role as the sole defender of the rights of doctors. Last month, the union issued a letter to the prosecutor demanding the release of five doctors detained for expressing views on the response to the virus.

Another union member, Mohamed Fawal, arrived in jail last week, after demanding online that the prime minister apologize for comments that appear to blame health workers for an increase in deaths.

Outraged doctors responded, saying they are poorly trained, underpaid, poorly resourced and fighting to save patients. So far, 117 doctors, 39 nurses and 32 pharmacists have died from COVID-19, according to counts by union members. Thousands have fallen ill.

Security forces closed a union press conference that was to respond to the prime minister’s comments and discuss the shortage of supplies, according to former leader Mona Mina.

“These doctors have no history of activism. They were arrested because they offered criticism for their very specific professional circumstances, ”said Amr Magdi of Human Rights Watch, who confirmed the arrest of eight doctors and two pharmacists. Two have been released, he said, while the rest remain in pretrial detention.

In one case, security agents broke into the home of Hany Bakr, an ophthalmologist north of Cairo, according to his lawyer and Amnesty International, for his Facebook post criticizing the government for sending aid to Italy and China, while Egypt’s doctors lacked equipment. .

In March, prosecutors charged Alaa Shaaban Hamida, 26, with terrorism charges after she let a colleague call the government’s coronavirus hotline from her phone instead of first reporting the case to her managers, according to International Amnesty. Three months pregnant, she remains in preventive detention.

Doctors in three provinces say administrators threatened to report them if they publicly expressed their frustration with authorities or if they did not report to work.

Suppressing criticism in Egypt is not unusual, analysts say, but the government has become more nervous as the pandemic tests its capabilities and economy.

With borders closed and planes idle, Egypt’s critical tourism revenue has faded. Last week, fearing further economic consequences, the government reopened much of society and welcomed hundreds of international tourists to resorts, even as reported daily deaths exceeded 80.

“Due to Egypt’s constant attention to its image as an open place for tourism, open for business, open for investment, the authorities seem particularly sensitive to the divergent prospects during the pandemic,” said Amy Hawthorne, Egypt expert of the Project on Democracy in the Middle East.

At least 15 people have been arrested for broadcasting “false news” about the pandemic, the United Nations human rights office said. Four Egyptian journalists who reported on the outbreak remain in prison, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, which has ranked Egypt among the worst journalist jailers in the world, along with Turkey and China.

In March, Egypt kicked out a reporter from The Guardian who cited a report contesting the official virus count. Egypt’s state-run intelligence agency has convened correspondents from the Washington Post and the New York Times about their critical coverage during the pandemic.

Despite mounting human rights abuses, the international community counts Egypt as a bulwark against regional instability, a Middle East-focused rights defender at the UN said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss policy issues.

“There is no appetite to address what is happening in Egypt,” said the lawyer, “let alone sanction them in any way for what the government is doing to its own people.”