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Egyptian activists invited ambassadors to discuss human rights. Now Sisi has imprisoned them for “terror”.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) invited a group of diplomats to its premises in Cairo. The topic was human rights. Several of the EIPR leaders have now been charged with terrorism. Photo: EIPR / HRW
Egypt’s authoritarian leader, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, will lose one of his most powerful supporters in less than two months. Outgoing US President Donald Trump called Sisi his “favorite dictator.”
Soon, President Sisi will have to deal with President Joe Biden. Unlike his predecessor, he has stated that human rights are important to him.
Shortly after the elections, many saw hope that authoritarian regimes that needed US support would improve the human rights situation.
It was noted that, just after the presidential elections, Egypt released 416 political prisoners. But the Sisi regime has followed with completely different news in recent weeks.
- The leaders of a human rights group have been jailed and charged with terrorism.
- 29 people, including a democracy activist and an opposition politician, have been placed on a “terrorist list”. They are prohibited from traveling, while all financial means are frozen.
With Donald Trump as president of the United States, Sisi has largely been able to do what he pleases. Photo: Kevin Lamarque, Reuters / NTB
Terrorist charge after meeting with ambassadors
Between 15 and 19 November, the Egyptian authorities arrested several of the leaders of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, including director Gasser Abdel-Razek. They are said to have suffered abuse in prison, according to Amnesty International.
The reason for the arrests is said to have been a meeting with ambassadors from various countries at the organization’s premises in Cairo on November 3. Among those present at the meeting were the ambassadors of Germany, France, Holland, Italy and Belgium.
The topic was the human rights situation in Egypt. That is why Abdel-Razek and the others have been accused of terrorism. An accusation Amnesty International refers to as fabrication.
“The arrests, mistreatment in prison and the description of human rights activists as ‘terrorists’ are the latest proof of the profound and catastrophic human rights crisis in Egypt,” said Philip Luther, campaign leader for Amnesty International. in the Middle East and North Africa, according to the organization’s website.
Blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah is described as Egypt’s most prominent human rights activist. This photo of him and his mother Laila Soueif is from October 2014. Photo: Hussein Tallal, AP / NTB
Imprisoned, tortured and put on a “terror list”
Alaa Abdel-Fattah has been in and out of Egyptian prisons since Sisi took power in a military coup in 2013. The Associated Press calls the blogger and computer developer Egypt’s top activist.
He was sentenced to five years in prison in 2015, released in March 2019, and was re-arrested six months later. According to human rights groups, he was tortured after his last imprisonment.
In 2018, the artist Yassin Mohammed made this drawing to illustrate what the conditions were like in one of the prisons where political prisoners were gathered. Mohammed was jailed for two years after participating in a demonstration. Photo: Nariman El-Mofty, AP / NTB
On November 23, he and 28 other people were included in a list of “possible terrorists” that the authorities would monitor for the next five years. The 29 have been banned from traveling and financial means are frozen.
The authorities claim that Abdel-Fattah and the others have joined the Muslim Brotherhood, the party that held power before the 2013 military coup and is now banned.
A member of the Muslim Brotherhood salutes from a cage for the accused in a courtroom in Cairo. The photo is from 2015. Photo: Amr Nabil, AP / NTB
Build new prisons to accommodate everyone
Tens of thousands of Egyptian activists have been jailed for peaceful political activities. Human rights organizations estimate that there may be 60,000 people.
To accommodate everyone, the Sisis regime has built 13 prisons since 2013. Three new ones are being built, according to the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI). There are now 504 jails and police stations in Egypt where there are prisoners, the organization says according to the Middle East Monitor.
The Tora prison in Cairo is considered one of the most brutal. Photo: AMR ABDALLAH DALSH, Reuters / NTB
Terrible conditions in prisons
Under the presidency of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Egypt has experienced the worst human rights crisis in decades, summarizes Human Rights Watch.
They believe that Egyptian security forces without risk of capture could be behind abuses such as torture, disappearances and extrajudicial executions.
The conditions in the prisons are terrible. Hundreds of prisoners, including political prisoners, have died behind the walls for lack of medical supervision. The most famous is former President Muhammed Mursi, who died in June last year.
