{"id":14129,"date":"2021-01-27T09:25:24","date_gmt":"2021-01-27T09:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/?p=19222"},"modified":"2021-01-27T09:25:24","modified_gmt":"2021-01-27T09:25:24","slug":"egypt-decade-after-arab-spring-amnesty-and-un-express-concern-over-detention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/27\/egypt-decade-after-arab-spring-amnesty-and-un-express-concern-over-detention\/","title":{"rendered":"Egypt decade after Arab spring: Amnesty and UN express concern over detention"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The human rights organization Amnesty International published a scathing report on 25 January 2021 decrying the inhumane conditions in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/opinion-egypt-is-synonymous-with-hopelessness\/a-56316372\">Egyptian prisons<\/a>. The report comes\u00a0a decade after the\u00a0Arab Spring uprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The report detailed the experiences of 67 individuals in detention, 10 of whom died in custody and two who died shortly after being released. It was carried out primarily between February 2020 and November 2020 and&nbsp;focused on 16 prisons. It found that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Prisoners were kept in squalid conditions and received unhealthy food;<\/li><li>There was no proper access to health care, which may have resulted in death;<\/li><li>Overcrowding, poor ventilation and limited&nbsp;access to water and toilets led inevitably to outbreaks of coronavirus.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The report also found that some prisoners were deliberately denied access to health care due to their political affiliations. Activists, politicians and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/frances-macron-defends-arms-sales-to-egypt-despite-rights-concerns\/a-55846151\">human rights defenders<\/a> were denied basic treatments available to other inmates. There was also evidence of prison authorities &#8220;<em>targeting prisoners critical of the government and denying them adequate food or family visits<\/em>,&#8221; Markus Beeko, Secretary General of Amnesty International in Germany, asserted. According to UN estimates, there are 114,000 people incarcerated in the north African country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 22 January 2021 Mary Lawlor also deplored the arrest and prolonged pre-trial detention of\u00a0 human rights defenders and bloggers, and their\u00a0 accusation of being members of a terrorist organisation, continuing Egypt\u2019s practice to intimidate and criminalise human rights defenders, journalists and their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>I am extremely concerned by the seemingly unrelenting efforts of the Egyptian authorities to silence dissent and shrink civic space in the country, despite repeated calls from UN mechanisms and the international community,<\/em>\u201d said Mary Lawlor, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Special Rapporteur said she was disturbed by the detention since 2018 of human rights defender and blogger <span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\"><strong>Mohamed Ibrahim Radwan,<\/strong><\/span> also known as \u2018Mohamed Oxygen\u2019, on charges of \u201cmembership of a terrorist organisation\u201d and \u201cmisuse of social media\u201d in retaliation for his posts and videos reporting on human rights issues. He was granted conditional release by the Cairo Criminal Court in November last year but was attached to a new case on charges of joining a terrorist organisation and kept in detention. He remains in pre-trial detention in Al-Aqrab Prison, south of Cairo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lawlor said that human rights defenders such as researcher and post-graduate student <span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\"><strong>Patrick Zaki<\/strong><\/span>, who was arrested in February last year, have endured repeated renewals of detention without trial. \u201c<em>Pre-trial detention should only be used as the exception to the rule, rather than the default approach,<\/em>\u201d said Lawlor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201c<em>Not only are these human rights defenders, journalists and other civil society actors unduly targeted for their legitimate and peaceful defence of human rights and fundamental freedoms, they are wrongfully accused of belonging to terrorist organisations and portrayed as a national security threat under vague legal provisions<\/em>,\u201d the Special Rapporteur said. \u201c<em>This is an issue which I and a number of UN experts have previously communicated our concern about to the Egyptian authorities.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Lawlor\u2019s call has been endorsed by: Fionnuala N\u00ed Aol\u00e1in,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/Terrorism\/Pages\/SRTerrorismIndex.aspx#%3A~%3Atext=At%20its%20thirty-fifth%20session%2Coffice%20on%201%20August%202017.\">Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism<\/a> and Irene Khan, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/Issues\/FreedomOpinion\/Pages\/IreneKhan.aspx\">Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the meantime also a tiny sparkle of good news: Egypt\u2019s Administrative Court overturned on Thursday a 2016 decision by Cairo governorate to close <strong>El-Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence<\/strong> and Torture. [see also: <a href=\"https:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/2018\/01\/25\/ai-germany-award-goes-to-egypts-nadeem-center-for-torture-victims\/\">https:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/2018\/01\/25\/ai-germany-award-goes-to-egypts-nadeem-center-for-torture-victims\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Ten years after the Tahrir square protests in Cairo, Egypt\u2019s human rights record is disastrous. On the occasion of the anniversary of the 2011 revolution, several international campaigns are calling for the release of imprisoned activists <\/em>writes <strong>Sofian Philip Naceur<\/strong> in Qantara.de  Violent, authoritarian and extremely paranoid: since his bloody takeover in 2013, <a href=\"https:\/\/en.qantara.de\/content\/protests-in-egypt-sisi-the-survivor\">Egypt\u2019s President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has restored a regime whose brutality far outstrips even the reign of long-term ruler Hosni Mubarak.<\/a> Hopes for real political and social change after the mass uprising that forced Mubarak out of office after 30 years in power have faded away, leaving a disillusionment that is omnipresent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/2020\/12\/18\/arab-spring-information-technology-platforms-no-longer-support-human-rights-defenders-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa\/\">https:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/2020\/12\/18\/arab-spring-information-technology-platforms-no-longer-support-human-rights-defenders-in-the-middle-east-and-north-africa\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Countless people who, before and after the 2011 revolt, campaigned in various ways for \u201cbread, freedom and social justice\u201d in Egypt, are today intimidated and politically inactive, or have fled the country to live in exile. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.qantara.de\/content\/human-rights-under-sisi-egypts-open-air-prison\">Tens of thousands, however, remain imprisoned in Egypt for political reasons, paying a hefty price for their activism and courage.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Egyptian opposition figures are using the current media attention around the tenth <a href=\"https:\/\/en.qantara.de\/dossier\/egypt-revolution-2011\">anniversary of the \u201c25 January Revolution\u201d<\/a> to highlight the fate of those currently in prison for their political engagement. Some have been sentenced to heavy jail terms, while others are subjected to pre-trial detention lasting years by the Egyptian security forces and the country&#8217;s judiciary. European opposition politicians are also participating in corresponding campaigns. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eight politicians from Germany&#8217;s left-wing party \u2013 Die Linke \u2013 have signed a <a href=\"http:\/\/christinebuchholz.de\/2021\/01\/25\/solidaritaet-mit-inhaftierten-sozialistinnen-und-sozialisten-in-aegypten\/\">solidarity statement<\/a> calling for the immediate release of all political detainees, which explicitly highlights the fate of six detained leftist activists, journalists and trade unionists.  Although the campaign specifically highlights six individual cases, it expresses solidarity not only with Egyptian leftists, but with all those \u201cwho are resisting Sisi\u2019s dictatorship\u201d. In addition to journalist <a href=\"https:\/\/egyptsolidarityinitiative.org\/2020\/12\/26\/emergency-action-detained-journalist-hisham-fouad-at-risk-from-medical-neglect-in-prison\/\">Hishem Fouad,<\/a> who advocated for striking workers and independent trade unions long before 2011, the German politicians are also calling for the release of novelist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/?p=19586&amp;lang=en\">Ayman Abdel Moati,<\/a> lawyer and trade union activist <a href=\"https:\/\/www.frontlinedefenders.org\/en\/case\/detention-and-prosecution-haytham-mohamadeen\">Haitham Mohamadeen<\/a> and trade unionist <span class=\"has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color\"><strong>Khalil Rizk.<\/strong><\/span> All four are detained on flimsy, terrorism-related charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/egypt-amnesty-slams-inhumane-prison-conditions\/a-56331626\">https:\/\/www.dw.com\/en\/egypt-amnesty-slams-inhumane-prison-conditions\/a-56331626<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed wp-block-embed-embed\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/NewsEvents\/Pages\/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26682&#038;LangID=E\" rel=\"nofollow\">https:\/\/www.ohchr.org\/EN\/NewsEvents\/Pages\/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26682&#038;LangID=E<\/a>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/en.qantara.de\/content\/human-rights-violations-in-egypt-demanding-president-sisi-free-his-political-prisoners\">https:\/\/en.qantara.de\/content\/human-rights-violations-in-egypt-demanding-president-sisi-free-his-political-prisoners<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/nglish.ahram.org.eg\/NewsContentP\/1\/399358\/Egypt\/Egypt-court-overturns-closure-of-human-rights-NGO-.aspx\">english.ahram.org.eg\/NewsContentP\/1\/399358\/Egypt\/Egypt-court-overturns-closure-of-human-rights-NGO-.aspx<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/news\/egypt-amnesty-condemns-prison-conditions\">https:\/\/www.middleeasteye.net\/news\/egypt-amnesty-condemns-prison-conditions<\/a><\/p>\n\n<p class=\"syndicated-attribution\">This post was originally published on <a href=\"https:\/\/humanrightsdefenders.blog\/2021\/01\/27\/egypt-decade-after-arab-spring-amnesty-and-un-express-concern-over-detention\/\">Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The human rights organization Amnesty International published a scathing report on 25 January 2021 decrying the inhumane conditions in Egyptian prisons. The report comes\u00a0a decade after the\u00a0Arab Spring uprising. The report detailed the experiences of 67 individuals in detention, 10 of whom died in custody and two who died shortly after being released. It was [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":487,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3198,1437,1168,3199,3200,577,3201,307,3202,6,1424,3203,3204,1439,3205,2948,3206,3207],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14129"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/487"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14129"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26514,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14129\/revisions\/26514"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}