Elham Asaad Buaras
Egyptian authorities arrested hundreds of civil rights activists in the two weeks leading up to the COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, reported Amnesty International.
According to Amnesty, at least 151 detainees are being investigated by the notorious SSSP, while hundreds more have faced brief arrests and questioning as the conference got underway on November 6.
Activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah is among those detained and was on a hunger strike for more than 200 days. Following the reinstatement of a Presidential Pardons Committee by President al-Sisi in April and preparation for COP27, the Egyptian government freed 766 convicts.
However, Amnesty found that over the same time frame, 1,540 people were detained and interrogated for their democratic activism. Security forces arrested and detained hundreds of people over the content on their phones – a tactic often deployed by police ahead of protests. Some were taken to prosecutors, while others remain subject to enforced disappearance according to lawyers.
Amnesty raised the case of Abdelsalam Abdelghani, 55, who was arrested in September at his Cairo home, questioned about Facebook posts calling for protests on November 11.
Abdelghani was questioned over spreading “false news” and being “a member of a terrorist group”, and is still being held. “World leaders arriving in Sharm El-Sheikh for COP27 must not be fooled by Egypt’s PR campaign.
Away from the dazzling resort hotels, thousands of individuals – including human rights defenders, journalists, peaceful protesters and members of the political opposition – continue to be detained unjustly”, said Philip Luther, Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director.
While human rights lawyers Hoda Abdelmoniem and Mohamed Baker continue to be held without charge, the health of former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh is at risk while he is in custody.
Anyone who is allegedly a part of or connected to the Muslim Brotherhood has been barred from release by the government.
Authorities are also accused of ignoring ‘rotation’ releases Since April; security agencies have refused to implement judicial orders for the release of at least 60 detainees. Instead, National Security Agency (NSA) officers have taken them to prison and subjected them to enforced disappearance for days before they were brought before prosecutors to face national security-related charges.
Most of those released following the reactivation of the Presidential Pardons Committee continue to face restrictions on their freedom of speech. Seven recently-released detainees told Amnesty that the NSA ordered the removal of critical content posted on their social media channels or face re-arrest when COP27 concludes.
Some who did not comply have already been re-arrested, such as Sherif al-Roubi, an activist released in June but re-arrested in September after giving a media interview on the hardships faced by former prisoners. Others who were freed remain under police surveillance, while many are arbitrarily banned from travelling.
