Egypt has days to avoid wasting jailed activist’s life, warns head of Amnesty International

Amnesty International’s head on Sunday warned that the proceedings of COP27 in Egypt could possibly be stained by the demise of one of many nation’s main rights activists from a starvation and water strike in jail if Egyptian authorities don’t launch him inside days. Secretary General of Amnesty International Agnes Callamard stated Egypt had not more than 72 hours to avoid wasting the lifetime of jailed dissident Alaa Abdel Fattah, who can be a U.Ok. citizen.

Egypt’s internet hosting of the local weather summit, generally known as COP27, has educated a highlight on its human rights report as a wide-reaching crackdown continues underneath President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi. The convention is being held within the Egyptian Red Sea resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh. “If they do not want to end up with a death they should have and could have prevented, they must act now,” Callamard stated at a information briefing within the capital Cairo.

Callamard stated she might be attending COP27 to push for motion on human rights points associated to local weather change, together with loss and harm or reparations from richer nations to susceptible nations affected by local weather change. Egypt is a proponent of the difficulty. But she may also be there to push for quick motion on the case of distinguished Egyptian activist and U.Ok. citizen Alaa Abdel Fattah and that of the tens of 1000’s of political prisoners estimated to be contained in the nation’s jails, she stated.

Opposition determine Abdel-Fattah escalated his starvation strike this week, refusing additionally water, to coincide with the primary day of the COP27, in line with his household. His aunt, the author Ahdaf Soueif, stated he stopped consuming water at 10 a.m. native time on Sunday, amid rising issues about his well being.

Alaa Abdel-Fattah hails from a household of well-known Egyptian activists and rose to prominence with the 2011 pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East and in Egypt toppled long-time President Hosni Mubarak. The 40-year previous activist spent many of the previous decade behind bars and his detention has turn into a logo of Egypt’s return to autocratic rule.

For greater than six months, he has been on a partial starvation strike, consuming solely 100 energy a day. In April, Abdel Fattah’s household introduced he had obtained British citizenship by way of his mom, Laila Soueif, a math professor at Cairo University who was born in London. The household has criticized U.Ok. leaders for failing to push tougher for a consular go to to him within the detention facility.

On Sunday, his household launched a letter they’d acquired from the U.Ok.’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who might be attending COP27. The letter stated the worldwide summit is a chance to boost Abdel Fattah’s case “with the Egyptian leadership.” Sunak will “continue to stress to President (el-Sissi) the importance that we attach to the swift resolution of Alaa’s case and an end to his unacceptable treatment,” it added.

The prime minister’s workplace confirmed the contents of the letter. Abdel-Fattah’s youthful sister, Sanaa Seif, in the meantime, landed in Sharm el-Sheikh early Monday, approaching a flight from London by way of the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul, her household stated. “I’m here to do my best to try and and shed light on my brother’s case and to save him,” Seif stated upon her arrival. “Today (Sunday) he took his last glass of water, so it’s a matter of hours. I’m really worried. I’m also here to put pressure on world leaders coming.”

She is anticipated to participate together with Callamard in Egypt’s human rights scenario on the sidelines of the COP27.

Seif, additionally a rights defender who had been imprisoned for one 12 months over fees of spreading false information and insulting a police officer, will give attention to the case of her brother and different jailed activists. Seif, who can be a British citizen, had staged a sit-in on the headquarters of Britain’s Foreign Ministry in current weeks, a part of a rallying marketing campaign to push the U.Ok. to take motion in her brother’s case.

Since 2013, el-Sissi, a U.S. ally with deep financial ties to European nations, has overseen a large crackdown, jailing 1000’s of Islamists, but additionally secular activists concerned within the nation’s 2011 rebellion. Many different activists, journalists and lecturers have fled the nation.

Amnesty additionally stated Sunday it had documented a brand new wave within the authorities’s crackdown. There have been 766 Egyptian political prisoners launched within the run-up to the convention, Callamard stated, in line with the group’s figures. She added that greater than 1,500 folks have been arrested since April, together with greater than 150 in simply the previous two weeks.

The newest sweep got here after the Muslim Brotherhood, designated a terrorist group and pushed largely into exile, referred to as for anti-government protests on Nov. 11, aiming to reap the benefits of Egypt’s worsening financial hardships and international consideration on COP27.

Other rights teams additionally criticized Egypt on Sunday for limiting protests and stepping up surveillance in the course of the summit. New York-based Human Rights Watch stated it had joined about 1,400 teams from around the globe urging Egypt to raise the restrictions on civil society teams, and likewise expressed concern concerning the new rounds of arrest. “It is becoming clear that Egypt’s government has no intention of easing its abusive security measures and allowing for free speech and assembly,” Adam Coogle, the group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, stated in an announcement.