Feb 04, 2022, 00:58 am
(This post was last modified: Feb 04, 2022, 18:39 pm by Resurgence. Edited 1 time in total.)
Close to 200 frontline European politicians signed a letter on Thursday calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to establish a monitoring and reporting mechanism on Egypt to address the country's "human rights crisis".
The letter, signed by 175 MPs from across the continent, urged the UNHRC to take “resolute action” ahead of the council's upcoming session in March.
It accused the international community of a “persistent failure to take any meaningful action to address Egypt’s human rights crisis.”
“This failure, along with continued support to the Egyptian government and reluctance to even speak up against pervasive abuses has only deepened the Egyptian authorities’ sense of impunity," it said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, an army general, came to power after leading a military coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Local and international rights groups have called out the Sisi government for overseeing the worst crackdown on human rights in the country’s modern history.
Tens of thousands of Sisi’s critics languish in jails, and many have been tortured, forcibly disappeared or forced to live in exile for fear of repression.
The European MPs denounced the Sisi government’s declaration regarding a human rights strategy and steps taken to ameliorate abuses, calling it “an effort to whitewash their dismal human rights record" that was "unlikely to have any significant impact on Egypt’s human rights crisis.”
The human rights strategy, the MPs said, was “drafted in an untransparent manner and without consultation with independent human rights organisations, overlooks grave past and ongoing human rights concerns such as the prolonged arbitrary detention of peaceful critics, enforced disappearances, and torture in detention facilities, and it fails to identify concrete steps to hold those responsible to account”.
The European MPs named political prisoners Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, Zyad el-Elaimy, Ibrahim Ezz el-Din, Haytham Mohamdeen, Hoda Abdelmoneim, Abdel Nasser Salama, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and Mohamed al-Baqer as examples of those detained arbitrarily.
They referred to Morsi and filmmaker Shady Habash as cases of deaths in custody as a result of poor prison conditions.
'Long overdue'
Human Rights Watch, along with several other international rights groups, has jointly called for the establishment of the mechanism in the past, according to the organisation’s EU advocate Claudio Francavilla.
The mechanism, Francavilla told Middle East Eye, is long-overdue.
The letter by MPs, he said, “shows broad, cross-party, cross-national support by parliamentarians across Europe, whose call for action stands in stark contrast with inaction by their governments.”
He added that the letter provides a counter-narrative to the Cairo government’s promotion of alleged improvements in human rights.
“Willful inaction by the international community and support for Sisi’s iron fist rule have emboldened the Egyptian government’s sense of near total impunity,” Francavilla said.
“Parliamentarians from across Europe are making the right call: governments need to act and take long-overdue steps to ensure UN scrutiny over Egypt’s horrendous human rights crisis.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt...hts-abuses
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Related News:
Man detained after Facebook post remembering 2011 revolution
Published: February 3, 2022
Haitham el-Banna has lost contact with his family since his detention on Monday, his family says.
![[Image: U8HiLbwM_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/ab/5d/U8HiLbwM_o.jpg)
An Egyptian man has gone missing after he was detained on Sunday over what his family says was a Facebook post he wrote commemorating the anniversary of the 2011 pro-democracy revolution.
Activists and relatives said Haitham el-Banna was detained at his home, and has since been held incommunicado.
Rights groups have documented thousands of cases of “enforced disappearance” in Egypt in recent years, when detainees go missing for more than 24 hours after their arrest.
"Haitham never harmed anyone. He is the kindest and bravest person in the world... very peaceful and loves doing good for people more than he loves himself," his sister Shaimaa el-Banna said.
Shaimaa added that she believes his arrest was linked to two Facebook posts he wrote remembering the 2011 revolution on its 11th anniversary on 25 January.
According to local and international rights groups, enforced disappearance has become a systematic practice since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Many of those subjected to enforced disappearance remain missing for days, months or years.
Among the disappeared are activist and former MP Mostafa al-Naggar, who has been missing since September 2018, and Ahmed Amasha, a campaigner against enforced disappearance.
Amasha was himself a victim of the practice twice in 2017 and 2020, and was subjected to torture during those periods.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt...emembering
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Human rights lawyer ‘forcibly disappeared’
Published: February 1, 2022
Egyptian lawyer Osama Bayoumi has been missing since his arrest on Saturday.
![[Image: l72oydH6_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/1f/e8/l72oydH6_o.jpg)
Egyptian human rights lawyer Osama Bayoumi has been “forcibly disappeared” since his detention four days ago in Cairo, a rights group told Middle East Eye on Tuesday.
Bayoumi has been “arbitrarily detained” and has not been presented to any investigative authorities since his arrest in a dawn raid on his home on Saturday, Ahmed Attar, executive director of the London-based Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR), said.
Bayoumi, a prominent rights lawyer and member of the Lawyers Syndicate, is handling a number of high-profile cases, many of them involving political prisoners.
According to Attar, Egyptian security forces stormed Bayoumi’s home at 1am in the capital, without presenting an arrest warrant. They confiscated his work laptop, mobile phone and some cash.
“His work computer has confidential information about his cases and his clients,” Attar said.
“Mr Bayoumi has a known address and office in Cairo. Authorities who need to obtain any information from him could have easily reached him without the need for unlawful detention,” Attar added.
According to Egyptian law, detainees must appear before an investigative body within a maximum of 24 hours after arrest.
Egyptian and international rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of enforced disappearance since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led his military coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Many real or perceived critics of Sisi, including lawyers and journalists, go missing after their detention for days, months or sometimes years. During that time, the detainees are usually tortured, mistreated or forced to make confessions to crimes they did not commit.
“The ENHR condemns the repressive practices of the Egyptian security authorities, including storming citizens' homes at dawn, intimidating children, women and the elderly, and seizing money and private property without obtaining permission from the competent prosecution,” it said in a statement.
The organisation called on the head of the Lawyers Syndicate, Ragai Attia, and the public prosecutor to “intervene immediately” to reveal the whereabouts of Bayoumi and “to open an investigation to hold accountable those involved in the crime of storming his house at dawn and his arbitrary arrest, and the illegal use of the powers of their public office to abuse citizens”.
The Front for Defending the Independence of Lawyers, an advocacy movement, said on Monday that at least 50 lawyers are being held in pre-trial detention in Egypt.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt...isappeared
The letter, signed by 175 MPs from across the continent, urged the UNHRC to take “resolute action” ahead of the council's upcoming session in March.
It accused the international community of a “persistent failure to take any meaningful action to address Egypt’s human rights crisis.”
“This failure, along with continued support to the Egyptian government and reluctance to even speak up against pervasive abuses has only deepened the Egyptian authorities’ sense of impunity," it said.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, an army general, came to power after leading a military coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Local and international rights groups have called out the Sisi government for overseeing the worst crackdown on human rights in the country’s modern history.
Tens of thousands of Sisi’s critics languish in jails, and many have been tortured, forcibly disappeared or forced to live in exile for fear of repression.
The European MPs denounced the Sisi government’s declaration regarding a human rights strategy and steps taken to ameliorate abuses, calling it “an effort to whitewash their dismal human rights record" that was "unlikely to have any significant impact on Egypt’s human rights crisis.”
The human rights strategy, the MPs said, was “drafted in an untransparent manner and without consultation with independent human rights organisations, overlooks grave past and ongoing human rights concerns such as the prolonged arbitrary detention of peaceful critics, enforced disappearances, and torture in detention facilities, and it fails to identify concrete steps to hold those responsible to account”.
The European MPs named political prisoners Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, Zyad el-Elaimy, Ibrahim Ezz el-Din, Haytham Mohamdeen, Hoda Abdelmoneim, Abdel Nasser Salama, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and Mohamed al-Baqer as examples of those detained arbitrarily.
They referred to Morsi and filmmaker Shady Habash as cases of deaths in custody as a result of poor prison conditions.
'Long overdue'
Human Rights Watch, along with several other international rights groups, has jointly called for the establishment of the mechanism in the past, according to the organisation’s EU advocate Claudio Francavilla.
The mechanism, Francavilla told Middle East Eye, is long-overdue.
The letter by MPs, he said, “shows broad, cross-party, cross-national support by parliamentarians across Europe, whose call for action stands in stark contrast with inaction by their governments.”
He added that the letter provides a counter-narrative to the Cairo government’s promotion of alleged improvements in human rights.
“Willful inaction by the international community and support for Sisi’s iron fist rule have emboldened the Egyptian government’s sense of near total impunity,” Francavilla said.
“Parliamentarians from across Europe are making the right call: governments need to act and take long-overdue steps to ensure UN scrutiny over Egypt’s horrendous human rights crisis.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt...hts-abuses
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Related News:
Man detained after Facebook post remembering 2011 revolution
Published: February 3, 2022
Haitham el-Banna has lost contact with his family since his detention on Monday, his family says.
An Egyptian man has gone missing after he was detained on Sunday over what his family says was a Facebook post he wrote commemorating the anniversary of the 2011 pro-democracy revolution.
Activists and relatives said Haitham el-Banna was detained at his home, and has since been held incommunicado.
Rights groups have documented thousands of cases of “enforced disappearance” in Egypt in recent years, when detainees go missing for more than 24 hours after their arrest.
"Haitham never harmed anyone. He is the kindest and bravest person in the world... very peaceful and loves doing good for people more than he loves himself," his sister Shaimaa el-Banna said.
Shaimaa added that she believes his arrest was linked to two Facebook posts he wrote remembering the 2011 revolution on its 11th anniversary on 25 January.
According to local and international rights groups, enforced disappearance has become a systematic practice since Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led a coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Many of those subjected to enforced disappearance remain missing for days, months or years.
Among the disappeared are activist and former MP Mostafa al-Naggar, who has been missing since September 2018, and Ahmed Amasha, a campaigner against enforced disappearance.
Amasha was himself a victim of the practice twice in 2017 and 2020, and was subjected to torture during those periods.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt...emembering
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Human rights lawyer ‘forcibly disappeared’
Published: February 1, 2022
Egyptian lawyer Osama Bayoumi has been missing since his arrest on Saturday.
Egyptian human rights lawyer Osama Bayoumi has been “forcibly disappeared” since his detention four days ago in Cairo, a rights group told Middle East Eye on Tuesday.
Bayoumi has been “arbitrarily detained” and has not been presented to any investigative authorities since his arrest in a dawn raid on his home on Saturday, Ahmed Attar, executive director of the London-based Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR), said.
Bayoumi, a prominent rights lawyer and member of the Lawyers Syndicate, is handling a number of high-profile cases, many of them involving political prisoners.
According to Attar, Egyptian security forces stormed Bayoumi’s home at 1am in the capital, without presenting an arrest warrant. They confiscated his work laptop, mobile phone and some cash.
“His work computer has confidential information about his cases and his clients,” Attar said.
“Mr Bayoumi has a known address and office in Cairo. Authorities who need to obtain any information from him could have easily reached him without the need for unlawful detention,” Attar added.
According to Egyptian law, detainees must appear before an investigative body within a maximum of 24 hours after arrest.
Egyptian and international rights groups have documented hundreds of cases of enforced disappearance since President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi led his military coup against his democratically-elected predecessor Mohamed Morsi in 2013.
Many real or perceived critics of Sisi, including lawyers and journalists, go missing after their detention for days, months or sometimes years. During that time, the detainees are usually tortured, mistreated or forced to make confessions to crimes they did not commit.
“The ENHR condemns the repressive practices of the Egyptian security authorities, including storming citizens' homes at dawn, intimidating children, women and the elderly, and seizing money and private property without obtaining permission from the competent prosecution,” it said in a statement.
The organisation called on the head of the Lawyers Syndicate, Ragai Attia, and the public prosecutor to “intervene immediately” to reveal the whereabouts of Bayoumi and “to open an investigation to hold accountable those involved in the crime of storming his house at dawn and his arbitrary arrest, and the illegal use of the powers of their public office to abuse citizens”.
The Front for Defending the Independence of Lawyers, an advocacy movement, said on Monday that at least 50 lawyers are being held in pre-trial detention in Egypt.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/egypt...isappeared