Egyptians have deposited a sad year in the human rights file, especially after the implementation of a record number of executions in political cases, not to mention the security prosecutions and human rights violations that affected various trends and currents, so will the country witness a human rights breakthrough in the new year 2021?
According to multiple human rights reports, Egypt has been living for more than 7 years, the worst human rights crisis in its recent history, as thousands of dissidents are imprisoned, most of whom are subjected to torture, enforced disappearance and medical neglect.
A few days ago, the British newspaper "
The Guardian
" quoted a
Swiss human rights report that the number of people who died in Egyptian detention centers rose to 100 in 2020;
Bringing the number of prison deaths to more than a thousand since the military coup in the summer of 2013;
For reasons including torture and medical neglect.
With the Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, assuming the presidency in the United States of America next month, Egyptians are counting on his administration to improve the conditions of freedoms and human rights in their country, after his outgoing predecessor, Donald Trump, embraced the policies of the regime of President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who enjoyed for 4 years being a "dictator" Favorite Trump. "
Mohamed Amashah is finally home after 486 days in Egyptian prison for holding a protest sign.
Arresting, torturing, and exiling activists like Sarah Hegazy and Mohamed Soltan or threatening their families is unacceptable.
No more blank checks for Trump's "favorite dictator."
https://t.co/RtZkbGh6ik
- Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) July 12, 2020
A sad year
The year 2020, which is about to pass, was an extension of the reality that began with the military coup, which was led by the current President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi in the summer of 2013, when he was Minister of Defense, and one of its most prominent signs was the deterioration of political and civil rights in Egypt.
The last weeks of the year witnessed an extension of the arrests of prominent activists from the "Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights", before they were released due to international pressure.
And before that, September witnessed a wave of arrests that accompanied the suppression of the demonstrations calling for the departure of Sisi and his regime, at the invitation of the artist Muhammad Ali, who was working as a contractor with the army, before he left Egypt, and began to uncover incidents of corruption related to Sisi, his family, and a number of army leaders.
2020 also witnessed an expansion of military courts in convictions, prompted by constitutional amendments that allowed them to punish civilians.
At the same time, those standing in the first rows in the face of the Coronavirus have not escaped arrest, as at least 9 doctors and pharmacists have been exposed to criticizing the government's performance in this crisis.
Calls to spread false news or membership in a terrorist group, accusations that are often used in political cases.
During October and November, authorities executed 17 detainees in political cases marred by forced confessions and human rights violations, including torture and enforced disappearances, in addition to 44 executions in criminal cases, according to an Amnesty International report.
The wave of executions coincided with the killing of 4 prisoners under sentence of death, as well as the same security forces, during an "alleged" escape attempt at Scorpion Prison (south of Cairo) at the end of last September, without conducting an investigation into the incident.
In general, since the military coup, the authorities have carried out 77 executions in political cases marred by legal violations, according to local and international organizations.
Rotate issues
The year 2020 witnessed the continuation of the "legal" phenomenon invented by the Egyptian regime in recent years, and human rights activists consider it one of the most heinous crimes against political detainees, which is called the rotation of cases. After a decision is issued by the judiciary to release a person, he goes to the police headquarters to arrange the release procedures, There, he was surprised that he was accused of a new case, only to return to prison.
It is interesting and strange that some cases witnessed the return of opponents or activists to prison pending cases that occurred during their detention or during their forcible disappearance, which is also a frequent matter, as police wearing civilian clothes arrest a person, and his family does not know his whereabouts for days and sometimes Weeks until he appears in the prosecution office, after he was often tortured in police headquarters.
Among those who have been subjected to abuse through their rotation in new cases are the former presidential candidate and head of the Strong Egypt Party, Dr. Abdel Moneim Abul-Fotouh, Mrs. Ola, daughter of the prominent preacher Yusef al-Qaradawi, and lawyer and human rights activist Ibrahim Metwally.
Medical negligence
In recent years, the number of deaths in prisons has increased.
As a result of the denial of health care and medical neglect of the sick and elderly, in addition to torture, then the repercussions of the Corona virus came to increase the misery of the situation.
Among those who lost their lives in inhuman conditions in prisons during 2020 are the prominent Brotherhood leader, Essam Al-Erian, Amr Abu Khalil, brother of the human rights and journalist Haitham Abu Khalil, and the Egyptian-American Mustafa Qasim.
In the wake of the "alleged" escape at Scorpion prison, the authorities tightened their restrictions on inmates, which were considered by human rights organizations as "collective punishment."
"Scorpion", a high-security prison in the Tora prison complex, south of the capital (Cairo), is holding between 700 and 800 prisoners, who suffer from denial of visits, deprivation of exercise and solitary confinement for years.
Pursuing the families of the wanted
The release of 5 relatives of the American activist of Egyptian origin, Muhammad Sultan, whose arrest was linked to his political and human rights activities, cast a shadow over the pursuit of the families of those wanted by the regime, especially after linking their release to Biden’s victory in the presidency.
Unlike Sultan, dozens of families of detainees and wanted people suffered abuse and security prosecution, among them - according to human rights reports - Kamal, the brother of the prominent journalist Khaled Al-Balshi, Anas, the son of the Brotherhood leader Muhammad Al-Beltagy, Osama Morsi (son of the late president), Aisha Khairat Al-Shater and brothers of the journalist Moataz Matar, as well as About two brothers, the activist Ghada Naguib.
Between abuse and appeasement 2021
The human rights defender and journalist Haitham Abu Khalil confirms that the year 2020 was a bad human rights, civil, social, political and economic year, and it is not different from the years that preceded it. And the rigged elections.
In statements to Al-Jazeera Net, Abu Khalil ruled out that external factors and pressures, including the Biden administration, would lead to modifying the regime's behavior except in some marginal matters, stressing that the influential is the Egyptian people only, citing the demonstrations that took place last September, and how the authority was. Terrified of her, she backed down, and subsequently postponed house demolition laws and fines.
Regarding the indicators of 2021, Abu Khalil expected that "matters will have some modesty, and we may not see explicit and crude violations, but they may be associated with terrorism and support for extremists, which is to the liking of the main supporter of the regime in Tel Aviv and the new Zionists (Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi) Mohammed bin Zayed and others." According to him.
Abu Khalil also stopped "the continued arrest of affiliates of the Islamic movement, while the civil movement may witness a partial breakthrough to beautify the image during the Biden era."
Hope for a breakthrough
For her part, human rights activist Salma Ashraf considered that "the situation in Egypt continues from bad to worse," adding that Egypt witnessed the highest number of executions during 2020 since 2013, in addition to an increase in the percentage of detainees, which included well-known human rights activists, which ended with embarrassment to the authorities.
She expected that the international changes would affect the human rights situation in Egypt, despite its link to political interests mainly, such as the Regeni case, adding that the presence of the American administration, headed by Biden, is evidence that the human rights file in Egypt is under consideration, and also an expression that he will not pursue the policy of his predecessors.
Activist Salma Ashraf expressed her hope for real change in the coming year, and for a breakthrough in prisons, which have already turned into graves for young people, and with the rise in Corona cases, they may turn into full graves, she said.
She concluded by saying that she hopes the international community will be more responsible and defend all detainees from different orientations and currents.