CAIRO - Rapid
developments in the case of Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah, in light of the great international appeals and pressures to push his country's authorities towards his release. Lots?
An Egyptian politician - speaking to Al Jazeera Net - expected the release of Abdel Fattah soon, while activists ruled out this after a series of tweets by the journalist and parliamentarian close to the authorities, Mustafa Bakri, some said that it expresses an unofficial position of the Egyptian authorities.
Since the first day of the summit's launch in Sharm El-Sheikh, the tourist resort, last Sunday, local and international demands for Abdel Fattah's release have escalated, and increased even more with the arrival of his sister, Sana Seif, to the summit headquarters to pressure for the release of her brother, who entered a comprehensive hunger and water strike, and his family fears for his life.
It seems that the file of the Egyptian activist will witness more momentum in the coming hours, in light of what was reported by several Western media outlets that the human rights issue will be strongly present in US President Joe Biden's talks during his visit to Egypt on Friday.
This matter was alluded to by the famous human rights defender Hossam Bahgat, who demanded the release of political detainees in order to save the Climate Conference, after the human rights file was one of the most important points of discussions with Sisi from world leaders individually.
Egypt faces repeated criticism - usually denied - of its human rights record, and its pace has increased since the announcement that it would host the Climate Summit, in which dozens of leaders and government delegations participated, from November 6-18.
Reflections on the public sphere
In response to a question about the international pressures calling for Alaa's release, Amr Hashem Rabie, Vice President of the Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (official), sees it as "interfering in Egyptian affairs."
In an interview with Al Jazeera Net, Rabie stressed that these pressures and claims, although rejected, must discuss the reasons that led to them.
Rabie - a member of the National Dialogue Board of Trustees (which is concerned with managing the political dialogue initiative launched by Sisi a few months ago) - said that these reasons are the matters related to trials of opinion cases and the overrun of legal and constitutional periods of pretrial detention, in addition to the obstruction of the situation in the public sphere in Egypt.
The Vice-President of Al-Ahram Center for Studies demanded - to overcome these matters - that the release policies be more broad and broad-based, to include everyone and not just a famous person recommended in one way or another, warning of the repercussions of stifling public opinion in his country.
Before traveling to Sharm el-Sheikh to participate in the Climate Summit, Amnesty International's Secretary-General, Agnes Callamard, said that her organization had documented the arrest and investigation of 1,540 people in Egypt during the last six months, compared to the release of 766 people during the same period.
During a press conference held at the headquarters of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights in Cairo, Callamard added, "However, we welcome these releases, and they make it clear that this seems possible and is linked to political will."
The Egyptian response reflects the position that President El-Sisi informed the British Prime Minister, when he stressed during his meeting with him in Sharm El-Sheikh on four important points:
– Egypt refuses to interfere in its internal affairs as a matter of principle, and refuses to harm its reputation when dealing with the human rights file for political or political considerations. internal
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— Mustafa Bakri (@BakryMP) November 9, 2022
conflicting expectations
In agreement with the previous proposal, politician Magdy Hamdan, a leader in the civil movement (the largest opposition group inside Egypt), expects Abdel Fattah to be released within hours, denouncing the severe leniency in not releasing him before the summit.
In an interview with Al-Jazeera Net, Hamdan praised the family of Abdel-Fattah, saying that it was smart and savvy waiting for this moment (the climate summit) in developing its scheme to highlight his case and imprison him, noting that his citizenship and his British family may prompt (British) Prime Minister Sunak to prepare for his release. and leaving Egypt.
On the repercussions of the current momentum on the human rights file, Hamdan said that the presidential pardon committee should have expedited the lifting of the files of prisoners of conscience, especially since the number of those released (through the committee) does not exceed 700, while the civil movement monitored more than two thousand names that had been submitted to the committee. To submit it to the President of the Republic to issue a pardon for its owners.
Hamdan warned of the negative effects on the funds that his country awaits from the summit, saying that the language of the Egyptian state does not agree with the language of democracy, and what the constitution stipulates regarding the protection of opinion leaders.
On the other hand, the journalist and parliamentarian close to the Egyptian authorities, Mustafa Bakri, said that the president informed the British Prime Minister that Abdel Fattah had not permanently obtained British citizenship, and Bakri wrote a series of tweets this evening, Wednesday, that activists said meant an Egyptian refusal to release Abdel Fattah.
To take him with him to London at the end of the climate conference, and that his government will not forget that for President Sisi, but the president reminded the British Prime Minister that he is the president of Egypt and that he has sworn to protect the constitution and the law
. Indeed, Egypt will not kneel and will not neglect its dignity. Abdel Naser
— Mustafa Bakri (@BakryMP) November 9, 2022
total strike
According to what his family said, today is the fourth day of Abdel Fattah's hunger strike, and the fifth of his total hunger strike, after nearly 7 months of the partial strike, which he started last April.
His mother, Laila Soueif, an academic and political and human rights activist, is still waiting for a letter from him outside Wadi El-Natrun prison (north of Cairo) for fear of his death, and his family is "concerned that he may be tortured through force-feeding."
Abdel Fattah, a prominent figure in the 2011 revolution that toppled President Hosni Mubarak, is serving a five-year prison sentence for "broadcasting false news" and has spent much of the past decade in prison.
He obtained British citizenship through his mother, who was born in this country, as part of his family's efforts to find any "may seem impossible" means of liberating him, as stated in a previous statement to it.
On the other hand, there are repeated official statements denying his strike completely, and saying that he is in good condition and receives regular medical care, which his family denied and demanded a consular visit from the British Embassy in Egypt as a British citizen.
official doubt
In an interview on the sidelines of the Climate Summit, with CNBC, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said about Abdel Fattah's strike, that he was confident that the prison authorities would provide the necessary health care available to all prisoners.
When asked if this meant force-feeding him, he said, "There have been previous hunger strikes that could not be verified," noting that the strike is a "personal choice" that is treated according to Egyptian rules and regulations.
Shoukry also questioned the Egyptian activist's enjoyment of British citizenship, pointing out that he had not completed the procedures for obtaining it.
In the same context, the informal interaction did not differ much with the developments in the Abdel Fattah case, which was evident in the case of the United Nations security forces’ expulsion of parliamentarian Amr Darwish from the hall of an international human rights conference held on the sidelines of the Sharm el-Sheikh conference, in which Sanaa Seif spoke about the situation Her brother and political detainees in Egypt.
What Darwish, one of the members of the Youth Coordination of Parties (backed by the regime), was subjected to was repeated with human rights defender Nihad Abu al-Qumsan, who claimed in press interviews that she was prevented from speaking during the conference.
In contrast to what some described as "incitement" by media professionals and those affiliated with the Egyptian authorities, warnings emerged from those close to the regime about the repercussions of the matter, and calls for the urgent release of Abdel Fattah.
mounting pressure
Since the first day of the Climate Summit, it was noticeable that the interests of the international media and climate and human rights activists shifted towards the issue of the Egyptian activist and the file of prisoners of conscience in the country. According to monitoring of official statements and press reports, the most prominent Western pressures and demands for the release of Abdel Fattah were:
Today, Wednesday, Amnesty International said that "climate justice cannot be achieved without human rights. They called on Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to release Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and all prisoners of conscience in Egypt."
US President Biden intends to raise the issue of human rights during his visit to Egypt, and his upcoming bilateral meeting with Sisi.
The White House is concerned about Abdel Fattah's case and his prison conditions.
French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed that Sisi pledged, during their meeting on the sidelines of the summit, on Monday, to take into account the health of the Egyptian activist.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appealed for the release of Abdel-Fattah from Sharm El-Sheikh, saying, "His release must be possible, so that his hunger strike does not end in death."
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, during a meeting with Sisi in Sharm El-Sheikh, on Monday, indicated his "deep concern" about Abdel Fattah.
Sunak stressed that his government is fully committed to resolving Abdel Fattah's case, and that it remains a priority for it "whether as a human rights defender or as a British citizen."
Sana Seif said that Sunak's urgent intervention could provide her brother with a seat on the next plane to London, Mada Masr reported.
The former British ambassador to Egypt, John Casson (2014-2018), said in an article that the release of Abdel Fattah is "a major factor in the relations between the two countries."
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for the immediate release of Abdel Fattah.
Clement Foll, the UN rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association, called for Abdel Fattah's immediate release, and warned that "his life is in danger."
On Monday morning, 3 Egyptian female journalists began a hunger strike at their union headquarters, in central Cairo, to demand the release of Abdel Fattah.
On the other hand, Egypt's mission to the United Nations announced its rejection of the statement of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, regarding the demand for the release of Abdel Fattah, and said that "an Egyptian citizen has been tried and convicted and is currently serving his sentence."
Continuing for the third day the hunger strike and sit-in at the Journalists Syndicate in solidarity with prisoner of conscience Alaa Abdel-Fattah and to demand the release of detained journalists and all prisoners of conscience in Egypt..Thank you to Dr. Mona Mina for taking care of our health during the strike. co/cFkl80uGup pic.twitter.com/quXLPfssfW
— Rasha Azab (@RashaPress) November 9, 2022