Foto

Egypt seeks to parry rights criticism after mass arrests

Egypt seeks to parry rights criticism after mass arrests November 12, 2019 at 9:35 pm | Published in: Africa , Egypt , International Organisations , News , UN Prisoners are seen during a court case in Cairo on 28 July 2018 [Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images] November 12, 2019 at 9:35 pm Egypt has been trying to deflect criticism of its human rights record and prison conditions ahead of a UN review in Geneva on Wednesday that comes in the wake of thousands of new arrests, reports Reuters .

The crackdown, which rights activists say was the most intensive campaign of arrests for years, came after rare protests against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo and other cities in late September.

More than 4,400 were detained, among them prominent activists, lawyers, academics and political figures, according to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.

Around 3,000 are still being held under charges including using social media to spread false news, joining a banned terrorist group, and protesting without a permit, ECRF said.

OPINION: Sisi’s fragile dictatorship

In late September, Egypt’s public prosecution acknowledged the arrest of not more than 1,000 people accused of involvement in the protests.

Some of the detained are in Cairo’s Tora prison, where relatives and lawyers say inmates are often held in poor conditions and denied adequate healthcare.

Sisi Era – Cartoon [Carlos Latuff/MiddleEastMonitor]

Tora is the prison complex in which former president Mohamed Morsi, whose overthrow in 2013 was led by Sisi, suffered a fatal heart attack in June during a courtroom hearing.

UN experts said on Friday the prison regime may have led directly to Morsi’s death after he was held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day and was denied life-saving care for diabetes and high blood pressure.

Thousands more are at severe risk, the experts said, adding that two senior former aides of the banned Brotherhood were “effectively being killed by the conditions under which they are held and the denial of medical treatment”.

Egyptian officials have denied mistreating prisoners or neglecting their health.

The UN Human Rights Council will be reviewing Egypt’s record for the first time in five years, as part of the forum’s regular appraisal of all UN member states.

Advance questions cover prison conditions, torture and the recent arrests of activists, among other issues. One rights lawyer, Mohamed al-Baqer , was interrogated over his engagement with the UN review following his detention, according to a question submitted by Liechtenstein.

READ: Egypt forcibly disappears journalist after luring him with details of his imprisoned wife

International rights group Amnesty International called on states “to vehemently condemn the vicious crackdown by authorities against NGO workers and civil society”.

It said that since accepting 237 out of 300 recommendations at its last review in 2014, Egyptian authorities had “adopted even more repressive measures that further restricted basic rights and freedoms”.

Categories Africa Egypt International Organisations News UN Show Comments