Egyptian Civil Rights Activist Allegedly Stored In Solitary Confinement – The Group for World Peace

On November 23, 2020, the news from reputable news sources NPR and Reuters was published in Cairo that Gasser Abdel Razek, one of the three leaders of the Egyptian initiative for personal rights, was being consistently held in solitary confinement by Egyptian officials. This news came from Gasser’s legal team after Gasser was arrested for joining a terrorist group and posting false news. The arrest came after Abdel Razek met with high-ranking foreign diplomats for a briefing on Egyptian human rights. Abdel Razek’s legal team also claims that Gasser continued to be treated inhumanely by the Egyptian Ministry of the Interior. These allegations particularly concern the Egyptian government’s violent and authoritarian response to the September protests. It would therefore be highly advisable to examine the details of this scenario and decide what is an appropriate immediate response to this recent news.

As we approach this situation, it is important that we fully understand the allegations that are being made against the Egyptian government. Gasser legal team spokesman Hossam Bhagat said: “Gasser is deliberately selected even compared to other inmates in Liman Torah Prison for inhuman and degrading treatment intended to harm him and endanger his health and safety.” Bhagat also claims that Abdel Razek was not given warm clothes, that his head was shaved and that he sleeps on a metal bed with no mattress. The shocking nature of these allegations is particularly worrying when you consider that Abdel Razek was arrested shortly after the conclusion of a meeting with European diplomats on the state of human rights in Egypt. The Egyptian Ministry of the Interior did not respond to Reuters when asked for comment.

The Egyptian government under President Abdel-Fatah El Sissi has become increasingly aggressive in its reactions to protests. According to estimates by the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, the Egyptian government recently arrested over 944 people, including 72 children, in response to recent protests in September. The Egyptian authorities had used tear gas, bird shot, batons and live ammunition to disperse the crowd. Abdel Razek’s own organization, the EIPR, collected data and investigated abuses of civil liberty, detention conditions amid the pandemic and Egypt’s increasing use of the death penalty. With the arrest of Abdel Razeks, all three founders of the EIPR were arrested to speculate the will of Abdel Razek’s lawyers. Abdel Razek’s wife told NPR that however, the arrest was predicted and she moved her children from Cairo so they would not be home for the arrest.

In reading this report, it should be made clear that the arrest of Abdel Razek constitutes yet another clear human rights violation committed by the Egyptian government. Not only did the Egyptian government have an incredibly alarming and recent history of human rights violations, but it also failed to provide any meaningful defense against these recent allegations. While both the UK and US State Department and Joe Biden’s likely Secretary of State have condemned these acts, it is fair to say that verbal convictions are simply too late. The United States in particular has recently been very supportive of Abdel-Fatah El Sissi’s leadership, and even President Donald Trump called El Sissi “my favorite dictator.” I must say, therefore, that words from some of the most powerful nations in the world mean little when activists, freedom fighters and innocents are trampled on by their own oppressive government. Ideally, it would be effective for a joint economic sanction against the Egyptian government to send a clear message of global defense and enforcement of human rights, but I would say that such action is just an idealistic feverish dream. For our US-based viewers, however, we see an important shift in US governance and subsequent foreign policy with the election of Joseph Biden. I would therefore like to encourage our American readers to put pressure on the new administration to take meaningful measures against the Egyptian dictatorship. I would also like to pass this encouragement on to all of our readers and I would like to work to get your local and regional politicians to act. Only when the united peoples of the world speak with one voice against the evils of tyranny will we have a chance to truly appreciate the sanctity of human rights and life as citizens of the world.