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[줌인 GP] Egypt Suppresses and Violates the Rights of WHRDs

Sarah Amed (NGA 활동가)

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It is widely known that if a society believes in rights and freedoms, women will have greater opportunities to achieve their rights. Unfortunately, this is not the case in the Middle Eastern countries, especially in Egypt. Women Human Rights Defenders [WHRDs] in Egypt; people who peacefully seek and advocate to protect and achieve universal human rights especially women’s rights and seek gender equality; are still being restricted, especially in the political area. This is due to the fact that most if not all the society consider such activities as challenging to the traditions, culture, and religion that specify the role of women in the society as housekeepers and mothers only.

 

WHRDs in Egypt are subjected to violence, sexual harassment, abduction, forced disappearances and moral blackmailing based on their gender identity. Many factors play a role in determining Women’s role in Egypt, especially the participation in political life, some of which are cultural, educational, religious, and economical. WHRD’s were not a priority in the Egyptian society until the January 25th 2011 revolution and even after the revolution, women defenders still got violated and imprisoned and even got subjected to more violence since the society is not pleased to change the role of women and accept the fact that women can participate in all areas even the political one. There were always attempts by the government to exclude women from the social and political life and just limit women’s role to the traditional one.

 

Esraa Abdel Fattah, Mahienour El-Masry and Solafa Magdy are some of the Women Human Rights Defenders who have been held in preventive detention since 2019 where they are denied from their basic human rights even as prisoners. Another defender is Sanaa Seif, who has been recently imprisoned. Even for the other WHRDs who did not get imprisoned, the situation is very hard, and they face a lot of discrimination, violence, deprivation of their rights and restrictions in their work. They even have travel bans, such as Mozn Hassan and Azza Soliman.

 

Cases of Violation Against WHRDs


Sanaa Seif is a woman human rights defender and film editor. Sanaa began her activism in 2011 during the height of revolutionary protests in Egypt. Her first experience with protest happened when she became involved in a movement remembering Khaled Said; who was an ordinary person with no political activism but he was imprisoned, tortured and killed and that led to huge protests and a Facebook page was created under his name and from there the January Revolution started. Her activism only grew from there and at 17 years old Sanaa, after experiencing protests in Tahrir Square, started an independent newspaper under the name “Al-Gornal” with a few friends. The independent paper, addressing issues at the heart of the Arab Spring, quickly began popular and production rose to more than 30,000 copies printed per issue. She was also actively involved with the documentary film The Square where She was an editor and shooter. The film details the events of the Egyptian revolution from 2011 till 2013 through the perspective of young activists as it particularly criticizes the Egyptian Military, as well as that it was the first Egyptian film to be nominated for an Academy Award. While it received positive commentary abroad, at home its release was strictly controlled. It was made available on Netflix in January 2014, however the first show in Egypt did not occur until June 2014 without any promotion.

 

Sanaa got arrested from outside the public prosecutor office, where she was waiting to file a complaint of physical assault against her, her sister and mother, but she was captured, and thrown into a microbus by undercover police officers. Later, she appeared in the state security prosecution where her detention was said upon charges of spreading false news, inciting terrorist crimes and misusing social media in case 659/2020. She is currently being held in Qanater Prison. Sanaa was outside Tora prison with her mother, Dr. Laila Soueif, and her sister, Mona Seif, waiting to receive a letter from Alaa Abdel Fattah, who is an Egyptian blogger, software developer and a political activist, he was the key voice during the Arab Spring where he used to develop Arabic-language versions of important software and platforms which eventually led him to be detained and imprisoned several times; when a group of women physically assaulted them and stole their possessions. This took place in full view of the police. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Seif family had only received news of Alaa on two occasions. It was while reporting this attack that Sanaa was abducted. The prosecution’s report claims that they had ordered her arrest, and falsely alleges that she was in another location at the time of her arrest. Six weeks after her arrest, a new case was added to her file bearing the number 12499/2020, in which she has been referred to trial. In this case, she faces charges of publishing and broadcasting false news and statements inciting the disturbance of public security, insulting a public official while he was carrying out his duties, using an internet account with the aim of committing a crime punishable by law, and verbally insulting one of the personnel in charge of carrying out arrest warrants while doing his job. Sanaa was previously arrested for violating the Protest Law, then she was released following a presidential pardon. Later on, she was sentenced to 6 months in prison for insulting the judiciary. She turned herself in 10 days later and was imprisoned again.

 

Another case is that of Solafa Magdy; who is a freelance journalist whose articles have addressed human rights, women’s rights, Egypt’s political transition and refugees, amongst other topics. She founded the Everyday Footage school, which teaches mobile reporting to young women researchers and journalists. In May 2020, she won the Courage in Journalism Award 2020 presented by International Women’s Media Foundation. She was arrested from a café by undercover police officers, along with two other journalists, including her husband Hossam al-Sayyad. She was verbally assaulted and beaten on the arm when she refused to give her interrogators her mobile phone access code. Furthermore, she was questioned about her work as a journalist and efforts defending her friend and fellow activist Esraa Abdel Fattah. In prison, Solafa Magdy was subjected to a forced genitalia examination, which caused severe bleeding and agitation as she had previously had an operation on her uterus. Subjecting women to virginity tests is common practice by prisons in Egypt and can be seen as a strategy to humiliate them.

 

The state security prosecution added her to case 488/2019 on charges of spreading false news and engaging with a terrorist group and ordered her pre-trial detention. She was being held in Al Qanater prison. Solafa’s arrest came in the context of the wide scale crackdown following the 20 September 2019 protests, in which over 4,400 people were detained or disappeared. Later on, she was investigated in a new case (state security case 855/2020) on charges of joining a terrorist group, publishing false news, and misusing social media, according to lawyer Khaled Ali. The prosecution ordered her pre-trial detention for 15 days pending investigation into these charges. As she is currently detained in case 488/2019, this detention order will come into effect if she receives a release order in the first case. At the beginning of this year, Solafa Magdy’s mother visited her in prison and reported the significant deterioration and the worrying condition of her daughter’s health, and that two female prison officers had to help her walk. Her defense lawyers submitted a complaint to several state authorities reporting physical assault, harassment and intimidation by police officers. However, the Egyptian Ministry of Interior denied her claims.

 

Solafa Magdy and her husband Hossam al-Sayyad have a young son, who is unable to be with either of his parents as they are both in detention. Lately, women human rights defender Solafa Magdy and her husband Hossam al-Sayyad were released from prison under precautionary measures.

 

A third case of oppression of WHRFs is that of Esraa Abdel Fattah, who is an Egyptian political activist. She advocates through digital media for human rights and in defense of youth protest movements in Egypt. In 2015, Ms. Abdel Fattah was prevented from boarding a flight to Germany as police officers at Cairo Airport informed her that a travel ban had been issued against her, without any prior notification. Ms. Abdel Fattah was summoned for interrogation in connection with case no. 173/2011, known as the foreign funding case. She was investigated for participating in the establishment of an entity that received foreign funds to destabilize public order and national security, and to undermine national interests. She was released on bail of 10,000 EGP.

 

Ms. Abdel Fattah was arrested from the street in 2019 and held in an unknown location for 24 hours before appearing to the prosecution, where she was handed a pre-trial detention order in state security case 488/2019 on charges of engaging with a terrorist group to achieve its goals, spreading false news and misusing social media. Her pre-trial detention is now regularly renewed. On the day of her arrest, she was reportedly tortured and subsequently began a hunger strike in protest. The UN Human Rights office has expressed its concerns over her arrest and detention. The next year, she was investigated in a new case (855/2020). This means her pre-trial detention may continue if she receives a release order in case 488/2019.

 

Ms. Abdel Fattah became known for her human rights work in 2008 when she called for a general strike in  April 6th. She played an essential part in mobilizing people to support the demands for political change and was referred to as “Facebook Girl” after launching a webpage, along with other activists, urging young people to join the strike. This resulted in her imprisonment for several days. During the 25th January uprising in 2011, she took a leading role in keeping the media updated about the situation on the ground. She became a symbol of resistance and struggle for women human rights defenders and the youth movement in Egypt, which earned her international attention and recognition. Freedom House awarded her the “New Generation Democratic Activist” prize in 2010; she was nominated “Woman of the Year, 2011” by Glamour magazine, and she was among the nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize 2011.Lately this year, the Public Prosecution Office ordered the release of Esraa Abdel Fattah on bail after spending almost 22 months in pre-trial detention.

 

Yet another case of violation happened with Mahienour El-Masry; an Egyptian human rights lawyer and political activist from Alexandria, who has been engaged on the activist scene in the coastal city since the mid-2000s and was arrested in 2019. She is a human rights defender who works to promote judicial independence and prisoners' rights by organizing peaceful protests, raising awareness using social media, and organizing support for political prisoners in the form of solidarity events and bail fundraising. Mahienour El-Masry was leaving the State Prosecution Office when she was taken by security officials in plain clothes and forced into a van. Family and lawyer visits were not possible as the location of her detention is unknown, Given the modalities of her arrest, it is believed that no arrest warrant was presented. Then, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ordered 15 days of preventive detention for human rights defender Mahienour El-Masry. She is facing charges of "joining an illegal group", "publishing false news", and misuse of social media".

 

Mahienour El-Masry was previously harassed and detained by the Egyptian authorities. she had received a prison sentence of two years in 2016 by the Alexandria Misdemeanors Court for “protesting without a permit”, which was overturned on appeal. She was also sentenced to one year and three months in prison in relation to a sit-in to protest against police brutality in the year 2015, and she aw well was sentenced to 6 months in prison in the year 2014. Ms. Mahienour El-Masry was interrogated at the Public Prosecution Office in the last year, accused of a second count of "joining an illegal organization" as part of the recently opened case No. 855 of 2020. The Supreme Public Prosecution renewed Ms. El-Masry’s preventive detention for 15 days. Mahienour El-Masry’s preventive detention has been repeatedly renewed since shortly after her arrest outside the Public Prosecution Office in Cairo. Lately this year, the Public Prosecution Office ordered the release of Mahienour El-Masry on bail.

 

Critical Collapse in The Human Rights’ Situation

 

The human rights situation in Egypt is deteriorating as violence against women, torture, enforced disappearances, death sentences and arbitrary detention become increasingly common. Among all this, prominent woman human rights defenders continue to be harassed and subject to arbitrary restrictions. Moreover, the Egyptian government has singled out Mozn Hassan, head of the non-governmental organization Nazra for Feminist Studies (Nazra), and Azza Soliman, head of the Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA), for their work to promote and protect women’s rights.

 

Mozn and Azza are just two targets of the Egyptian Government’s Case 173 (2011), known as the ‘NGO foreign-funding case.’ The case has so far resulted in convictions and prison sentences in June 2013 for 43 foreign and Egyptian employees of foreign NGOs. The Court of Cassation accepted the appeal filed by some Egyptian employees in 2018 and ordered a retrial of the case. Since the original convictions, it has expanded to include investigations into additional national human rights organizations, including Nazra. Like other civil society members caught up in the case, both Hassan and Soliman received a travel ban rendering them unable to leave the country. The charges that Azza and Mozn may face if the proceedings go forward include the establishment of entities in violation of the NGO law, tax evasion, and receiving foreign funding to harm national security. If convicted, they could receive sentences of life imprisonment. Mozn may also face charges of inciting ‘irresponsible liberation,’ a phrase laughably at odds with the Egyptian Government’s supposed commitment to the advancement of women’s rights.

 

The count of cases continues as more women got arrested. Journalist and activist Nora Younis, Editor-in-Chief of Al-Manassa website, was arrested during the last year, after the website’s office was raided by security personnel dressed in civilian clothes and who refused to present any search or arrest warrants. She was released on bail after being charged by many false accusations, one of which was managing an internet account with the aim of using it to commit an internet crime.

 

The laws regulating the exercise of rights and freedoms are one of the most important tools used by the state to restrict these rights and freedoms and to suppress political opponents, whether men or women. Some NGOs have been closed, such as the El Nadeem Center for Torture Rehabilitation; some associations have seen their assets frozen, such as Nazra for Feminist Studies, and some WHRDs have had their assets frozen and/or have been prevented from travelling. Violations against women include more than those committed against WHRDs, and therefore we do not classify the issue in this way. But we see that violations are committed against any woman who tries to do things differently. For example, women candidates in elections are stigmatized by being called “divorced women”, “single women” or “degenerate women”. Women are also sometimes defamed by being labelled “impolite” regarding the nature of their work or speech.

 

Urgent Measures to be Taken

 

Based on all the facts presented above, it is clear that Egypt needs to devise a holistic legal framework based on a clear definition of crimes against women including sexual violence crimes, wherever applicable in all Egypt’s laws instruments; and which also simplifies litigation processes and provides protection to VAW survivors, as well as to enhance women's political participation by adding women’s issues in the agenda of political parties and organizations, likewise, there should be a review of prison conditions, especially those which host women.

 

Promotion, adoption, and use of internal Codes of Conducts in and within media organizations, unions, and corporates are needed to combat violence and sexual violence against women and penalize perpetrators, now in the past, transparently and publicly. It is also essential to provide legal and psychological support, as well as moral support from close friends and acquaintances, for WHRDs to be able to continue their work and overcome the threats they face. As well as providing assistance to WHRDs who are under difficult circumstances.

 

Furthermore, women who are not WHRDs but are victims of abuse should be protected, supported as well as provided with beneficial communication.

 

There also should be efforts which seek to promote collective work to face new challenges and discuss necessary ways to deal with the current problems, especially the one related to Covid-19, and improving the public health services, where treatment including hospitalization are offered without discrimination to women and girls across Egypt.

 

Last but not least, Egypt needs to create a conducive environment for the work of civil society organizations through a fair legal system that guarantees the freedom of civil society work and removes restrictions imposed on organizations and actors, thus paving the way to create a safe environment for WHRDs in Egypt.

 

 

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