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Egypt faces criticism over crackdown on activists ahead of COP27 climate summit





CNN

Egypt is facing a barrage of criticism over what human rights groups say is a crackdown on protests and activists, as it prepares to organize COP27 climate summit starting Sunday.

Human rights groups have accused the Egyptian government of arbitrary detention of activists after Egyptian dissidents abroad called for protests against President Abdel Fattah el -Sisi on November 11, during the UN climate talks.

According to rights groups, security forces have set up checkpoints on the streets of Cairo, stopping people and searching their phones for any content related to the protests. is planned.

The Egyptian Commission on Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), an NGO, on Wednesday said 93 people had been arrested in Egypt in recent days. It said that according to national security prosecution investigations, some of those arrested sent videos calling for protests via social messaging apps. Some have also been charged with abusing social media, spreading fake news and joining terrorist organizations – a charge of repression often levied against activists by the security apparatus.

Indian climate activist Ajit Rajagopal was arrested in Cairo last Sunday after starting a walking protest from the Egyptian capital to Sharm el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort that will host The COP27 conference was held from 6 to 18 November. Rajagopal was released after a Facebook post by Lahzy said he was briefly detained in Cairo with his friend, lawyer Makarios Lahzy. Reuters, which spoke to Rajagopal after his release on Monday, quoted the Indian activist as saying he was still trying to gain recognition for COP27 but had no plans to resume his march.

CNN has reached out to Egyptian authorities for comment.

Egypt experienced two mass uprisings in 2011 and 2013, eventually paving the way for its then-military position. Sisi to take power. Thousands of activists have since been jailed, space for public expression has been abolished and press freedom has declined.

While protests are rare – and mostly illegal – in Egypt, An economic crisis is looming and a brutal security regime have spurred new protests by dissidents seeking to exploit the rare opportunity presented by the climate summit.

A jailed activist, Anglo-Egyptian citizen Alaa Abdelfattah, escalated a hunger strike in an Egyptian prison this week, amid warnings from relatives about his deteriorating health condition. he. Abdelfattah’s sister Sanaa Seif, who is hosting a sit-out outside the UK Foreign Office in London, said: “Alaa has been on hunger strike for 200 days, he lives on only 100 calories of liquid a day. .

COP, the annual United Nations-sponsored climate summit, brings together the signatories of Paris Agreement on climate change, has traditionally been a place where representatives of civil society have had the opportunity to interact with experts and policymakers and observe face-to-face negotiations.

It is not uncommon to see a young activist approaching a national delegation walking down the hallway to their next meeting or an indigenous leader chatting with a minister on the sidelines of a debate.

And while security is always tight – after all, this is a gathering attended by dozens of heads of state and government – peaceful protests have always been part of the COP. Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of the host city of Glasgow, Scotland, during last year’s summit.

However, Egypt has tightened its rules on who can access the negotiations.

As before, this year’s COP will take place in two different locations. The official part of the summit is run by the UN and accessible only to recognized persons, including official delegations, representatives of NGOs and other civil society groups , experts, journalists and other observers.

Then there’s a separate public venue where climate events and exhibitions take place throughout the two weeks of the summit. But while this public part of the summit was previously open to just anyone, those who want to attend this year will need to register ahead of time.

The opportunity to protest will also be limited.

While the Egyptian government has pledged to allow demonstrations, it has said protests will have to take place in a special “protest zone”, a dedicated space away from the main conference venue and shall be notified in advance. Guidelines published on the official COP website say that any further marches will need special approval.

Anyone wishing to organize a rally will need to register to participate in the public portion of the conference – a requirement that could frighten activists with surveillance. Among the rules imposed by the Egyptian authorities on protests is a ban on the use of “impersonation objects, such as satirical drawings of Heads of State, negotiators, individual”.

The UN has urged Egypt to ensure that the public has a voice at the conference.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said it is “essential that everyone – including civil society representatives – can participate meaningfully at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh” and the Decisions on climate change need to be “transparent, inclusive and accountable. ”

Separately, a group of five independent human rights experts, all of whom are special rapporteurs to the United Nations, released a statement last month expressing alarm over restrictions ahead of the summit. top. They said the Egyptian government had placed strict limits on who could participate in the talks and how, and said that “a wave of government restrictions on participation raised concerns about retaliation against activists.”

“This new wave follows years of persistent and persistent repression against civil society and human rights defenders using security as an excuse to undermine legal rights,” the group said in a statement. civil society involvement in public affairs in Egypt.

An Egyptian civil rights group has launched a petition calling on the Egyptian authorities to end the prosecution of civil society activists and organisations, and end restrictions on the right to freedom. by speech, association, and peaceful assembly.

“The Egyptian authorities have for years adopted draconian laws, including laws against terrorism, cybercrime and civil society, to prevent all forms of peaceful dissent. and shut down civic space,” the groups said in the petition.

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, Friends of the Earth and many other groups have also spoken out, demanding the release of detained activists.

In the lead-up to the climate conference, the Egyptian government presented an initiative to pardon prisoners jailed for their political activism. Authorities also pointed to a new prison, Badr-3, 70 kilometers (43 miles) northeast of Cairo, where other inmates were moved to better conditions.

But human rights groups say government initiatives have barely changed.

Agnès Callamard said: “Prior to COP27, Egypt’s PR machine was working on all pillars to hide the terrible reality of the country’s prisons, where prisoners were held for political reasons. are languishing in terrible conditions in violation of the absolute ban on torture and other ill-treatment,” said Amnesty International Secretary-General.

“Prisoners are facing the same human rights abuses that have repeatedly plagued old institutions, showing the lack of political will by the Egyptian authorities to end the country’s human rights crisis. ”

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