{"id":16471,"date":"2020-05-05T09:29:14","date_gmt":"2020-05-05T09:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info?p=16471"},"modified":"2020-05-06T09:58:36","modified_gmt":"2020-05-06T09:58:36","slug":"egypt-at-the-risk-of-public-health-prisoners-of-conscience-continue-to-be-added-to-egypts-overcrowded-prisons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.anhri.info\/?p=16471&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"Egypt: At the risk of public health, prisoners of conscience continue to be added to Egypt\u2019s overcrowded prisons"},"content":{"rendered":"
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May 5, 2020<\/p>\n

Amid widespread calls to reduce the country\u2019s prison population in order to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, the Egyptian government has instead embarked on countrywide state security raids throughout the last two months, arresting dozens and adding even greater numbers of prisoners of conscience to its already dangerously overcrowded prisons.<\/p>\n

The undersigned rights organizations condemn this recent security crackdown, which targets political activists, rights defenders, lawyers, and journalists, and call for an immediate end to any new arrests and detentions for exercising their lawful right to free expression.\u00a0 We further reiterate our demand<\/a> for the release of prisoners of conscience and pre-trial detainees.<\/p>\n

Throughout March and April, state security services arrested dozens of people from their homes in several governorates, even as Egyptian rights organizations<\/a>, international rights<\/a> organizations, political parties<\/a>, and the UN <\/a>\u00a0urged the reduction of the country\u2019s prison population by releasing certain categories of nonviolent or low-risk detainees. These arrests are increasingly targeting persons critical of the government\u2019s COVID-19 response, levying the typical slew of charges \u2013 joining a terrorist group, misusing social media, and publishing false news- against those whose opinions on the coronavirus pandemic fall outside the state\u2019s official narrative.<\/p>\n

Atef al-Sayyed<\/a>, the editor-in-chief of al-Qarar al-Dawli, published a comment about the number of people who have contracted the virus. After his arrest from his home in Aswan on March 14, he was forcibly disappeared for one month before appearing before the State Security Prosecution for questioning. Economic journalist Mustafa Saqr<\/a>, the owner of al-Boursa<\/em> and Daily News Egypt<\/em>, was remanded to custody for 15 days on\u00a0 April 12th<\/sup> after he commented<\/a> on policies and measures taken by the Central Bank to address the pandemic. Lawyer Mohsen Bahnasi<\/a> is currently detained in connection with the same case. According to his lawyer, he was questioned about a post on his Facebook account about the need to release all pretrial detainees due to the coronavirus pandemic. All three men are currently charged by the State Security Prosecution with the oft-used, ready-made charges of joining a terrorist group, misusing social media, and publishing false news. No evidence has yet been provided for any of the charges, not even the name of the terrorist group to which they allegedly belong.<\/p>\n

The same three charges \u2013 on terrorism, social media misuse, and publishing false information \u2013 were also brought against Aya Kamal<\/a> and Amr Adel<\/a>, both from Alexandria. Kamal posted on Facebook about the death of a military figure from COVID-19, while Adel uploaded a video he filmed of small protest marches in Alexandria against the coronavirus. Other prisoners of conscience were recently added to Egypt\u2019s\u00a0 overpopulated prisons, including[1]<\/sup><\/a> journalist Ahmed Allam<\/a> and translator and researcher Khuloud Said<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fifteen\u00a0 people were arrested, including a doctor and a pharmacist, after complaining about shortages in medical equipment, announced the spokesperson for the Office of the High Commission on Human Rights. Rights organizations have documented the arrest of five more people in case no. 575 of 2020 after they released a video demanding that their detained family members be released, fearing the spread of COVID-19 in prisons.<\/p>\n

These prosecutions coincided with vicious campaigns against\u00a0 international media outlets to prevent the circulation of any news about the coronavirus epidemic and its spread in Egypt that contradicts official narratives. On 17 March, the Egyptian authorities shut down<\/a> the Egypt bureau of the British Guardian<\/em> and revoked its accreditation after the paper published a report questioning the official number of COVID-19 victims; the authorities also deported the paper\u2019s correspondent in Egypt. The Egypt correspondent for the New York Times<\/em> was warned to consult \u201cofficial sources for news reported about Egypt and comply with professional rules.\u201d<\/p>\n

Confronting COVID-19 does not require prosecuting anyone who publishes news or information at odds with the state\u2019s official narrative. Policies designed to intimidate anyone who attempts to reveal shortcomings in the state\u2019s conduct toward the pandemic must come to an end. And the state\u2019s conduct \u2013 escalating arrest campaigns and adding to Egypt\u2019s already-teeming prison population to the peril of public health \u2013 deserves to be critiqued in a transparent, fair and objective manner if Egypt is to be able to effectively counter the surge of COVID-19 infections in the country.<\/p>\n

Signatory Organizations<\/strong><\/p>\n