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Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi [En.kremlin.ru]

Egyptians have hijacked the hashtag setup in support of coup leader and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to highlight the numerous human rights abuses carried out under his leadership.

The hashtag is part of the World Youth Forum which Al-Sisi is hosting.

While some were using the hashtag #WeNeedToTalk for its intended purpose…

Others showed how Egypt is not an inclusive society and not everyone is being invited to talk.

In fact, Timothy E Kaldas believes Egyptians have been trying to talk to the government for years “but the govt [sic] imprisons & tortures those challenging it”.

Using #WeNeedToTalk, social media activists have published pictures of those tortured by security forces, detained for years without charge or for simply opposing the coup.

Since Al-Sisi took over control of the government in a military coup in July 2013, over 60,000 people have been arrested, with hundreds handed death sentences in shoddy mass trials and over 15,000 civilians charged in military courts. The volatile situation in the country has also allowed Daesh to strengthen its standing in the Sinai Peninsula where it has carried out attacks targeting police and army figures as well as civilians.

Read: Human rights should not be judged from a Western perspective says Sisi

Al-Sisi has claimed that it is Daesh’s presence in the country that has forced the government to crackdown on dissent. But not everyone is convinced.

Radwa Medhat raised the case of Mahmoud Abu Zeid, also known as Shawkan, an Egyptian photojournalist who was arrested for taking photos at the Rabaa massacre on 14 August 2013 in Cairo and who has been detained ever since. Amnesty has called for his release as details were revealed that he had been tortured in prison.

https://twitter.com/radwamedhat80/status/925024238347735041

While Ahdaf Souief highlighted the case of Socialist Popular Alliance Party activist Shaimaa Al-Sabbagh who died of gunshot wounds on 24 January 2015 while peacefully marching to commemorate the hundreds of demonstrators killed during the Arab Spring uprising of 2011.

The picture of Al-Sabbagh’s last moments drew international attention as she was being held up by a fellow protester.

It is not only activists whose lives have been turned upside down by the coup government; students in Egypt have also been affected by its policies with children being forced to back election campaigns.

“We need to talk, so we can hear you, see you … jail you!” Mona Seif wrote, outlining the regime’s current policies.

As new stories emerge almost daily of violations on women’s rights, with a lawyer saying yesterday that women are inviting “rape” by wearing ripped jeans, the issue was also highlighted as a talking point which cannot be ignored.

For the most part Twitter users had one message: