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Egypt’s fascist policies against women cannot be covered up, opposition group says

March 5, 2021 at 12:15 pm

Egyptian women members of the Muslim Brotherhood hold roses as they stand in the defendants’ cage dressed in prison issue white during their trial in at the court in the Egyptian Mediterranean city of Alexandria on 7 December 2013. [AFP via Getty Images]

The Egyptian regime’s “fascist policies against women cannot be covered up”, head of the Egyptian Revolutionary Council, Dr Maha Azzam, writes in a press statement released ahead of International Women’s Day.

The global day which celebrates the achievements of women is marked annually on 8 March. This year, Azzam says: “We salute women across the world fighting for their rights and freedoms. On this important day we wish to draw the World’s attention to women political dissidents imprisoned under the current military regime of Abdelfattah el Sisi in Egypt.”

There are currently some 60,000 political prisoners held in inhumane conditions in Egypt, “an estimated 170 are women dissidents, 3 of whom are condemned to execution. Among those imprisoned are lawyers , journalists, academics, and those who have done no more than post their views on social media,” Azzam explains.

“They are denied medication, family visits and are subject to sexual abuse.” This, she adds, “has continued since the coup in 2013.”“The military regime in Egypt and its fascist policies against women cannot be covered up by a few women ministers that serve in its government.”

Adding: “On Women’s day let us ensure that the United Nations and all international and Human rights bodies actively engage and work for the release of women dissidents in Egypt and throughout the Middle East.”

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