The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders has called on the Egyptian government to stop targeting members of rights group Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). As part of its widening crackdown on free speech, which includes rights organisations, the Egyptian government has targeted the EIPR, escalating its repression in 2020. Authorities have raided the home of EIPR’s Administrative Manager Mohamed Basheer and Executive Director Gasser Abdel-Razek and arrested head of the Criminal Justice Unit Karim Ennarah whilst he was on holiday. The government also arrested founder and journalist Hossam Bahgat and EIPR researcher Patrick Zaki when he was returning home from Italy to visit his family. UN Special Rapporteur Mary Lawlor’s communication raised the issue of pending charges against Zaki, who has written about the discrimination faced by Copts in the country and was held incommunicado, beaten and tortured by … Continue reading Egypt: UN raises concern over targeting of EIPR members