Egypt: human rights groups condemn arrests linked to protest calls 

Several human rights organisations in Egypt have condemned the arbitrary arrests of people apparently in connection with the calls for protests on 11 November, during the COP27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh.

According to El-Shehab Centre for Human Rights, 42 people in Alexandria Governorate have been arrested. In Suez, the Egyptian Network for Human Rights said that for the past two weeks the streets of the governorate have been witnessing an ongoing security campaign, in which hundreds of citizens have been arrested, some of them former detainees. A number of families of political activists were also arrested.

“Over 200 people as of Tuesday appeared before the prosecutors in Suez,” explained the network, “and many are still waiting to appear inside the headquarters of the Security Forces Camp in Al-Salam, the Central Security Camp on Nasser Street, and the National Security Building next to the Courts Complex.”

Meanwhile, the director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Hossam Bahgat, said that the group’s lawyers followed the investigation of 48 defendants as of last Saturday, all of whom were charged with joining a terrorist group. He added that the parliament decided to imprison them for 15 days, and that the data was being updated. “The cases of the remaining detainees who appeared before the Public Prosecution within the past two days are being followed.”

READ: Egypt arrests hundreds ahead of COP27

The organisation mentioned the arrest of Yousef Al-Ghamry, the son of an Egyptian opposition journalist living abroad, Hossam Al-Ghamry, because of his father’s calls to demonstrate on 11 November. It pointed out that, so far, the Egyptian authorities have not announced where Yousef is being held. As this article is being written, he is still classed as forcibly disappeared and detained outside the framework of the law.

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms has monitored the state security agency’s questioning of dozens of people over the past few days. It noted that some of the defendants were arrested after producing videos calling for demonstrations, which were sent via WhatsApp to a Facebook page calling citizens to participate in the protests.

The Egyptian Front for Human Rights had previously confirmed that the state security agency had arrested 65 people on charges of “joining a terrorist group”, amid calls to demonstrate on 11/11.