Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Mahmoud Hassan
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The Egyptian treasure plane increases the pains of the Sisi regime
Bad things often come in threes, it is said. This is the case with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s regime, which is having a difficult time paying the country’s foreign debts as the country suffers from power cuts, a severe shortage of dollars and leaks about corruption. Now along...
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This is the Egypt that the regime doesn’t want the world to see
Under a propaganda poster bearing the image of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi and the slogan “Citizens First”, a homeless person lies on the ground. This is in Manial, an area in Old Cairo, and it is a paradox that reveals a different side of Egyptian life. The people...
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Egyptians and the drug shortage crisis
You may stand in a long line in front of El Esaaf pharmacy, one of the largest and most famous pharmacies at the centre of the Egyptian capital, Cairo, waiting to receive a medication that is in short supply, or an expensive alternative that may relieve some pain or...
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Egyptian love and marriage behind bars
A look of admiration from behind bars, accompanied by hope for a better tomorrow that brings her and her life partner together. A life partner in whose cause she believes and has pride in his steadfastness in the face of his jailer, awaiting his release to that she can...
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Deadly real estate in Egypt: corruption, bribery and more
From time to time, Egypt wakes up to the news of a collapsed building and the death of dozens of people. The news is usually accompanied with a government decision to examine the condition of the collapsed property, arrest its owner and the payment of a meagre compensation to...
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Why are Egyptians digging in the garbage bins?
In the very early hours of the morning, before sunrise, a well-groomed man crept, shyly, towards the rubbish bin, searching for something, moving quickly from one bag to another to find what he was looking for. In today’s Egypt, as soon as you throw your garbage bag into the...
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The means of communication in Egypt: more restrictions and censorship
It was not surprising to followers and observers of the situation that the Egyptian regime had obtained an open-source intelligence platform from an Israeli company, which would enhance its ability to monitor websites and means of communication and pursue its opponents. This security and intelligence monitoring is reinforced by a...
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Draft law on circulation of information in Egypt: a new means of repression
There is anticipation in the press and human rights community in Egypt regarding the information circulation law, its clauses that are up for discussion and its potential approval by the Egyptian Parliament over the next few months. The controversial draft law involves several problems related to freedom of opinion and...
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Egypt's prisons are an economic burden in a debt-ridden country
At a time when Egypt is seeking to obtain new loans in the midst of a suffocating economic crisis, Interior Minister Major General Mahmoud Tawfiq has decided to build six new prisons. According to Resolution 1042 of 2023 published in the Official Gazette, the prisons will be the May...
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Egypt: Can Sisi reconcile with the Muslim Brotherhood?
With the former parliamentarian and potential presidential candidate, Ahmed Tantawi, calling for reconciliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, the fraught and complex issue is reopened in Egypt following the 3 July 2013 coup. This contentious proposal comes just ahead of the 2024 presidential elections, where incumbent President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is...
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Why are Egyptians still celebrating the man who killed 3 Israeli soldiers?
The celebrations persist in Egypt for the executor of the attack on the Israeli army, Mohamed Salah Ibrahim, despite official media silence on the matter and security restrictions on his family, which left them unable to hold a public funeral for him. The glorification of the soldier who killed three...
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Normalisation between Egypt and Turkiye: The winners and losers
In a move fraught with significance, both the Egyptian and Turkish sides rushed to formally announce the upgrading of diplomatic relations and the mutual exchange of ambassadors, following the victory of Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in his third presidential term in the elections of 28 May. Perhaps this external...
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Who can afford meat in Egypt today?
“We may return to the old days, eating meat once a year…” lamented an Egyptian citizen, criticising the record-breaking rise in meat prices and the inability of people with low incomes to afford even a few grams. In recent months, meat prices in Egypt have seen astronomical increases, pushing animal...
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Medical neglect: The gateway to slow death in Egypt prisons
Amid inhumane conditions, medical neglect in Egyptian prisons opens the door to further suffering that could lead to a deterioration of political prisoners’ health and possibly reaching to their death. Behind the prison walls, there are stories and tales, confirmed by numbers and human rights data, about a different kind...
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Sawiris is sounding the alarm: are investors fleeing Egypt?
Statements by the Egyptian billionaire, Samih Sawiris, about the feasibility of investing in Egypt, raise real concerns about the blurred economic future in the country, the faltering activities of the private sector, and the possibility of local capital fleeing the country, in light of the great scarcity of dollar...
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Journalism Is a 'Crime' in Egypt; Pens and Cameras Behind Bars
The Egyptian political scene is witness to clear confusion, which is, apparently, demonstrated by the arbitrary arrests of journalists and human rights activists. At the same time, dozens have been released through presidential pardons – a situation that could hint at disagreements between the country’s sovereign and security institutions. This...
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Egypt’s terror lists target opposition figures
Just days before the start of Egypt’s national dialogue, Egyptian courts issued a series of rulings to include the Muslim Brotherhood group on the list of terrorist entities for a new five-year period, beginning at the end of the previous listing period. The move comes months before the start of...
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Why do they commit suicide in Egypt prisons?
When you find yourself behind bars in Egypt, charged in a case of a political nature in the absence of a fair trial, hope for life gradually withers away. At such times, death may become a means of escape from intolerable human rights violations. Leaked messages from Egyptian prisons about...
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New calculations and mutual interests: What Egypt wants from Turkiye
After a nearly nine-year rift, the pace of rapprochement between Egypt and Turkiye is accelerating, as the two countries attempt to overcome points of disagreement, turn the page on the past and forge a political and strategic reconciliation that could bring significant gains for both. Progress in some files, and...
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Sisi uses religion to appeal to the emotions of Egyptians
The controversy surrounding the Grand Mosque of Egypt, inaugurated by President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi last month, raises questions about the use of religion as an electoral tool ahead of the 2024 presidential election and its frequent evocation in his speeches to Egyptians, along with repeated oaths, claiming to talk...
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Creditors are standing on Egypt's doorstep
Egypt faces a predicament in trying to meet its debt obligations over the next few years amidst an increasing struggle with a shortage of US dollars, a collapse in the value of the Egyptian pound and a rapidly growing foreign debt. This puts the country at risk of falling...
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Egypt: Who can run against Sisi in the 2024 presidential elections?
The question that occupies the minds of the Egyptian people, amid a difficult living environment, a record rise in prices and a continuous collapse in the value of the local currency, coinciding with the imminent end of the second term of the current President, Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, and the...
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Egypt’s ‘fear books’ help to facilitate more human rights violations
When you sign a visitors’ or similar book to confirm your presence at a place, it is not usual for you to do so knowing that you may not return to your home. In Egypt, though, the people controlling the “fear books” in police cells and prisons want to...
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‘Refrigerator’: a nightmare which haunts detainees in Egypt
“Refrigerator” is a term used to describe small rooms inside the Egyptian police stations affiliated with the Egyptian National Security Agency (an internal intelligence agency), which hosts many detainees in inhumane conditions, without being subject to any judicial or legal oversight. The “refrigerator” term bears a clear connotation to the...