Latest news with #UNWGAD
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Popular summer holiday destination 'police state' warning
A former British ambassador to Egypt has called for the Foreign Office to caution against travel to the country amid fears British nationals face an increased risk of arrest in a country that is popular with holidaymakers and travellers. John Casson, who was British ambassador to Egypt between 2014 and 2018, described the country as a 'police state' which is 'violent and vindictive', when he spoke on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Thursday. His comments follow a ruling by a UN panel that Alaa Abd El-Fattah, a British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist who in December 2021 was sentenced to five years in prison after being accused of spreading false news, is being illegally detained by the Egyptian government. READ MORE: Turkey 'highly risky' alert as Foreign Office updates UK advice READ MORE: I visited the most beautiful town with amazing views — and it's just two hours from Liverpool The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) said Mr Abd El-Fattah was imprisoned because of his political views. 'This is a police state in Egypt: it's violent, it's vindictive,' Mr Casson told the Today programme. 'It's abusing a British citizen, Alaa Abd El-Fattah – tortured him. It's kept him in prison on bogus charges. It's causing a lot of distress to his family. 'But it's also abusing the rights of the British Government to do its normal business, and it's blocking our embassy for the most fundamental function of visiting and supporting British nationals when they get into trouble. 'And that's why, with other parliamentarians today… I'm calling now for our Government to use all the tools it has to protect not just Alaa Abd El-Fattah, but all British citizens in Egypt. And that means, especially now, our official travel advice needs to caution against travel to Egypt.' Mr Casson joined political figures, including Baroness Kennedy of the Shaws and Lord Hain, the former Middle East minister, to urge the Government to review its travel advice for Egypt in a letter published in The Times on Wednesday. He said the case of Mr Abd El-Fattah is not isolated as any British national travelling to Egypt faces arrest and illegal detention. He told the BBC: 'After four years as ambassador in Egypt, if a friend or family came to me today and said, 'Should we be booking our winter sun in Egypt?', I would be saying you're taking a real risk. 'If you get into any kind of difficulties, you post the wrong thing on social media even, there's no guarantee (of) your right to be protected. 'There's no guarantee of due process, and we can't even be sure that the British embassy will be able to visit you or support you in the normal way.' He added: 'If I just think back to the four years I spent in Egypt, there was a Cambridge University student who was tortured to death over a period of several days in police cells. 'There was a British woman who went on for a beach holiday in Egypt, and found herself in in prison for a year because she had too many painkillers in her luggage. 'There was a string of child kidnap cases where British children were abducted by their estranged Egyptian parents, and the Egyptian authorities did not give protection to the rights of those children or the rights of their British families.' Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni was abducted and killed in Cairo in 2016. Italy accused Egyptian police officers of killing him, a charge Egypt denied. In 2017, British national Laura Plummer was sentenced to three years in an Egyptian prison for taking 290 Tramadol tablets into the country. Mr Casson told the BBC: 'Of course, our civil servants are always cautious about offending a country like Egypt, and that's why we're really saying this: this needs political will. 'It takes political will and a readiness to take real action and say that Egypt can't have it both ways. Egypt pretends to be a friend. 'It depends on British visitors to keep its economy afloat, and we need to demonstrate that that is not compatible with abusing our citizens and blocking our embassy. We can't have business as usual.' Last week, 100 MPs and peers urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to 'deploy every tool' available to help free Mr Abd El-Fattah.
Mada
3 days ago
- Politics
- Mada
Alaa Abd El Fattah arbitrarily detained, UN experts say, requesting immediate release
The imprisonment of writer and activist Alaa Abd El Fattah is arbitrary and illegal, a United Nations expert panel has ruled. In a press release published Wednesday the group called on Egypt to carry out its obligation to 'release him immediately under international law.' Commenting on the ruling, Director of Reporters Without Borders Fiona O'Brien said that the ruling should 'bring his suffering and that of his family to an end,' calling for Egypt to release Abd El Fattah and allow him to return to his family in the United Kingdom. Abd El Fattah has spent most of the past decade in prison on political charges. He continues to be detained by authorities in Egypt despite completing in September the sentence issued against him in 2021. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) argued that no warrant or explanation was present at the time of Abd El Fattah's arrest and that he was imprisoned for exercising his freedom of expression — a legal right in Egypt. Abd El Fattah was arrested in September 2019 after he republished an activist's post about the death of a prisoner under torture in the notorious Aqrab Prison. He was then detained pending investigations into the offenses of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news, which are often deployed against government critics. The statement also cited the lack of a fair trial and the 'discriminatory nature of the detention based on his political views.' During his 2021 trial at an emergency state security misdemeanors court, Abd El Fattah was denied the right to appeal the sentence, which was handed down only after three trial sessions. His defense lawyers were also prevented from access to the case files or an opportunity to present a defense. He was ultimately referred to trial on false news charges and sentenced with an additional five years. In the Wednesday press release, UNWGAD also requested that the Egyptian government 'remedy the situation' by releasing the writer and activist and granting him 'an enforceable right to compensation' among other forms of recompense under international law. The assessment of the five independent UN experts adds to the voices which have pushed for his release. Abd El Fattah's family have escalated their calls for his release since September, which marked the passage of five years that he spent in detention. His mother, academic and activist Laila Soueif, is currently on a full hunger strike in protest of his continued detention. Her health condition has deteriorated rapidly over the 241 days of her strike. Abd El Fattah also began a full hunger strike in prison on March 1. Soueif, whose family including her son hold British and Egyptian nationality, has also held daily demonstrations outside the British government headquarters, urging them to intervene with Egyptian authorities to secure her son's release. Commenting on UNGWAD's ruling that Abd El Fattah's detention is unlawful, the activist's cousin, author Omar Robert Hamilton, said in a Wednesday press release that, 'We are calling on the British government to take Egypt to the International Court of Justice for breach of the Vienna Convention.' In a call with Sisi last week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pressed for Abdel El Fattah's 'urgent release' so that he can be reunited with his family. Starmer also highlighted the importance of bringing an end to the 'anguish Alaa and his family have faced.' He has also confirmed, in response to a parliamentary question, what he had previously said to Soueif — that he is committed to doing everything in his power to push for Abd El Fattah's release. On their side, Abd El Fattah's family submitted a presidential pardon request and two legal petitions to the public prosecutor in Egypt earlier this month, as Soueif's health continues to decline. Abd El Fattah's defense lawyer, Khaled Ali, has previously stated that prosecutors should have released Abd El Fattah at the conclusion of his five-year sentence in 2024 — as the two years he spent in remand detention should count toward the total. Prosecutors have declined legal attempts to sue for his release, however, meaning that his imprisonment is likely to extend until January 2026. Amnesty International has expressed fears that authorities will then resort to other tactics to extend his imprisonment further. In her demand for the UN ruling to be used for British and Egyptian officials to facilitate Abd El Fattah's release, O'Brien expressed the urgency of ending his arbitrary detention for both him and his family. 'They cannot afford to wait any longer,' she said.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
UN panel says Egyptian dissident illegally detained, urges release
A UN panel of independent human rights investigators said that prominent Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel-Fattah is illegally detained by Egyptian authorities and urged the government to release him immediately, his family said on Wednesday. Abdel-Fattah, a key figure in Egypt's 2011 anti-government uprising, was expected to be released from prison after his sentence ended in September, but he remains in custody in Egypt. The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) said that Abdel-Fattah is arbitrarily detained and that Egyptian authorities have an obligation to release him immediately under international law, according to a legal opinion shared with his lawyers. The panel, which consists of five independent rights experts, "concluded that Alaa's continued imprisonment is arbitrary and illegal." "The UN Working Group has delivered a clear and unequivocal decision: Alaa Abdel-Fattah's detention is arbitrary and in breach of international law. Egypt is now obligated to release Alaa immediately," his lawyer, Can Yeğinsu, said in a statement. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) welcomed the panel's decision and urged Egypt to respect it without further delay. Abdel-Fattah has been on hunger strike for nearly three months. His mother, Laila Soueif, has also been on hunger strike since September 29, the date his prison sentence was due to end. In 2013, Abdel-Fattah was arrested while protesting and jailed for five years. Months after his release, he was arrested again and sentenced to another five years in prison on charges of spreading fake news, an accusation his family dismisses as politically motivated. Egypt's rights record under incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi has drawn international criticism amid a crackdown on dissidents.
Middle East Eye
4 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
UN panel rules Alaa Abd el-Fattah's detention illegal under international law
A UN panel of independent human rights experts has found that the continued detention of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah is illegal under international law, and has demanded his immediate release. In a landmark ruling, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) concluded that Abd el-Fattah is being held arbitrarily by the Egyptian authorities and should therefore be released immediately under international law. Abd el-Fattah, a key figure in the 2011 Egyptian revolution that ousted then-president Hosni Mubarak, has spent the best part of a decade behind bars. On 29 September, Abd el-Fattah was due to complete a five-year sentence for 'spreading false news', but the authorities failed to release him, refusing to count the two years he spent in pre-trial detention towards his sentence. UNWGAD found that Abd el-Fattah's continued imprisonment is illegal on several grounds, including the lack of a warrant at the time of his arrest and lack of explanation of the reasons for his arrest. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Additionally, it cited the fact that he was arrested for exercising his freedom of expression, and the discriminatory nature of his detention, which was based on his political views, as violations of his fundamental rights and freedoms under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The working group demanded that the Egyptian authorities 'take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr Abd el-Fattah without delay', which they said should include his immediate release and the payment of compensation. The panel has set a six month deadline for the Egyptian authorities to release Abd el-Fattah and investigate the violations of his rights. It further demanded that the Egyptian government implement legislative amendments to ensure the country's laws conform to its international obligations. Cannot be allowed to stand Abd el-Fattah's cousin and lead campaigner Omar Hamilton said that the ruling is grounds for the UK government to take Egypt to the International Court of Justice for breach of the Vienna Convention. 'For too long now the Egyptian regime has withheld access to a British citizen that they are holding illegally and it cannot be allowed to stand,' he said in a statement. The UNWGAD ruling comes days after a second call between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, in which Starmer 'pressed for the urgent release of British national Alaa Abd El-Fattah so that he can be reunited with his family'. Egypt prison deaths a 'warning sign' as conditions deteriorate sharply Read More » Starmer had previously spoken to Sisi on 28 February, but there has been little movement since then. On 21 May, Starmer said at Prime Minister's Questions, in response to a question by John McDonnell MP, that he had given Abd El-Fattah's mother, Laila Soueif, his "commitment to do everything I possibly can. I have had a number of contacts myself but I'm not going to stop doing everything within my power to secure release.' With Soueif in the 241st day of her hunger strike to demand her son's release, the clock is ticking. Soueif began her strike on 29 September 2024, the date Abd el-Fattah's five-year sentence was due to end, to protest against inaction by the UK and Egyptian authorities to secure his release. After the phone call between Starmer and Sisi on 28 February, she moved to a partial hunger strike, taking a daily 300-calorie liquid nutritional supplement. But, with little else shifting over the course of three months, Soueif announced last week that she was resuming her full hunger strike. Abd el-Fattah began his own hunger strike from Wadi El-Natrun prison 89 days ago. He fell ill with vomiting, severe stomach pains and dizziness on 12 April.
The Independent
4 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Egypt is illegally detaining Alaa Abd el-Fattah, UN investigation finds
British-Egyptian writer and activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah is being illegally detained in Egypt and should be released immediately, UN investigators have said. In a ruling from the United Nations' Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD), a panel of independent human rights experts found that Egyptian authorities have an obligation to release Mr el-Fattah immediately under international law. In a legal opinion shared with el-Fattah's lawyers, UNWGAD requested that the Egyptian government 'take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Abd el-Fattah without delay'. The panel said: 'The appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Abd el-Fattah immediately and accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.' Mr el-Fattah has spent most of the last decade in prison. He been detained in Egypt since September 29, 2019, and in 2021 was handed an 'unjust' five-year prison sentence for sharing a social media post, according to Amnesty International. He was due to be released last September, but has remained in custody. The UNWGAD panel said Mr el-Fattah's continued imprisonment was illegal on four different grounds: the lack of a warrant at the time of his arrest, and lack of reasons for his arrest; being arrested for exercising freedom of expression; the lack of a fair trial; and the fact his detention was discriminatory, due to his political views. Mr el-Fattah's lawyer Can Yeginsu said: 'The UN Working Group has delivered a clear and unequivocal decision: Alaa Abd el-Fattah's detention is arbitrary and in breach of international law. Egypt is now obligated to release Alaa immediately." Mr Yeginsu said the British government now must take action to free Mr el-Fattah. "With Alaa's continued detention now confirmed as illegal under international law, we are calling on the British government to take Egypt to the International Court of Justice for breach of the Vienna Convention,' he said. 'For too long now the Egyptian regime has withheld access to a British citizen that they are holding illegally and it cannot be allowed to stand." Last week 100 MPs urged Sir Keir Starmer to 'deploy every tool' available to help free Mr El-Fattah, who at the time had been on hunger strike for more than 80 days. The cross-party group of parliamentarians argued in a letter that Mr el-Fattah was a 'political prisoner' who should have been released last year, and added he has been 'acutely unwell' in prison. Mr el-Fattah's mother, Laila Soueif, has been on hunger strike since her son's sentence was meant to end. 'We are requesting an urgent update on progress, given the serious risks both to his health and that of his mother Laila Soueif, who has been on hunger strike in support of him since September 2024,' the letter said.
