Latest news with #hungerStrike
The Guardian
7 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on Egypt and Alaa Abd el-Fattah: Starmer and Lammy vowed to do all they can. So do it
Last month, Sir Keir Starmer promised to do 'everything I possibly can' to free Egypt's highest profile political prisoner, Alaa Abd el-Fattah. A few months earlier, the foreign secretary had described the case of the British-Egyptian writer and campaigner as the 'number one issue'. In opposition, David Lammy had joined a protest in Mr Abd el-Fattah's support outside the Foreign Office and demanded serious diplomatic consequences for Cairo if no progress was made. Progress has not been made and time is running out. Arbitrary detention has stolen almost a decade of Mr Abd el-Fattah's life, while that of his remarkable mother, Laila Soueif, may be drawing to its close. As of Tuesday, the 69-year-old, who lives in London, had not eaten for 261 days, as she demands her son's release. After taking 300-calorie liquid supplements for a short period, she returned to a full hunger strike almost a month ago and has been hospitalised since the end of May. In Egypt, Mr Abd el-Fattah has been on hunger strike for more than 100 days. Mr Abd el-Fattah, whose current ordeal began when he was detained in 2019, should never have been held. He was sentenced to five years for 'spreading false news'; his real offence was to speak truth to power. But the injustice was compounded when, instead of releasing him in September, as Egypt's own criminal code requires, the state chose to ignore his pre-trial detention. His jail term was deemed to have begun only after his conviction in December 2021, meaning that it would run until the end of next year. The UN working group on arbitrary detention found last month that his detention was unlawful on multiple grounds, including the lack of arrest warrant, violation of his right to free expression and the lack of a fair trial. His 13-year-old son, who lives in Brighton, has been denied the chance to know his father. In over a decade in office, Gen Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, Egypt's president, has proved to be even more repressive than his former boss, Hosni Mubarak, who was overthrown in the Arab spring. Executions have soared, and more than 1,500 political prisoners were detained last year alone. Sir Keir has twice raised Mr Abd el-Fattah's case directly in calls with Gen Sisi, and has written to him multiple times. Yet Britain has not even gained consular access to the 43-year-old. Egypt has released dual nationals before when under pressure. It appears particularly obdurate in this case. Supporters have made a strong case for imposing sanctions and bringing a case at the international court of justice. Given the health of Mr Abd el-Fattah and Ms Soueif, however, the priority must be measures with immediate effect. The first should be to change travel advice, warning against travelling to Egypt, and to refuse trade talks. Mr Abd el-Fattah's case clearly indicates the risks for Britons, given the lack of fair process and consular access. Egypt's economy, which remains fragile following an International Monetary Fund bailout last year, is heavily dependent on tourism and around half a million Britons travel there every year. The prime minister's advocacy is welcome. But as Mr Lammy demanded in 2022, 'what diplomatic price has Egypt paid for denying the right of consular access to a British citizen?' It is clear that Britain has not, in fact, done everything it possibly can to change the Egyptian government's mind. It must now do so. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The idea was to crush his spirit': family of jailed British-Egyptian man describe awful prison conditions
Family, friends and supporters of the jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah have spoken about the conditions of his long imprisonment as his mother, Laila Soueif, remains in a London hospital in declining health on a hunger strike to secure his release. Amid a mounting campaign to put pressure on British ministers to intervene more forcefully on Abd el-Fattah's behalf, supporters say his continued detention is part of a campaign of vengeance motivated by the personal animus of the Egyptian president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, towards him. The activist, who came to prominence during Egypt's 2011 Tahrir Square protests, has been jailed twice, the second time months after his release from prison in 2019, and continues to be imprisoned despite completing his five-year sentence last autumn. Abd el-Fattah's first period in prison – from 2015 to 2019 – was spent in the Tora maximum-security prison, a place designed to hold violent jihadists, but since 2018 he has been held in Wadi al-Natrun in Beheira province in the Nile delta. While the physical conditions are less harsh than in Tora – where Abd el-Fattah was beaten – his treatment in Wadi al-Natrun has been designed deliberately to isolate and demoralise him, say supporters, depriving him for three years of books and limiting his contact with other prisoners. Between September 2019 to May 2022 he was held in a small, poorly ventilated cell, denied a bed and mattress as well as reading materials and exercise. 'The idea was to crush his spirit,' says Mona Seif, his sister, who has visited her brother in jail. 'I think after so many trials and attempts to break him, the regime has realised that the way crush to him is to isolate him from the world and render him mute. That's been the tactic since his second period in jail beginning in 2019.' What has become clear to Seif, and others campaigning to release him, is that the treatment of her brother is being driven by a very personal animosity directed at Abd el-Fattah and his family by Egypt's president. 'It seems very personal,' says Seif. 'Since 2019 the unofficial messages we have been getting from different Egyptian institutions is that our file is with Sisi.' Abd el-Fattah was a familiar and always approachable figure in Tahrir Square during the 2011 mass protests that led to the fall of the government of Hosni Mubarak. Articulate, passionate and thoughtful, his great skill was seen in bringing different groups together. Sentenced to jail for organising a political protest without permission in 2015, Abd el-Fattah was briefly released in March 2019 but was rearrested months later and charged with spreading 'fake news undermining national security' for a retweet. One person with a personal insight into what Abd el-Fattah has been through is the activist and poet Ahmed Douma, who was imprisoned during his first spell in jail in Tora, where for 10 months the two men were in separate, solitary cells facing each other, until the authorities decided their proximity was a problem. Unlike Abd el-Fattah, Douma was pardoned and released by Sisi in 2023. January 2011 – when 18 days of mass protests led to the resignation of the then president, Hosni Mubarak – 'was, still is, and will forever remain a personal enemy to Sisi. And Alaa was one of the symbols of that period,' Douma told the Guardian. 'At the same time, he's an activist who has audience and influence – a thinker with his own philosophy and interest in how political movements develop, how people move, how they understand things. 'And of course, he also became a symbol of the stupidity of the authorities. 'The truth is that even one hour in prison inevitably leaves an impact, and it's not trivial,' adds Douma, who spent more than 10 years in prison. 'There's depression from what happened in prison, whether things that happened to you directly or which you witnessed. Torture, assault and so on. 'It's not just the impact on the body, but on the mind. At some point, you realise that you've been in solitary confinement for days, months, days or years, with no communication. I haven't even begun the journey of recovery from the effects of those 10 years.' Aida Seif El-Dawla, a psychiatrist, human rights defender and co-founder of El Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, says: 'Look, in Egypt, detention is a psychological torture. I don't know what those people are punished for except that they expressed an opinion. And to put people in prison because they expressed an opinion, that's not a legal punishment. But apparently, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi thinks otherwise. 'This is the punishment of the saddest father who tortures his children for non-obedience.' What is clear is that the Egyptian authorities regard Abd el-Fattah's detention as open ended, holding him beyond his originally scheduled release date and also holding another potential prosecution over him. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Mahmoud Shalaby, a researcher at Amnesty International who deals with Egypt, says: 'The whole thing is about making an example of him. He's already been brutally punished. He has spent almost 10 years in prison solely for practising his human rights. Alaa's case is extremely extraordinary, especially as Egypt has a history of releasing dual nationals who are arbitrarily detained. 'I think the fear is that if he was released, he would go abroad and criticise the government from there. But that's not a reason to keep him arbitrarily in prison.' His lawyer, Khaled Ali, says: 'Alaa should have been released on 28 September last year.' Instead, the courts have declined to include his period of pretrial detention, prior to ratification of the sentence, meaning he will not be released until 2027 – if then. Ali says: 'He was sentenced to five years in prison and he has been detained since 28 September 2019. His sentence should have ended on 28 September 2024.' After a hunger strike in 2022, Abd el-Fattah has been allowed access to books and now a television in Wadi al-Natrun, from where he is able to write and receive letters from his family. 'Alaa and my mum are both big science fiction fans and so he reads a massive amount,' says Seif. 'Science fiction, graphic novels and anything to do with science. Now he is allowed a television, he follows tournaments. He'll treat a tournament as a whole project. If Wimbledon is on, he will follow for the day. 'But because of the way the prison was constructed, the exercise area is a big hole with concrete walls and no ceiling. He hasn't walked in sun for over five years.' The family are able to monitor his mood via his response to the cats that have sought shelter in the prison and whom he has adopted. 'If his mood is good he shares lots of pictures of the cats.' His mood in recent months as his release date has come and gone has not been good. Attempts by successive British governments and EU officials – among others – to intervene behind the scenes have been a failure as Egypt has faced no consequences for its human rights abuses. Lacking interlocutors with influence within Sisi's immediate circle, Abd el-Fattah's case is stuck, even as his mother's health in London has dangerously worsened. One person who has been involved in advocacy for Abd el-Fattah says: 'The policy of private engagement has been going on for over 10 years. You only see movement on human rights issues in Egypt where there is the threat of action.' Seif says: 'They just want his absolute surrender and Alaa completely broken and mimicking the regime's narrative. Even the slightest indication of independence they see as defiance. The whole thing is a senseless act of pure vengeance that leaves us to keep guessing, what is it for, and when will be enough.' Ahmed Douma adds: 'If I could send him a message and tell him anything, I would tell him that we are with him. And that his freedom and Laila's life are our personal battle.'
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK should impose sanctions on Egypt over jailed activist, says Helena Kennedy
The UK government should impose sanctions on key figures in the Egyptian government in response to its refusal to release the British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah, Labour's most prominent human rights lawyer has proposed. Writing in the Guardian, Helena Kennedy called for the UK to take the case to the international court of justice, as France has recently done in the case of a national held by Iran. Lady Kennedy said the moves were necessary as Abd el-Fattah's 69-year-old mother, Leila Soueif, enters the 243rd day of her hunger strike at St Thomas' hospital in London. She started the strike to secure either British consular access to her son or his release. Doctors have told the family she is at risk of sudden death, but her body has also adapted to months without food. It is the second time she has been hospitalised. Her son has been held in various forms of detention in Egypt for more than 10 years, but completed his latest five-year jail sentence last September. However, the Cairo judiciary kept him in prison on the grounds that the two years he had spent in jail prior to his sentencing did not count as part of his five years. Soueif's two daughters remain by her bedside, but her family say she is determined not to back down and will see this through to a resolution. Kennedy has urged the British government to elevate the case to a much higher level, including introducing 'sanctions against any Egyptian authorities responsible for Abd el-Fattah's continued detention beyond the end of his five-year sentence', a course she has recommended to the Commons foreign affairs select committee. She is also calling for holding off any new trade and investment cooperation with Egypt. Overall, she says, the UK government's approach in the case has been too timid and Soueif, a distinguished human rights activist, 'wants more than anything else to reunite her son with his own 14-year-old son, who lives in Brighton and has barely been able to spend time with his father'. Kennedy said: 'Laila's bravery and fortitude is astonishing. The time for relying solely on polite diplomacy is long past: the prime minister must demonstrate his strength and resolve on this case.' Last week, Kennedy joined the former British ambassador to Egypt John Casson, the former Foreign Office minister Peter Hain and the campaigner Richard Ratcliffe in urging 'caution against travel to Egypt'. Kennedy said: 'In light of what we have learned from Alaa's case, the British government must make clear that a British citizen who falls foul of the police state in Egypt cannot expect fair process, nor normal support from the British government. Hundreds of thousands of British citizens travel to Egypt each year, making a major contribution to the country's economy, and the truth is we can't guarantee their rights. The Egyptian government will undoubtedly take notice if its failure to abide by the rule of law starts affecting British hotel bookings for the winter season.' The UK prime minister has twice phoned the Egyptian president to urge him to show clemency, but no punitive measures have been threatened by the UK government. Soueif's determination has led to vigils being held for her in Berlin, Washington and Damascus. Omar Robert Hamilton, a nephew of Soueif who was with his aunt over the weekend, said she had told him 'my course is irreversible'. He added: 'My aunt's resolve has only grown stronger in hospital. She is receiving the messages of support and solidarity from around the world, and she will see her struggle through to the end – whatever that end is.' More than 120 former Egyptian political prisoners have also appealed to the president, Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, to show clemency. They wrote: 'What unites us is that we have been inside this circle, but what distinguishes us from Alaa and others still in detention is that the state has made decisions – at various stages – to give a presidential pardon, or release after the extension of our sentences has expired. And today, years or months after we left jail, we were not a threat or likely to damage to public safety, we simply returned to our lives, trying to restore what was lost.'
New York Times
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
In This Novel, Most Abortions Are Illegal. A Clinic Worker Fights Back.
Though the decision to seek an abortion is an inherently private one, walking into an abortion clinic in the United States can be an uncannily public act. A patient may have to dodge protesters trying to block her path to the building, or hide her face as they brandish photos of fetal remains. This disconnect between the politicization of female bodies and the personal experience of inhabiting them is darkly fitting: Roe v. Wade derived the right to abortion from the right to privacy; after Roe was overturned, individual lives became a matter of communal interest. It is a disconnect that haunts 'State Champ,' the sixth book by the novelist, poet and nonfiction writer Hilary Plum. The novel follows Angela Peterson, a 28-year-old receptionist at an abortion clinic in an unnamed Midwestern state where a 'heartbeat law' has recently banned most abortions after six weeks. After Angela's boss, Dr. M, is sentenced to at least 12 years in prison for violating this law, a jobless Angela takes up residence in the defunct clinic and stops eating. Reporters show up to interview and photograph her. The novel takes the form of her hunger strike journal, which she jots on exam table paper. In the public imagination, Angela passes for a noble dissenter. In private, the snarky former state-champion runner with a history of D.U.I.s, a hearty sexual appetite and disordered eating is less saintly. Protest doesn't come naturally to her: She is 'not much of a sign waver.' She struggles to articulate the 'goals' of her self-sacrifice. Does she expect it to free Dr. M? Is starving herself a spiritual act? Or is she just a garden-variety 'anorexic slut,' as she puts it? 'State Champ' admirably resists the interpretive clarity the world craves from Angela. This feels true to the lived experience of protest: It can be alienating to translate the yearning to possess your own body, whether by aborting a fetus or starving yourself, into a public message. 'The law is over here, it's up here, it's on the surface,' Angela tells one journalist. 'When someone gets pregnant, it has to do with her up-here life, but it's really a conversation the body is having with other bodies, including itself. … The law can't get at what this is about.' So, during her 39-day strike, Angela communes not with the outside world but with an inner one. Her own inner conversation, driven by self-deprivation, engages with a long lineage of isolated, unraveling female narrators, from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's in 'The Yellow Wallpaper' to Clarice Lispector's in 'The Passion According to G.H.' Plum's contributions to this canon are often funny, and pleasantly odd: 'Janine's boobs were her whole point of view,' Angela thinks about her nemesis, an anti-abortion activist with a penchant for handing out baby dolls to the clinic's patients; 14 days into her fast, Angela muses, 'My hunger strike is ovulating.' But Angela's mental state never quite approaches the madness of her predecessors' (Gilman's protagonist is subsumed into the walls that confine her; Lispector's devours the insides of a dead cockroach and abandons language altogether). And as Angela grows increasingly delirious with hunger, Plum fragments her prose into a kind of self-conscious poetry that strains beneath the weight of the plot. But the pleasure of this book lies not in its plot or even in its characters (Angela is more voice than character), but in the intimacy of its setting: the clinic that increasingly becomes the estranged Angela's entire world. When the six-week ban came down, 'the phones were ringing and the clock was ticking,' Plum writes, 'like some supreme clock somewhere or every little clock everywhere, I was getting a feeling like everyone's personal biological clock was in me, like that kids' movie where a crocodile swallowed an alarm clock and he's coming for you.' As Angela points out, the judicial system may not be able to comprehend the ungovernable parts of our bodies and minds, to hear those ticking clocks inside us — but a novel can.
