Parallel event on Human Rights in Egypt Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

The event was organised by the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies where Mohamed Lofty, an Egyptian human rights defender, researcher Eberhard Kienle and Sanaa Seif, an Egyptian human rights activist, participated in the discussion. Jeremi Smith started off the event by establishing the situation in Egypt which is characterised by a poor economic performance and declining human rights. For instance, transparency in Egypt has fallen (ranked 130) by Transparency International. Smith stressed that the economic crisis in Egypt is intrinsically linked to human rights violations, poor governance and policies. Further, he said that corruption was fueled by the military. 

Furthermore, Mohamed Lofty emphasised the importance of speaking about human rights violations taking place in Egypt in the HRC as most human rights defenders and NGOs have been under travel bans for over 8 years. The human rights crisis has worsened, notably with the increase in the number of political prisons, more than three thousand disappearances, the death penalty and executions carried out by the state. He stated that the Egyptian government has been rebranding itself since 2021 by adopting a national strategy for Human Rights and hosting the COP-27, these have successfully diverted international attention away from realities on the ground. Indeed, more than three thousand political prisoners have been arrested in the last year and two-thirds of Egyptians live in poverty with no means to express their problems. In addition, people complaining about inflation and the rising cost of living on Twitter have been arrested on the grounds that they threaten national security and have still not been released. Thus, Egyptians have no way of impacting parliamentary outcomes, being heard in traditional media such as television or of speaking freely on social media. 

Eberhard Kienle, spoke on his research regarding the interaction of the current human rights crisis and Egypt’s poor economic situation. He argued that today in Egypt there would be no economic development if conducted under authoritarian rule. Further, he stated that without inclusive development and economic growth there would be an increase in human rights violations. Meaning, poverty will rise, access to essential services such as health care and education will be difficult as 50% of the GDP is allocated to debt repayments. He further pointed out that freedom of assembly, thought and expression were key components to fostoring a culture of innovation which could lead to economic development in Egypt. 

Furthermore, Sanaa Seif, gave a powerful statement about the solidarity with Alaa campaign. Her brother -Alaa Abd el-Fattah - was arrested in 2019 and has gone on a 400 day hunger strike. Sanaa pleaded for the international community to apply pressure on the Egyptian government not just for the release of her brother, but to enhance human rights overall in the country. She urged the international community not to wait for the economic and human rights crisis to explode before acting. Her speech ended by stating that herself and family are scared about the lack of stability in the region. 

Finally, the discussion ended with statements from Amnesty International, Deutsche Welle and the representative of Germany urging the international community to address the human rights violations taking place in Egypt at the Human Rights Council such as: the case of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the lack of due process for political prisoners and lack of freedom of speech.