[ad_1]
After a meeting between Western diplomats in Cairo and EIPR, one of Egypt’s leading human rights organizations, the Egyptian state security authorities arrested members of the organization, including its director. Switzerland was also represented at that meeting. However, the Swiss government has not officially protested the arrests so far.
Courageous use of diplomats
Working for human rights in Egypt requires courage. The Western diplomats also needed courage when on November 3 in Cairo they met the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights EIPR to talk about human rights. This is one of the leading human rights organizations in the country – and one of the few that is still working in Egypt despite the crackdown.
On 3 November in Cairo, the organization’s expert leaders informed representatives of Western countries about their work. She covered topics such as women’s and LGBT rights, criminal justice, health and environmental law. Hussein Baoumi, who is investigating human rights violations in Egypt on behalf of Amnesty International, said: “Two weeks later, the security authorities arrested Mohamed Basheer, the organization’s head of human resources, and interrogated him for hours, as it turned out later, for terrorism “.
Interrogation for membership of a terrorist organization
Shortly thereafter, two other EIPR leaders were arrested, including their director Gasser Abdel-Razek. All three were explicitly asked about meeting with Western diplomats, says Hussein Baoumi. The accusations against the three: belonging to a terrorist organization and the dissemination of false information.
Now the three human rights activists are imprisoned in the Torah prison complex in Cairo. Hundreds of political prisoners await trial in this prison. Amnesty’s Hussein Baoumi sees the blow against such an important organization as a clear message from the Egyptian authorities: “They don’t want to tolerate talks between human rights activists and international ambassadors.”
Switzerland did not protest publicly
Unlike some of the other states represented in Cairo at the meeting with the human rights organization EIPR, Switzerland has not yet publicly protested the arrests. At the request of the SRF, the FDFA announced: They found the arrests worrying and would take measures in coordination with the other states involved. “At the moment, the FDFA prefers to use diplomatic channels to obtain the release of detainees.”
Silent diplomacy is useless in the case of Egypt, says Hussein Baoumi, and experience proves it. Why: Nothing dodges Egypt more than being publicly criticized for human rights violations – that’s why the government is arresting activists. In some cases, public pressure has forced the authorities to overturn the sentences.
Hussein Baoumi then asks Switzerland to publicly criticize the arrests, as France, Germany and three Scandinavian countries have already done. Time is of the essence because, as the Egyptian human rights organization EIPR itself has documented: the Torah prison is known for its appalling conditions of detention, the spread of the crown and torture.
Source link
