18 Apr 18 | Egypt, News and features
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Index on Censorship’s CEO Jodie Ginsberg discusses change in Egypt with activists Mohamed Sameh and Ahmad Abdullah (Photo credit: Alessio Perrone)
The opening line of Rousseau’s treatise The Social Contract reads: “Man is born free, and he is everywhere in chains. Those who think themselves masters of others are indeed greater slaves than they.”
This was one of several books to feature in a book club started by Ahmad Abdallah during his four and a half months spent in prison. The co-founder of the Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award nominee Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) was arrested without a warrant on 25 April 2016 for alleged terrorist activity.
Awoken by masked members of the special forces prodding him with a machine gun he first thought it was a prank, he recalled at an event discussing human rights in Egypt on 17 April 2018 at Doughty Street Chambers.
The worst of the worst
“I thought it was someone joking, maybe my mum, maybe my father,” he said. “But I got up and then I was afraid for my family. I was pushed by the machine gun once again and my parents were at the side of the door. Then I ask the chief of this group: ‘do you have a warrant for me?’ They showed me nothing, they searched my house and then I was detained.” They said, “what will you do if we don’t have one?”
Index on Censorship CEO Jodie Ginsberg condemned the Egyptian authorities for the misuse of terror legislation to persecute peaceful critics like Abdallah and his colleague Mohamed Sameh.
Speaking to the room, Abdallah told of his continued attempts to challenge repressive ideas and the Egyptian government even while in prison.
He was shocked to be branded a terrorist. “I had nothing to do with these groups. I was jailed with some of our brotherhood and even some of ISIS. I was very afraid at this time. They are the worst of the worst,” he said.
His answer to this fear was books. “I started a book club because I was afraid of the ISIS guys,” he said.
“I was really afraid so I said: ‘OK, why don’t we start a reading club. We have plenty of time, we are in jail! You can bring your books and I can bring my books, maybe we can be more enlightened. I got them books: Rousseau’s Social Contract, literature books, Kafka, philosophy books, Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm and as one month elapsed, the ISIS guy was isolated. Everyone was against his ideas and my ideas were spreading amongst other prisoners,” the human rights defender continued.
Attendees of the seminar in group solidarity for Egypt and Shawkan, the persecuted photojournalist #mypicforshawkan (photo credit: Alessio Perrone)
As a result, Abdallah was put in solitary confinement where he was in complete darkness and without food for two days.
“Egyptians are not low rank humans. We need our fundamental rights like everyone else”
Human rights activists and journalists are systematically targeted in Egypt and, like Ahmad Abdallah, called terrorists. Jeremy Dear, representing the International Federation of Journalists at the event, informed attendees 21 journalists have been killed in the country since 2011. More than 20 have been imprisoned, half of which without charge.
Forced disappearances and media harassment
The precise numbers of those targeted are unknown, even to the ECRF. The organisation was set up in 2013 after someone came to Abdallah and Mohamed Lotfy (executive director and co-founder of ECRF) saying his friend had gone missing. This led them to question whether the disappearance was “a single event or a pattern.”
The organisation, nominated for an Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award, has since worked on cases involving forced disappearance and the prevention of censorship. The government has made it increasingly difficult for them to conduct their work and their offices were raided twice last year. Their website was also blocked.
The group continues to work towards improved human rights despite the dangers. Ahmad said it is their passion and desire for change that keeps them going. “Egyptians are not low rank humans. We need our fundamental rights like everyone else,” he added.
Sameh continued: “Why do we continue? Much sacrifice has already been done. We really do love Egyptians, we really love humans, we really love our families and we think there is a better way of living, of respecting each other. The reason we keep going is because we think we can change that. I think there is serious hope that we can achieve something. We are showing these people are not left behind, that they are not forgotten.”
Peter Greste, an Al Jhazeera journalist who was imprisoned in Egypt, sent a video message of support Abdallah and Sameh. He told of how in 2014 they had been convicted under terrorist charges. Greste said: “The charges were related to the work we had been doing for Al Jhazeera English… At the time, I struggled to make sense of what they were going through, the gap which was between what they were accused of doing, joining a terrorist group, and what they were actually doing… I couldn’t understand how anyone could draw the conclusions that the prosecution… came to.”
The seminar, “Freedom of Expression and the Protection of Human Rights in Egypt,” concluded hopefully. Ginsberg from Index on Censorship posited several ways those in the room could help. This included a suggestion that media organisations each take a case and closely follow it.
She said: “I know sometimes we think we are sitting here talking and nobody’s paying attention, but actually these kind of public solidarity actions do matter. They matter to the individuals who are in detention and they also matter and bother the authorities.”
Jeremy Dear agreed, emphasising the importance of support from societies with media freedom. He said: “There’s no doubt that in the past few years the space for dissenting and independent voices has shrunk in Egypt. We have a duty to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to create the space for them and help them create their own space to raise their own voices.”[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ style=”load-more” items_per_page=”4″ element_width=”6″ btn_shape=”square” btn_align=”center” grid_id=”vc_gid:1524045621403-609ab883-1e90-3″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
26 Mar 18 | Awards, Fellowship, Fellowship 2018, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/7kseuuaARZQ”][vc_column_text]The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) is one of the only human rights organisations still operating in a country increasingly hostile to dissent and in which countless civil society organisations have been forced to close. The commission coordinates campaigns for those who have been tortured or disappeared, as well as highlighting numerous incidences of human rights abuses.
“Our main goal to achieve in the future, which is stated in our mission, is to empower individuals to acquire their rights, promote a culture of democracy in the Egyptian society, and expand human rights to every home in Egypt,” ECRF told Index. “But in the end of the day we decide to carry out with our work regardless of the challenges because if everyone is silenced this would be the ultimate gain to the current regime, and the ultimate victory to Egypt’s state of fear.”
Between August 2016 and August 2017, the ECRF documented 378 cases of enforced disappearance many of whom were students. The cases of the disappeared are not reported in the heavily censored local media, and the commission’s website and social media sites are some of the few places their plight can be publicised, reported and mapped.
The highly restrictive and repressive environment Egypt has made it increasingly difficult for the organisation to do its work.
Their website was blocked in September in government measures designed to close the organisation down, but the ECRF managed to create a parallel website to maintain their presence and engagement with the public. Twice last year ECRF’s headquarters was raided by security forces with two staff members being arrested. As a result, the staff need help dealing with the risks of being arrested, as well as dealing with the interrogation process and knowing how to protect information.
Over the past 12 months the ECRF has been fighting censorship and defending human rights in two ways. The first is through the criminal justice programme which tackles issues of torture and enforced disappearances in Egypt. It has been particularly focused on the arrest of activists who took part in demonstrations against Egypt’s agreement to cede two uninhabited islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia.
Secondly, ECRF has worked on challenging censorship imposed on student associations in universities. Recently the commission launched an online platform to bring students and practitioners online to discuss a student charter related to freedom of association in universities. The platform was heavily criticised by the ministry of higher education in Cairo, which led to further condemnation of it in official media outlets.
As a direct result of the work ECRF has carried out over the past year, there has been an increased awareness of enforced disappearances, media censorship, the scale of torture, and violations of freedom of association and expression in media and universities.
“ECRF is honored to be shortlisted alongside three peer organizations/campaigns also facing severe human rights challenges in their own countries,” said ECRF. “The international recognition of ECRF’s efforts in campaigning for fundamental freedoms emboldens its members and staff in their resilience to strive for human rights and democracy in Egypt. Regardless of the winner, progress towards equal rights in Russia means progress in Egypt and progress in Kenya means progress in Iran and vice-versa.”
See the full shortlist for Index on Censorship’s Freedom of Expression Awards 2018 here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content” equal_height=”yes” el_class=”text_white” css=”.vc_custom_1490258749071{background-color: #cb3000 !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_custom_heading text=”Support the Index Fellowship.” font_container=”tag:p|font_size:28|text_align:center” use_theme_fonts=”yes” link=”url:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.indexoncensorship.org%2Fsupport-the-freedom-of-expression-awards%2F|||”][vc_column_text]
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24 Nov 17 | Campaigns -- Featured, Egypt, Middle East and North Africa
To: His Excellency Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Re: Call for action to condemn the Egyptian authorities’ crackdown on freedom of expression
Mr High Commissioner,
We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to express our great concern about the current human rights situation in Egypt.
Four years ago today, Egypt’s anti-protest law was signed, restricting the right to free assembly to such an extent that the mere planning of a demonstration has been criminalised.
This law remains one element of a repressive legislative arsenal denying Egyptian citizens their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association, and peaceful assembly, under the pretext of maintaining stability and countering terrorism.
The Media and Press Law of 26 December 2016 constitutes an unprecedented attack on press freedom, the NGO Law has made it impossible for civil society to operate safely, while the Anti-Terrorism Law has been used to impose travel bans and asset freezes on journalists, human rights defenders and other peaceful activists.
These laws act as powerful tools in the hands of the security forces, which carry out the most severe violations of human rights on a daily basis, and in a climate of impunity: summary executions, abductions followed by secret detentions and enforced disappearances, torture, rape, arbitrary arrests, unfair trials before civilian and military courts leading to heavy prison sentences, including the death penalty.
The authorities have been resorting to these severe violations in a systematic fashion in order to instil fear within society and to silence any form of dissent by discouraging individuals from speaking out. Those targeted include students, professors, trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, political opponents and other peaceful activists.
In addition to these attacks against the liberty and physical integrity of its citizens, the Egyptian authorities have imposed widespread online censorship and surveillance. Since May 2017, more than 400 websites – including those of news outlets and human rights organisations – have been blocked in an attempt to suppress reports which contradict the state narrative on the human rights situation in the country.
We believe this repressive apparatus, established under the pretext of ensuring stability, is not only counter-productive, but its very existence permits abuses that go against the human rights principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the latter of which Egypt has been party to since 1982.
Mr High Commissioner, as we near the 70th anniversary of the UDHR, the Egyptian authorities must be reminded of their commitment to ensure “freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want”. Such freedoms have been qualified as the “highest aspiration of the common people” by the UDHR. The Egyptian people are no exception, and they deserve your strongest support and attention.
Mr High Commissioner, your mandate gives you the authority to engage in a dialogue with all governments to secure respect for all human rights. We believe your support is crucial to ensure that the people of Egypt enjoy “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” proclaimed 70 years ago.
Given the extreme gravity of these human rights abuses, we urge you to publicly and strongly condemn these violations of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as the attacks on the liberty and integrity of Egyptian citizens. We kindly request that you call upon the authorities to put an end to these violations and establish the necessary prevention and accountability mechanisms to avoid their repetition.
The undersigned organisations:
Adalah Center for Rights & Freedoms
Alkarama Foundation
ARTICLE 19
Committee for Justice
Egyptian Coordination of Rights and Freedoms
El Nadim Center against Torture and Violence
EuroMed Rights
Front Line Defenders
Index on Censorship
PEN International
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
22 Nov 17 | Mapping Media Freedom, media freedom featured, News and features
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”96621″ img_size=”full” add_caption=”yes” alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]Governments have arsenals of weapons to censor information. The worst are well-known: detention, torture, extra-judicial (and sometimes court-sanctioned) killing, surveillance. Though governments also have access to less forceful but still insidious tools, such as website blocking and internet filtering, these aim to cut off the flow of information and advocacy at the source.
Another form of censorship gets limited attention, a kind of quiet repression: the travel ban. It’s the Trump travel ban in reverse, where governments exit rather than entry. They do so not merely to punish the banned but to deny the spread of information about the state of repression and corruption in their home countries.
In recent days I have heard from people around the world subject to such bans. Khadija Ismayilova, a journalist in Azerbaijan who has exposed high-level corruption, has suffered for years under fraudulent legal cases brought against her, including time in prison. The government now forbids her to travel. As she put it last year: “Corrupt officials of Azerbaijan, predators of the press and human rights are still allowed in high-level forums in democracies and able to speak about values, which they destroy in their own – our own country.”
Zunar, a well-known cartoonist who has long pilloried the leaders of Malaysia, has been subject to a travel ban since mid-2016, while also facing sedition charges for the content of his sharply dissenting art. While awaiting his preposterous trial, which could leave him with years in prison, he has missed exhibitions, public forums, high-profile talks. As he told me, the ban directly undermines his ability to network, share ideas, and build financial support.
Ismayilova and Zunar are not alone. India has imposed a travel ban against the coordinator of a civil society coalition in Kashmir because of “anti-India activities” which, the government alleges, are meant to cause youth to resort to violent protest. Turkey has aggressively confiscated passports to target journalists, academics, civil servants, and school teachers. China has barred a women’s human rights defender from travelling outside even her town in Tibet.
Bahrain confiscated the passport of one activist who, upon her return from a Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, was accused by officials of “false statements” about Bahrain. The United Arab Emirates has held Ahmed Mansoor, a leading human rights defender and blogger and familiar to those in the UN human rights system, incommunicado for nearly this entire year. The government banned him from travelling for years based on his advocacy for democratic reform.
Few governments, apart from Turkey perhaps, can compete with Egypt on this front. I asked Gamal Eid, subject to a travel ban by Egyptian authorities since February of 2016, how it affects his life and work? Eid, one of the leading human rights defenders in the Middle East and the founder of the Arab Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), has seen his organisation’s website shut down, public libraries he founded (with human rights award money!) forcibly closed, and his bank accounts frozen.
While Eid is recognised internationally for his commitment to human rights, the government accuses him of raising philanthropic funds for ANHRI “to implement a foreign agenda aimed at inciting public opinion against State institutions and promoting allegations in international forums that freedoms are restricted by the country’s legislative system.” He has been separated from his wife and daughter, who fled Egypt in the face of government threats. The ban forced him to close legal offices in Morocco and Tunisia, where he provided defence to journalists, and he lost his green card to work in the United States. He recognises that his situation does not involve the kind of torture or detention that characterises Egypt’s approach to opposition, but the ban has ruined his ability to make a living and to support human rights not just in Egypt but across the Arab world.
Eid is not alone in his country. He estimates that Egypt has placed approximately 500 of its nationals under a travel ban, about sixteen of whom are human rights activists. One of them is the prominent researcher and activist, Hossam Bahgat, founder of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, who faces accusations similar to Eid’s.
Travel bans signal weakness, limited confidence in the power of a government’s arguments, perhaps even a public but quiet concession that, “yes indeed, we repress truth in our country”. While not nearly as painful as the physical weapons of censorship, they undermine global knowledge and debate. They exclude activists and journalists from the kind of training that makes their work more rigorous, accurate, and effective. They also interfere in a direct way with every person’s human right to “leave any country, including one’s own,” unless necessary for reasons such as national security or public order.
All governments that care about human rights should not allow the travel ban to continue to be the silent weapon of censorship – and not just for the sake of Khadija, Zunar, and Gamal, but for those who benefit from their critical voices and work. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Mapping Media Freedom” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/4″][vc_icon icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-times-circle” color=”black” background_style=”rounded” size=”xl” align=”right”][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”3/4″][vc_column_text]
Since 24 May 2014, Mapping Media Freedom’s team of correspondents and partners have recorded and verified 3,597 violations against journalists and media outlets.
Index campaigns to protect journalists and media freedom. You can help us by submitting reports to Mapping Media Freedom.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Don’t lose your voice. Stay informed.” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_separator color=”black”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Index on Censorship is a nonprofit that campaigns for and defends free expression worldwide. We publish work by censored writers and artists, promote debate, and monitor threats to free speech. We believe that everyone should be free to express themselves without fear of harm or persecution – no matter what their views.
Join our mailing list (or follow us on Twitter or Facebook) and we’ll send you our weekly newsletter about our activities defending free speech. We won’t share your personal information with anyone outside Index.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][gravityform id=”20″ title=”false” description=”false” ajax=”false”][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][vc_separator color=”black”][/vc_column][/vc_row]
