Statement on recent BBC report Feb 2018

The BBC made a story recently on politically motivated enforced disappearances in Egypt after the military coup in 2013. The report featured a few cases one of them was a middle aged Egyptian woman who spoke on her daughter named Zubayda who was kidnapped and disappeared by the Egyptian state for over a year. Her testimony brought so much attention and created an uproar in the Egyptian social media sphere to the degree that the Egyptian state had to do something.

This isn't the first time local and international human rights organizations or international media spoke of the phenomenon. When the Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni was disappeared and then killed in Cairo the whole world spoke of the incident for a long time. Local and international human rights organizations have documented and spoke of 1,000s of enforced disappearance cases for the past 4 years.

However, this latest report seemed to disturb the Egyptian state so much to the degree that they eventually forced the young woman Zubaida who was disappeared for a year to come on Egyptian TV and deny that she was arrested and disappeared as the BBC report showed. It was a pathetic set up and it was clear that Zubayda had to do this under so much pressure. Her mother who appeared on the BBC was detained today, Feb 28th, 2018.

The Egyptian general prosecutor ordered lawyers and prosecutors to "Watch and report news and reports made by forces of evil". Pro-Sisi's social media accounts are roaming the internet denying that there is any torture, imprisonment, or enforced disappearances in Egypt.

While there is some spotlight on the situation in Egypt and while the issue is hot, we wanted to remind the international community and those who are confused because they can't get reliable information on what is going in Egypt that there are atrocities being committed in Egypt while the whole world is ignoring us.

We wanted to remind all of you that there was a military coup in July 2013 and that as a result of this tragedy thousands of Egyptians have paid a very high price for standing against injustice. We wanted to remind all of you that there are tens of thousands of unjustly imprisoned men, women, boys, girls, and elders whose only crime was speaking up. Ignoring what is going on in Egypt while you can say something helps the Egyptian state continue to get away with all of this.

We would like to salute all of the local Egyptian human rights organizations and human rights defenders who are working under so much pressure and risking their lives and future by continuing to do this work with very little support and recognition.

We would also like to thank the BBC team and those in HRW and other international organizations for utilizing their privileges and speaking about what is going on in Egypt from time to time.

Please check out our archives on the blog here as well as the following outlets for more related information and detailed reports on enforced disappearances in Egypt after the military coup:

The Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms

https://www.facebook.com/ecrfegypt/

https://ecrfeg.org/en/

Verità per Giulio Regeni

https://www.facebook.com/veritaegiustiziapergiulioregeni/

The Unheard Egypt team

https://www.facebook.com/Unheard.Egypt/

https://unheardegypt.blogspot.com/

https://twitter.com/UnheardEgypt

Egipat: islamofobija, opresija i političko zatvaranje

Original post in English:

Egypt: Islamophobia, political oppression

Translated to Bosnian by: Abdulah Nakas

Egipat: islamofobija, opresija i političko zatvaranje

Sara i Rana su dvije sestre u ranim dvadesetim godinama sa obrazovanjem medicinskih nauka, jedna je doktor medicine, a druga je farmaceut, njihov otac je ugledni univerzitetski profesor nauka. 

Prije dvije godine, oni su zaustavljeni dok su vozili u Aleksandriju na kontrolnom punktu samo zbog nikaba kojeg nose (egipatske sigurnosne snage zaustavljaju sve osobe i ispitaju sve muslimane na kojima su tragovi vjere), a zatim ove dvije sestre su, stavili u zatvor i optužili ih za "bombaški napad na ambasadu u Nigeru"bez ikakvog dokaza ili osnove za optužbe.

Njihov brat je aktivno učestvovao u kampanji da ih oslobodi, a potom je i on uhapšen i pritvoren zbog toga što je govorio o ovom slučaju. Danas je nakon dvije godine zatočeništva sestara (Sara) dobila je smrtnu kaznu i rečeno joj je da će uskoro biti pogubljena!

Postoji veoma duga istorija sekularnih sigurnosnih snaga koje su dovele do islamofobije i diskriminacije muslimana u Egiptu od vremena Nasera, Sadata i Mubaraka. Ovo se intenziviralo od vojnog udara u 2013. godini, kog podstiču i egipatski i zapadni mediji. Toliko Egipćana ciljano je bačeno u zatvor samo na osnovu njihovog izgleda.

Žene kao što su Sara i Rana ne dobijaju nikakvu podršku medija ili udruženja za ljudska prava da bi Egipatski tiranin Sisi oslobodio naše sestre iz zatvora.

 Citirajući Abdulrahmana, brata od 2 sestre, a za vas info, uhapšen je zbog podrške svojim sestarama u zatočeništvu, prijećeno mu je hapšenjem ako ne zaustavi svoje aktivnosti da ih oslobodi i nije obraćao pažnju na svoje riječi sve dok nije bio uhapšen i zatvoren! 

Abdulrahman je napisao na svojoj Facebook stranici prije hapšenja o stradanju svojih sestara: Sarah i Rana Abdullah Al-Sawy ... Uhapšeni su od 17-9-2015, putujući sa svojim ocem u Aleksandriju na kontrolnom punktu, i držane su skrivene u prostorijama državne bezbjednosti i vođene kao "nestalim" najprije su bile mučene 5 dana! 

Otišli su u Državno tužilaštvo i njihov otac je oslobođen nakon 5 dana! Oni su izmislili slučaj protiv Sare i Rane i optužili ih za bombaški napad na ambasadu Nigeru a zatim su prebačene na vojni sud u kampu Huckstep uz kontinuirano odlaganje suđenja! Sestre se nisu viđale, osim u tužilaštvu nakon 5 dana! Sara je čula zvuk vrištanja i plača, a policajci su joj rekli da su to zvukovi mačke! Kakav je ovo zločin? Dok se (Sestre) sastale na dan suđenja, ona (Sarah) je saznala da je to bio glas njene sestre Rane tokom njenog mučenja. Bila je mučena električnim šokovima. 

Ni ljudi nisu mogli nositi taj teret (mučenja), pa kako je onda sa slabašnim ženama? Intenzitet mučenja se povukao, a ruka joj je bila paralizovana i nije mogla da je pomjeri zbog tortute elektro šokova! Zatim, nakon zavođenja tužilaca, nedelju dana prije suđenja, Sara je osuđena na smrtnu kaznu.

Sara and Rana: Islamophobia, profiling, and political imprisonment

Sara ( 26 years old) and Rana ( 24 years old) are two sisters in their early twenties with medical and scientific degrees, one of them is a doctor and the other is a pharmacist, their father is a respected university professor of science.

Two years ago, they were stopped while driving to Alexandria in a security checkpoint only because of the Niqab they wear (Egyptian security forces question all religious Muslim looking individuals for nothing but the way they look like) and then the two sisters where kidnapped and disappeared.

They appeared in detention, they put them in prison and accused them of "Bombing the embassy of Niger!!" a completely random case with no evidence or basis to the accusation.

Their brother was actively campaigning to release them and then eventually was arrested and put in prison too for speaking about the case.

Today after 2 years of detention and out of nowhere one of the sisters (Sara) was given a death sentence and was told that she will be executed soon!

There is a very long history of secular security forces led attitudes of Islamophobia and discrimination against religious looking Muslims in Egypt since the times of Nasser, Sadat, and Mubarak.

This targeting intensified since the military coup in 2013 and was encouraged by the Egyptian and western media alike. So many Egyptians are targeted and thrown into prison only on the basis of their looks.

Women like Sara and Rana don't get any media or human rights support because of how they look like and this is very unfair. Please speak about their case!

American daughter campaigns to free her Egyptian parents Ola and Hosam

We wanted to highlight this case to provide more evidence on the manner in which the current military controlled government in Egypt treats people whether Egyptian or not and whether they have any political activity or not. The case is about a middle aged couple who have been detained and imprisoned for no reason but mere profiling by the Egyptian military coup forces. 

All of the text below is taken from the campaigns website:

http://www.freeolaandhosam.org/

About Ola and Hosam: 

Ola is a 55 year old grandmother of Qatari nationality and Egyptian origin. She is born and raised in Qatar and completed her bachelor’s degree in biology from Qatar University. She completed her masters at the University of Texas-Austin in the United States. Ola is the daughter of well renowned Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi and her late mother Isaad Abdelgawad Alharam. Ola has no political affiliations.

Hosam is a 58 year old grandfather of Egyptian nationality. He grew up in the US. Following completion of civil engineering at the University of Assiut in Egypt he moved back to the US where he and Ola commenced their graduate degrees at the University of Texas-Austin.

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At the end of their studies, Hosam and Ola, with their children, moved back to Egypt where he started his own construction business known for its quality work and integrity. His company continues to operate today without disruption.

Hosam was politically active in Egypt after the 2011 revolution in the Al-Wasat party, a legally registered political party. After the 2013 military coup, just like thousands of political activists were detained, he was arbitrarily detained, never charged, and eventually released by the judicial system in 2016. Since 2013 he has had no political activity.

They have 3 children, Ahmad, Aayah and Toqa, two of which are American nationals and grandparents to 3 grandchildren also of American nationality. Hosam has two siblings who are American.

Ola and Hosam’s children reside in the United States and both of them are green card holders. Ola and Hosam have always been conscientious, moral, and law-abiding citizens who value freedom, liberty and justice.

The legal part of the case:

Ola and Hosam have a legal team of lawyers in Egypt selected and hired by the family. But they have not been allowed to access their legal counsel. The lawyers have been denied visitation permits.

Under international law everyone must have equal and effective access to legal counsel to allow for remedy for violation of their rights. Not only have Ola and Hosam faced unfair and politically motivated detention they have not been provided with the reasons for that arrest or being given the opportunity to challenge this ongoing detention.

International laws guarantee individuals their right to life shall be protected by law and that nobody shall be arbitrarily deprived of life.

When Ola and Hosam were taken into custody they were denied the following rights:

1. They were not and still have not been formally informed of the nature and substance of the allegations against him;
2. They were not provided with an arrest warrant or search warrant and the time of arrest.
3. They were held in incommunicado detention for two days and the conditions of that period are unknown.
4. They have not been provided with access or privileged communication with their legal representation;
5. They have not been provided with access to their family;
6. They have been subjected to solitary confinement that is argued amounts to torture;
7. They have not been permitted to challenge the accusations or call evidence of their own.

Disability as a price for #Jan25

The following are two examples we came across for ordinary young Egyptians who lost the ability to walk in their early twenties as a result of being injured in a peaceful protest against the military leadership after the military coup in 2013. 

As always, we try our best to highlight the voices and perspectives which don't get the same attention in the English and western media which likes to paint a black and white image for what has gone and is going on in Egypt. These two had very normal lives like any other university student in Egypt or the world until they decided to stand up for the truth. The price they paid for this was rather expensive.  

Asmaa Gamal who is pictured above is a young Egyptian woman from Alexandria who lost her leg for the revolution exactly 4 years ago, in November 2013. When he was shooting her, the police office said: "Now you won't be able to march in any protests any more".

Asmaa was shot by an Egyptian police officer during a protest in her leg and went through an amputation operation to remove her leg right after that. 

Asmaa walks on one leg since 2013 but since then she has also continued to be a huge source of hope, inspiration, and faith for so many in her circle as well as for thousands of social media followers. 

                           

Mohammad Yousry a young Egyptian man from Alexandria was badly injured by the Egyptian security forces during the protests which took place as a response to the military coup shortly after it took place in July 2013.

He was paralyzed as a result and lost the ability to move. Like many revolutionary youth who were injured during the revolution, he is now on a wheel chair.

When you feel that your loss was big, when you feel despair and disappointed, remember the heroes who fought for a better future for Egypt!

Remember their sacrifices and the very high price they paid for the revolution and for standing up for justice, freedom, and truth. 

Reem Qutb: From Hollywood to women prison in Egypt

A story of a young Egyptian woman from Hollywood to Qanater Women prison in Egypt.

English, Español, Arabic available!

من هوليود إلى القناطر ..

للناس اللي ماتعرفش قصة ريم قطب

ريم مواطنة مصرية بتدرس إخراج في هوليود بأمريكا، كانت جاية مصر يوم 26 ديسمبر 2016 تزور أهلها، فوجئت بأمن المطار بيوقفها عشان معاها كاميرا تصوير متطورة من اللي بتستخدمهم في شغلها ..

ماكتفوش بالتحقيق معاها أو مصادرة الكاميرا، لا اعتقلوها من المطار، بتهمة انها شغالة في الجزيرة "وتم إعدادها وتأهيلها من خلال دورات تدريبية على استخدام طائرات التجسس والتصوير، لاستخدامها فى تصوير الأحداث وإرسالها للقناة فى الدوحة" على حسب وصف الداخلية.

طائرة التجسس اللي بيقولوا عليها دي مجرد كاميرا متطورة بتتباع في كل المواقع، والمضحك انهم متهمين ريم انها هتستخدمها في "إعداد تقارير مصورة تسيء لمصر قبل 25 يناير" وكأنه تصوير مظاهرة محتاج لكاميرات متطورة أصلا، أو إنه الجواسيس بينزلوا بمعداتهم عن طريق المطار بمنتهى الذوق عادي جدا!

ريم دلوقتي اترحلت سجن القناطر بعد شهور في قسم القطامية، وبتتحاكم على 3 تهم (التمويل من جهة أجنبية، انتماء، إشاعة أخبار كاذبة) ..

واحدة من آلاف قصص الظلم والغباء اللي بيحصل في مصر وكتير مايعرفهوش ..

Reem Qutb is a young Egyptian woman who's studying film in California, US. She traveled to Egypt on vacation in December 2016.

Upon arriving to Cairo's international airport, she was arrested for possession of a camera! The security forces accused her of receiving 'foreign funds' and using highly advanced equipments to ruin Egypt's reputation in the international community, an accusation they have ready for any Egyptian journalist.

Reem is now in the infamous Al Qanater women prison. Her list of accusations is: Belonging to a terrorist organization, receiving foreign funds, and spreading false news about Egypt.

Reem wasn't a journalist to begin, she only traveled to Egypt as an Egyptian with a camera. Of course there isn't a single one mention to her case in any non-Arabic media outlets. 

Español

Reem Qutb es una joven egipcia que estudia cine en California, Estados Unidos. Ella viajó a #Egipto de vacaciones en Diciembre del 2016.
Al llegar al aeropuerto internacional de #El_Cairo, fue detenida ¡por posesión de una cámara! Las fuerzas de seguridad la acusaron de recibir fondos extranjeros y del uso de equipo avanzado para arruinar la reputación de Egipto ante la comunidad internacional; acusación que tienen preparada para cualquier periodista egipcio.
Reem ahora está ahora en la infame prisión de mujeres de #Al_Qanater. Su lista de acusaciones es:
- Pertenecer a una organización terrorista
- Recibir fondos del exterior
- Difusión de noticias falsas sobre Egipto.
Para empezar, Reem, sólo viajó a Egipto con una cámara. No hay ni una sola mención de su caso en ningún medio de difusión no árabes.

Who pays the price of political imprisonment?

Like everywhere else in the world, the political prisoner isn't the only victim of the trial of imprisonment, his family and loved ones are also victims and they live their pains and different other types of pains.

Some people probably heard about the Egyptian researcher Ismail Al Iskandarani who's been in prison since last year and is targeted mainly for his research and work about Sinai and the people of Sinai in Egypt, something the tyrannical military didn't like. Ismail's work was widely respected and published locally and internationally, and as a result caused his arrest upon returning to Egypt at one of the airport. He's been experiencing indefinite detention since late 2015 until today. 

But this is his wife Kadeega Gaffar, a prominent researcher and writer herself whose work And contribution are very respected and recognized locally and internationally.

You can see the toll of the hardship on her face and her soul.

In late April 2016 it was the first time her husband Ismail appeared to a court since they stopped him at the airport in November 2015. ‪

For more information about Ismail you can check out what we wrote about him here:

http://www.unheardegypt.com/2016/04/Sinai-Egypt-violations.html

And also follow the campaign dedicated to his release on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/FreeAlexandrani/

Posted originally on our Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/Unheard.Egypt/posts/1303775592985024

Zainab Al Mahdy: When trauma and revolution kill

This story resonates so much with whatever happened to the Egyptian movement.
I see myself so much in her. I see reflections of my past and present in her.

Her name was Zainab Al Mahdy. Her angelic face looks like so many Egyptian and Muslim young women from the Arab world, but not the ones you see in the media.

Her friends said that she suffered from sever depression and fear due to working for the years post the revolution on female political prisoners cases and reading horrific accounts on what's taking place in the Egyptian prisons specifically the torture, sexual assault, and rape cases against Egyptian female prisoners. 

Zainab Al Mahdy, a young Egyptian revolutionary was found hanged in her apartment in Cairo today (November 2014). She is a survivor of the Rabaa massacre and had done a great effort in establishing all the grassroots work around the post-coup female political detainees that we benefited from. I just found out that Zainab and I have so many mutual friends in common and her death caused quite a stir in the movement here. 

Zainab who looks like many of us went from being a socially and politically active organizer from before 2011 to being a neglected/isolated suicidal depression and PTSD victim in post-coup Egypt, dealing with spiritual/mental confusion and disillusionment on her own, and with very little hope left for bettering this situation, and this is where she ended. 

That's what militarism has been doing here in Egypt in addition to killing and imprisoning, this is not the first case but it's quite shocking given how ordinary Zainab was.

#Jan25 youth committing suicide in apartments and prison cells or living as Zombies half alive half dead as the 4th anniversary approaches is quite a transition now. 

This is her last message to one of our friends before she deactivated her Facebook and stopped doing the work she was doing:

"I'm tired. I'm wasted. There is no use in all of that. It's like we are digging in water. We won't get anybody's right through any laws here, but we are doing what we ought to do. Just saying a word of justice to save our faces and not spit on it when we look at the mirror. 
There is no justice here. And I'm fully aware of this. There is no victory coming.
But we are just fooling ourselves to continue to live"."

Ordinary youth like myself are being killed by police violence in 2010.
Ordinary youth like myself are being imprisoned in 2011. 
Ordinary youth like myself are being killed, imprisoned, and exiled in 2013.
Ordinary youth like myself are committing suicide in 2014. 

Zainab’s end was both a slap on the face and a wake up call. Zainab was too sensitive, innocent, and fragile for all what she had to deal with at this age, at this historical moment, and in this society, where young women and women in general have to fight to survive without expecting too much support. This is happening on a large scale to many young people and young women her age in countries like ours. 

The revolution-or what used to be so- has killed and continues to kill its own children in so many ways besides the police and army's bullets. Things like depression, PTSD, lose of hope, extreme unbearable psychological and emotional stress, and other issues are among the ways young Egyptians are losing their lives-literally. 

Unfortunately, there's very little that has been done to deal with the consequences of the movement on an emotional and psychological levels. People in Egypt either don't have awareness or knowledge of these things, or if they do know, they don't give it enough consideration. 

At the same time, I also believe people in Egypt don't have the privilege or the choice to be taking care of their inner well-being considering the overwhelming amount of tragic events they have to continue to deal with on a regular basis.

5 years is quite a long time, and these 5 years were especially long.

So many youth including myself went through dramatic spiritual and intellectual shifts, and they don't feel very supported or encouraged. I think people need to stick to one another very firmly and stop being judgmental about how their friends and family members might be going through. 

Zainab's story needs to be read and shared. 


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Zainab giving a lecture in 2012 about the definition of "Theocracy" and "The Theocratic State" as a part of a political educational initiative inside Sultan Hassan mosque, Cairo. May her soul rest in peace.

Pictures: Egyptian political prisoners and their families!

Families of political prisoners in Egypt communicate with their loved ones through sign language because they can't get any closer. Look at the pictures and try to put yourself in their place. 

"Your mother is sending her greetings to you".

International Women Day: Egyptian women under military rule

International Women Day: Egyptian women under military rule in 2016

Prepared by: The Unheard Egypt team

Egyptian women: The female political prisoners and victims of the military:

Egyptian women and girls have been at the forefront of the movement in Egypt

On International Women Day 56 Egyptian women and girl are still in prisons for crimes they haven't committed. The U.S government and the EU governments continue to remain silent about all these violations. In facts, the numbers and realities show that they support and collaborate with this regime in its oppression against women. 

For the most part, there's been very little on the politically motivated violations of human rights against females in Egypt especially after the military coup. Only a few cases received some attention but for the most part there has been a continuous neglect for the reality of this crisis from international organizations and international media. 

From Twitter: Look at the hashtags: #IWD #IWD2016 #Egypt

On international women day learn about the Egyptian women imprisoned by the U.S funded military #Egypt #IWD2016 pic.twitter.com/1QXTElQ8Cv

— S E Egypt (@Agenda_kid) March 7, 2016

As the world celebrates #IWD, women in #Egypt are still fighting for freedom and a decent life. #IWD2016 pic.twitter.com/iT4Ztv5e98

— Mariam Taher (@mariaamtaher) March 8, 2016

#WomensDay #اضراب_العقرب#dyingtolive pic.twitter.com/1of7BTaJ7r The Egyptian woman who's husband, brother, father, or son is imprisoned #Egypt

— S E Egypt (@Agenda_kid) March 8, 2016 

The U.S funded security forces on campuses in Egypt and how they treat women. #Egypt #InternationalWomensDay #Jan25 pic.twitter.com/4yA2rgmt9C

— S E Egypt (@Agenda_kid) March 8, 2016

First step to attain women's full rights is to get rid of dictators&corrupt regimes. #Egypt #IWD #IWD2016 pic.twitter.com/uU37may7Ze

— Mariam Taher (@mariaamtaher) March 8, 2016

Heba Qashta, the first female to receive a military sentence in a military trial who's been in prison since 2014 is an example for young Egyptian women who're arrested after the military coup, and yet don't receive as much media attention or humanitarian support, mostly because of their demographics. Being low income, from outside of the center of attention (Cairo), and not looking very western are among the reasons the bias takes place. 

Heba's family and friends have been trying to raise awareness about her case on their own, where they are in the Nile Delta, and it's a very admirable effort. ‪

Heba is born in 1994 and she was involved in her own campus in a governorate outside of Cairo, these are places the western media and international human rights organizations have continuously avoided and ignored. 

For more information about Egyptian women in prison you can check out these pages:

Save Egyptian women and children!!

‪https://www.facebook.com/SWACO-604265956352636/‬

Egypt Queens: Imprisoned 

https://www.facebook.com/Egypts.Queens/

Bent El Thawra (The daughter of the revolution) 

https://www.facebook.com/bent.elthwra/

The Unheard Egypt

https://www.facebook.com/Unheard.Egypt/

Egyptian women who're facing military trials

*Egyptian women: The family of the political prisoner:

"My soul is imprisoned with you!" is the slogan of the Egyptian woman who's a mother, a wife, a daughter, or a sister of a political prisoner in Egypt. The families of political prisoners are going through sever hardships and are getting their share of unjust inhumane treatment by the security forces, in addition to the emotional, psychological, and financial burdens they have to go through. 

Wives and family members of political prisoners camp over night in order to be able to see their loved ones the next day!

More details on Al Aqrab prison, and the hunger strike that's ongoing there:

www.middleeasteye.net/news/inmates-egypt-s-aqrab-prison-resort-hunger-strikes-248720656

An Egyptian woman protests sentencing her journalist fiance for life right before their wedding, in her never worn before wedding dress:

http://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/society/2016/3/3/egyptian-bride-demands-the-release-of-her-fianc%C3%A9

On March 8th, 2016 a group of Egyptian women protested in several parts of the country and made a strong statement against the imprisonment and forced disappearance of their family members and friends, who are also women and girls.

These events don't get any media coverage outside of Egypt because of the demographics of the women who are participating and organizing. Unfortunately, they are not prominent secular activists from Cairo. Many of them traveled for hours to participate, many of them are regular people.

Protesting is a very courageous act in Egypt right now and has a very high price, especially for women and girls.

Please help share this, and be their voice!