EIPR/ISHR joint statement at HRC52
On 15 March 2023, together with ISHR, Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) delivered a joint statement on the situation of human rights defenders in Egypt. The statement was supported by over a dozen organisations from across the world.
On 15 March 2023 during the interactive dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, together with ISHR, Hossam Bahgat of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) delivered a joint statement on the situation of human rights defenders in Egypt. The statement was supported by over a dozen organisations from across the world. Read and watch the statement below:
Download as PDFWe commend the Special Rapporteur for choosing ‘resilience’ as the theme of her report, and for highlighting how the simple survival of defenders is sometimes itself a form of success.
In Egypt, the human rights movement has survived for nearly 40 years under constant harassment, restrictions, criminalisation, and even imprisonment. As the High Commissioner noted in his annual update, only last week four defenders from the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms received harsh prison sentences, under baseless terrorism charges, following an unfair trial by an emergency court that does not allow appeal.
Despite repeated calls by the Special Rapporteur, prominent rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer remains in prison, four years after his arrest inside a courtroom while representing another political prisoner.
Almost every independent Egyptian rights defender, including myself, remains under indefinite travel ban and asset freezes for over seven years now, under investigations in the infamous Case 173.
Survival could indeed be a form of success, but our survival alone is of little consolation to the countless victims of systemic abuses in Egypt. They need this Council to live up to its mission and address the situation in Egypt as it faces its worst-ever human rights crisis.
We join the High Commissioner in calling on the Egyptian government to immediately release all political prisoners and lift restrictions on civic space.
Signatories:
Local authorities in Geneva have announced their intention to place a permanent public monument paying tribute to persecuted human rights defenders, including the late Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli. The move follows a civil society petition to have a bust made in honour of Cao placed in a prominent location in the city.
On Tuesday 16 April 2024, ISHR delivered to both Geneva’s Administrative Council and its legislative counterpart, the Municipal Council, physical copies of the more than 1000 signatures collected in support of a memorial honouring Chinese human rights defender Cao Shunli.
13 April 2024 marked one year since the Chinese authorities arbitrarily detained prominent human rights lawyer Yu Wensheng and his wife, woman defender Xu Yan. As their health steadily deteriorates, 30 rights groups and the European Union have renewed their call for their prompt release.
