Alaa Abdel-Fattah’s life at serious risk: demand Egypt to immediately release him now!  

Alaa Abdel-Fattah is a British-Egyptian writer, human rights defender and software developer. He was one of the leading voices and campaigners during the 25 January 2011 revolution. He has been published in numerous outlets; is well-known for founding a prominent Arabic blog aggregator; and has been involved in a number of citizen journalism initiatives. His book, You Have Not Yet Been Defeated, which compiles some of his deeply influential writings, has received widespread acclaim. 

Alaa has been arrested under every Egyptian head of state during his lifetime. He is currently in detention following an unfair trial on spurious charges that relate to his human rights advocacy. On 2 April 2022, Alaa embarked on an open-ended hunger strike as a last bid for freedom. After more than 200 days of partial hunger strike, Alaa announced that, as of 1 November 2022, he is stopping his previous 100-calorie intake and moving to a full hunger strike. Alaa also decided that on 6 November 2022, coinciding with the beginning of COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, he will start a water strike. This means that if he is not released, Alaa will die before the end of COP27. 

“If one wished for death then a hunger strike would not be a struggle. If one were only holding onto life out of instinct then what’s the point of a strike? If you’re postponing death only out of shame at your mother’s tears then you’re decreasing the chances of victory….I’ve taken a decision to escalate at a time I see as fitting for my struggle for my freedom and the freedom of prisoners of a conflict they’ve no part in, or they’re trying to exit from; for the victims of a regime that’s unable to handle its crises except with oppression, unable to reproduce itself except through incarceration” - Alaa wrote in a letter to his family announcing escalation of his hunger strike. 

On 31 October 2022, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment said, “In advance of COP27, I am joining the chorus of global voices calling for the immediate release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, an Egyptian activist who has languished in jail for years merely for voicing his opinion. Freedom of speech is a prerequisite for climate justice!”

We, the undersigned organisations and groups:

1. Call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Alaa Abdel Fattah and all those arrested and detained solely for exercising their rights

2. Call on the British authorities to intervene to secure the release  of their fellow citizen Alaa Abdel Fattah so that he be allowed to travel to the UK, as his health is deteriorating to a critical and life-threatening point

3. Call on the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to publicly reiterate its call on Egypt to immediately release Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed el-Baqer, and all those arrested and detained solely for exercising their rights

4. Call on UN Special Procedures to publicly reiterate their call on Egypt to immediately release Alaa Abdel-Fattah, Mohamed el-Baqer and Mohamed “Oxygen” Ibrahim Radwan and all those arrested and detained solely for exercising their rights

5. Call on all government leaders and business leaders going to COP27 to use all possible leverage and urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Alaa Abdel Fattah and all those arrested and detained solely for exercising their rights

6. Call on civil society organisations, groups and activists going to COP27 to urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Alaa Abdel Fattah and all those arrested and detained solely for exercising their rights

Signatories (updated on a rolling basis here and below:

1. 10 Votes

2. 350 Ventura County Climate Hub

3. Aberdeen Climate Action

4. Access Now

5. Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

6. African Earth Farms

7. Al-Haq, Law in the Service of Man

8. ALPF

9. ALQST for Human Rights

10. Amazon Watch

11. Americans for Democracy & Human Rights in Bahrain

12. Amis de la Terre France / Friends of the Earth France

13. Amnesty International

14. Arab Resource & Organizing Center (AROC)

15. Asia Pacific Network of Environment Defenders (APNED)

16. Association for Farmers Rights Defense, AFRD

17. Association for Progressive Communications - APC

18. Association Jeunes Agriculteurs (AJA)

19. Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD)

20. Bisan Center for Research and Development

21. BlueLink Foundation

22. BUND/Friends of the Earth Germany

23. Caabu (Council for Arab-British Understanding)

24. CAFAGB

25. Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

26. Campaign against Climate Change

27. Center for Environment/FoE Bosnia and Herzegovina

28. Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)

29. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation

30. Committee for Justice

31. Commonwealth Youth Peace Advocates Network Kenya

32. Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE)

33. Conectas Human Rights (Brazil)

34. Consumers Association of Penang (Malaysia)

35. CRAN (Carrefour de réflexion et d'actions contre le racisme anti-Noir-e) -Observatoire du racisme anti-Noir-e

36. CWU NW Health & Safety Forum

37. Debt for Climate South Africa

38. Debt Justice

39. Derechos Digitales

40. DIGNITY - Danish Institute Against Torture

41. Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)

42. Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)

43. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

44. EgyptWide for Human Rights

45. Eko forum Zenica (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

46. El Nadim Center

47. English PEN

48. eQualitie (eQ) Canada

49. EuroMed Rights

50. Extinction Rebellion Oxford

51. Federal College of Agriculture  PMB 724 Akure Ondo state Nigeria

52. FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

53. Freedom House

54. Fridays For Future

55. Fridays For Future - Firenze

56. Fridays For Future Catania

57. Fridays For Future Lebanon

58. Fridays For Future Pavia

59. Fridays For Future Voghera

60. Friends of the Earth Malta

61. Friends of the Earth Scotland

62. Friends of the Earth U.S.

63. Globalizations journal

64. Global Participe

65. Grassroots Global Justice Alliance

66. GreenNet

67. Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

68. Hijas de Alkebulan

69. Human Nature

70. Human Rights Watch

71. HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement

72. Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

73. Institute for Policy Studies Climate Policy Program

74. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)

75. International Network of Liberal Women

76. International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)

77. International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific

78. Inter-religious Climate and Ecology Network

79. Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms

80. Iraqi Human Rights Defenders and Activist Forum

81. JCA-NET

82. Jubilee Scotland

83. London Mining Network

84. MARBE SA

85. MENA Rights Group

86. Movement for Advancing Understanding of Sustainability And Mutuality MAUSAM

87. National Authority for the Prevention of Torture

88. National Lawyers Guild International Committee

89. National Lawyers Guild San Francisco Bay Area Chapter

90. Natural Innovation

91. NEW HOPE FOR POOR

92. Omani Human Rights Association

93. Omas Gegen Rechts

94. Parents For Future Austria

95. PEN America

96. PEN International

97. People in Need

98. Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED)

99. Refugees Platform in Egypt ( RPE )

100. Rise For Climate Belgium

101. Rising Clyde

102. Sierra Leone School Green Club (SLSGC)

103. Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR)

104. Strawberrynet Foundation Romania

105. Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

106. Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR)

107. Terra Advocati

108. The Center for International Policy

109. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)

110. The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)

111. Unidosc, Mexico

112. UNISON:the public sector union (UK)

113. Unite Scotland

114. Université populaire africaine (UPAF)

115. Vigilance for Democracy and the Civic State

116. War on Want

117. West African Human Rights Defenders' Network/Réseau Ouest Africain des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (WAHRDN/ROADDH)

118. WHRDMENA Coalition

119. WomanHealth Philippines

120. World Organisation Against Torture, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders

121. Yorkshire and Humber Climate Justice Coalition

Preparations for COP27 are taking place against the backdrop of an ongoing and deep-rooted human rights crisis in Egypt. The Egyptian authorities have for years employed draconian laws, including laws on counter terrorism, cyber crimes, and civil society, to stifle all forms of peaceful dissent and shut down civic space. Under the current government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, thousands continue to be arbitrarily detained without a legal basis, following grossly unfair trials, or solely for peacefully exercising their human rights. Thousands are held in prolonged pre-trial detention on the basis of spurious terrorism and national security accusations. Among those arbitrarily detained are dozens of journalists targeted for their media work, social media users punished for sharing critical online content, women convicted on morality-related charges for making Tik Tok videos, and members of religious minorities accused of blasphemy. Prisoners are held in detention conditions that violate the absolute prohibition of torture and other ill-treatment, and since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power hundreds have died in custody amid reports of denial of healthcare and other abuses. Egypt remains one of the world’s top executioners, executing 107 people in 2020 and 83 in 2021, with at least 356 people sentenced to death in 2021, many following grossly unfair trials including by emergency courts. The crisis of impunity has emboldened Egyptian security forces to carry out extra-judicial executions and other unlawful killings, enforced disappearances and torture with no fear of consequences.