Human rights organizations estimate that Egyptian dungeons hold some 60,000 political prisoners.
US Foreign Minister Anthony Blinken urged Egypt on Thursday to release more political prisoners as more than 90 heads of state, including US President Joe Biden, prepare to travel to the country for COP27.
Human rights organizations estimate that Egyptian dungeons hold some 60,000 political prisoners.
During a telephone conversation with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry, Mr. Blinken addressed climate issues, while pointing out that cooperation between Washington and Cairo “is strengthened by tangible progress in the field of human rights,” according to State Department press release.
The US Secretary of State “welcomed the news of the progressive release in recent months of a large number of political prisoners and advocated further pardons and releases of this nature.”
No specific case is mentioned in the press release. However, Washington has recently stepped up pressure on the Egyptian government to release Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been on hunger strike for seven months and whose family has warned he will die if he is not released, as COP27 approaches.
A central figure in the “revolution” that ended Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship in 2011, Alaa Abdel Fattah was sentenced in late 2021 to five years in prison for spreading “fake news.” He was imprisoned in 2019.
A black sheep of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s regime, Mr. Abdel Fattah has been on almost a complete diet since April 2 in protest at his detention conditions, receiving only a cup of tea and a spoonful of honey a day.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Wednesday that the US government is closely monitoring the case of Abdel Fattah.
“We have repeatedly expressed our concerns to the Egyptian government regarding this case and the conditions of his detention,” he told the press.
The administration of Joe Biden, which promised before his election that it would adopt a tougher stance on the issue of human rights, turned to Egypt to secure a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas in 2021.
Joe Biden is expected to have a one-on-one meeting with his Egyptian counterpart Al-Sisi on the sidelines of COP27 in the beach resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
US lawmakers, citing human rights abuses, have urged the Democratic president to redirect US military aid to Egypt ($1.3 billion) to environmental projects in the drought-stricken country.
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