{"id":30646,"date":"2022-05-27T12:48:42","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T10:48:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/?p=30646"},"modified":"2022-05-29T12:49:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-29T10:49:44","slug":"civil-society-to-the-uk-foreign-office-free-human-rights-defender-alaaabd-el-fattah","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/en\/advocacy-en\/joint-statements-en\/2022\/05\/27\/30646-afteegypt.html","title":{"rendered":"Civil society to the UK Foreign Office: Free human rights defender AlaaAbd El-Fattah"},"content":{"rendered":"

To Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom Elizabeth Truss, and the UK Foreign Office<\/strong><\/p>\n

27 May, 2022<\/strong><\/p>\n

British-Egyptian activist, blogger, and software developer\u00a0AlaaAbd El-Fattah<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 locked up in Egypt to silence his activism \u2014 faces the risk of death\u00a0unless the United Kingdom Foreign Office immediately intervenes for his protection<\/strong>. At the time of writing,\u00a027 May 2022,<\/strong>\u00a0Alaa has entered\u00a0day 56<\/strong>\u00a0of his\u00a0hunger strike<\/a>\u00a0in protest of the horrific conditions of his imprisonment. His health is rapidly and significantly deteriorating.<\/p>\n

On 12 May, 2022,\u00a0Alaa\u2019s family<\/a>\u00a0reported that he was\u00a0physically assaulted<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in prison. On 18 May, 2022,\u00a010 Members of Parliament and 17 Members of the House of Lords<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0urged<\/strong>\u00a0Secretary of State Elizabeth Truss and the UK government to act immediately to secure the activist\u2019s release. On the same day, without informing his family, Alaa was transferred\u00a0to the new\u00a0<\/a>Wadi el-Natrun prison complex. On 19 May, 2022, Alaa\u2019s sister, Mona Seif,\u00a0confirmed<\/a>\u00a0that after the move, her brother \u201cslept on a mattress for the first time in years<\/strong>\u201d. On 26 May, 2022, Alaa\u2019s family\u00a0confirmed<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0that he received his first books and writing materials in years.<\/p>\n

Alaa, now a British-Egyptian dual national, has yet to receive a UK consular visit, has been denied the ability to communicate with his UK lawyers, and is still asking for a judge to investigate the complaints he and his family have filed over his unjust detention. We, the undersigned organisations, urgently call on the\u00a0UK Foreign Office<\/strong>\u00a0to\u00a0secure Alaa\u2019s release and safe transfer to the UK<\/strong>\u00a0as well as the following:<\/p>\n