{"id":38293,"date":"2024-09-01T14:12:44","date_gmt":"2024-09-01T11:12:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/?p=38293"},"modified":"2024-09-01T14:12:44","modified_gmt":"2024-09-01T11:12:44","slug":"aftes-newsletter-august-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afteegypt.org\/en\/advocacy-en\/monthly-newsletter-en\/2024\/09\/01\/38293-afteegypt.html","title":{"rendered":"AFTE\u2019s Newsletter: August 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE) shares with you the reports, statements, and joint statements it issued over the past month and campaign, in addition to the legal updates of lawsuits in which AFTE provides legal support to prisoners of conscience or to academics who were subjected to abuse and security prosecutions for expressing their opinions.<\/span><\/p>\n

We always welcome any inquiries or clarifications from everyone through our social media platforms or via the following email: <\/span>info@afteegypt.org<\/span><\/p>\n

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Reports\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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AFTE has published a paper about restricting creative freedom in the context of Afrocentrism, that tackled the issue of restricting the freedom of creativity driven by a public rhetoric that supports and even demands this restriction has recently emerged, as we have recently witnessed the cancellation or postponement of concerts.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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The paper relied on published news and press reports, which included statements made by representatives of the Syndicate of Musical Professions regarding the facts of the ban, as well as an analysis of Law No. 35 of 1978 regarding the establishment of syndicates and the Federation of Syndicates of Actors, Cinematographers, and Musicians, in addition to the internal regulations of the Syndicate of Musical Professions, which were approved by the Syndicate Council in 2007 and ratified by the General Assembly in the same year. <\/span>More<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Advocacy\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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In a joint statement, AFTE along with 6 NGOs considered that the recent initiatives undertaken by the Egyptian authorities to amend the maximum duration of pretrial detention are futile if not coupled with measures to end the repressive practices of the security apparatus and ensure judicial independence.\u00a0 The NGOs said that these steps would require political will that is not currently possessed by the Egyptian authorities, who continue to harass and prosecute political opposition, civil society members, and media figures. Journalists, politicians, and bloggers are among those especially targeted, vulnerable to prosecution under oft-used fabricated charges for a piece of writing, a cartoon or even an online comment that is considered subversive by the authorities. <\/span>More<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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AFTE and 9 other NGOs issued a statement that condemned the Egyptian security forces\u2019 raid on the headquarters of ElMaraya for Culture and Arts, where they searched it and seized some of its contents, including computers, dozens of books and cultural publications, a number of files and financial documents. <\/span>More<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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11 Human rights organizations, including AFTE, condemned the repeated security crackdown on and prosecution and enforced disappearance of journalists only for practicing their journalistic duties. The latest incident in this regard was the Supreme State Security Prosecution\u2019s decision to remand journalists Khaled Mamdouh and Ashraf Omar in custody in two separate cases in July. The undersigned organizations also condemn the State Security Prosecution\u2019s refusal to allow the lawyers of the Journalists Syndicate and the lawyer of the Al-Manassa website to attend the interrogation session with Omar, as well as the failure to investigate the enforced disappearance of Mamdouh for nearly six days and Omar for two days, without enabling them to communicate with their families or lawyers.<\/span>More<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Legal Aid<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

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