EGYPTS DISAPPEARING JOURNALISTS - Al Jazeera Journalist Mahmoud Hussein Imprisoned in Egypt without charges for 4 years (finally released on Feb 6, 2021)

WHAT INSPIRED THE INTI RAYMI FUND TO SUPPORT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL’S WORK IN EGYPT

In December 2016, Egyptian security forces arrested Al Jazeera journalist Mahmoud Hussein while on holiday in Cairo. Although there have been no formal charges against Hussein, who is an Egyptian national based in Doha, Qatar, he’s accused of “incitement against state institutions and broadcasting false news with the aim of spreading chaos”. This is against article 71 of the Egyptian constitution which says: “no custodial sanction shall be imposed for crimes committed by way of publication or the public nature thereof”. Unfortunately, as the Inti Raymi Fund began looking further into this, we discovered not only was Hussein arrested, but other journalists appear to be forcibly disappearing as well as myriad of additional human rights violations are occurring in Egypt.  This represents a calamity and disaster against freedom of speech and human rights.  There must be free and independent journalism as a “check and balance against oppressive regimes”.

ABOUT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL

Amnesty International works to protect people wherever justice, freedom, truth, and dignity are denied and with the belief that ALL people have fundamental human rights. Unfortunately, those rights are abused or denied every single day. When that happens, Amnesty International finds the facts, exposes what’s happening, and rallies people together to force governments and others to respect everyone’s human rights. In 2017 alone, Amnesty International helped free 153 people who were wrongfully imprisoned because of who they are or what they believe and Amnesty changed laws in dozens of countries on refugees, reproductive rights, LGBTQ equality, free speech, the death penalty, and other critical human rights issues. From start to finish, Amnesty focuses on the individual – people whose human rights are abused, and on people who have the power to change the world with some victims even receiving the Nobel Peace Prize for their life-saving work.

THE WORK WHICH THE INTI RAYMI FUND WILL SUPPORT

 (note: links lead to Amnesty International’s website) 

• Unfair Trials and Use of Administrative Detention Arbitrary arrests and detentions followed by grossly unfair trials of government critics, peaceful protesters, journalists such as Mr. Hussein’s case which, inspired us to become involved and also human rights defenders. Mass unfair trials continue before civilian and military courts, with dozens sentenced to death already.

• Non-Governmental Organizations One of the reasons the Inti Raymi Fund is working with Amnesty International rather than personally doing this project directly on the ground in Egypt, is   because NGOs have been subject to oppressive regulations under new NGO laws, leading to the closure of thousands of key organizations on the ground in Egypt. NGO staff are being subjected to additional interrogations, travel bans and asset freezes or worse. We have extensive personal travel experience in Egypt and understand the street chaos in Egypt; therefore, we believe this scale of human rights abuses could be better exposed and supported by Amnesty International rather than our smaller NGO.  Point in case is the fact that to allow Amnesty International to operate more freely considering the crackdowns on civil liberties in Egypt, Amnesty International chose to not have an office in Egypt. 

• Human Rights Defenders and Political Opponents The Egyptian government continues to hold an estimated 40,000 political prisoners, many of whom are human rights defenders and political opponents held for non-violent political and civil society acts and speech. 

• Torture Torture is systematic in Egypt. AI has documented forced disappearances and extrajudicial executions carried out as part of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population. Security officials continue to carry out these actions with impunity.

• War Crimes In anti-terrorism military strikes, Egyptian Armed Forces have a pattern of carrying out unlawful attacks leading to deaths of civilians, including children, and using cluster bombs and other banned munitions that endanger civilians.

• Assaults on Women, LGBTQ Individuals and Religious Minorities Women continue to be subjected to sexual and gender-based violence and are discriminated against in law and practice. The authorities brought criminal charges for defamation of religion and “habitual debauchery” on the basis of people’s real or perceived sexual orientation.

For additional review for this cause, we provided recent articles covering the capture and imprisonment of Mahmound Hussein which precipitated this Inti Raymi Fund Project.

https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/aljazeeraworld/2018/02/journalism-crime-story-mahmoud-hussein-180212140543338.html 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/al-jazeera-mahmoud-hussein-detained-year-171220045852523.html 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/timeline-year-mahmoud-hussein-detention-171220045924868.html

If Amnesty International’s mission for global human rights resonates with you and you wish to support their continued operations to make the world a better place, we encourage you to donate and become a member of Amnesty International like the Inti Raymi Fund did. You can connect with them at the link below:

(all images by others)