British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abdel Fattah who is jailed, is starting a new stage of his hunger strike, according to his family who is afraid for his life. It comes amidst increasing calls for his release as Egypt this weekend is all set to host the COP27 climate summit.
Alaa Abdel Fattah’s hunger strike
Alaa Abd el-Fattah who’s a 40 years old prominent human rights blogger and activist, has spent the last eight behind bars in Cairo’s notorious Tora Maximum Security Two prison, as a British-Egyptian prisoner. He is on a partial hunger strike as his family said that he has stopped consuming food and also plans to abandon drinking water on the first day of COP27 coming week. Abdel Fattah has taken in just 100 calories for more than 200 days, to impel Egypt to allow British consular access.
The 40 year old has said to his relatives that until Sunday he will drink only water and then plans to stop even that.
His sister, Sanaa Seif told, “Alaa is using the only tool available to him, that is his body, to fight for his life. He’s not living like a human being right now, he’s already very frail and I really worry about him dying,” she added.
When she last saw him behind a plastic screen in prison, on one of the monthly visits which is allowed to him, he was “skin on bone”, with little energy and sunken eyes, she said.
Ms Seif, a 28 years old human rights defender
As delegates prepare to fly to Sharm el Sheikh’s Red Sea resort for the COP27 summit, Ms Seif is continuing a sit-in outside the UK Foreign, Development Office (FCDO) and Commonwealth, her small blue tent dwarfed by the impressive buildings of Westminster.
The 28 year old human rights defender, who has completed three prison sentences in Egypt herself on charges that were condemned as bogus by the fellow activists, says she has been invigorated by solidarity from around the world with Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Greta Thunberg among the visitors.
But the family has been deeply let down by the British government’s response.
Ms Seif says, “Britain and Egypt have a very powerful relationship”. Further, added that, “The UK has supported Egypt in the logistics of COP a lot. But they’re not ready to show any teeth”.
“I imagine they would have consular access to Alaa at least, if they were putting any pressure,” she said.
64 peers and MPs in the House of Lords, wrote to Foreign Secretary James Cleverly last week, requesting him to ensure to secure his release, while the UK used the opportunity of the summit. They mentioned, “Alaa’s situation is so critical that it requires a robust message”.
An FCDO spokesperson said, “We are working really hard to secure Alaa Abdel Fattah’s discharge and we keep it up to raise his case to the Egyptian government’s highest levels”.
“The foreign secretary very recently when he met Egyptian Foreign Minister (Sameh) Shoukry raised his case in September at the United Nations General Assembly”, the spokesperson added.
“For climate justice, freedom of speech is a prerequisite!”
Abdel Fattah in a pro-democracy uprising was an important figure that led to the dethrone of President Hosni Mubarak, in 2011.
Under President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi’s authoritarian rule, who came in 2014 to power, he had spent most of the time in police detention or prison. His recent five-year sentence was for reportedly “broadcasting wrong news” , a charge human rights groups condemned as bogus.
Abdel Fattah, through his London-born mother, received British citizenship, last December.
He is one of an estimated 60,000 Egyptian political prisoners, said Human rights groups, and have blamed the government in Cairo that through its hosting of the climate summit, they’re trying to “greenwash” its repressive reputation.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the Environment and Human Rights, David Boyd, said in a tweet, “For climate justice, freedom of speech is a prerequisite!”.
“I am joining the chorus of global voices asking for the quick release of Alaa Abdel Fattah, in advance of COP27, an Egyptian activist who has suffered in jail for many years merely for voicing his opinion”, he added.
Abdel Fattah’s family
The Egyptian government has asserted there are no political prisoners in the country.
Also, added that Abdel Fattah’s imprisonment is taking an increasing toll even on his 10-year old son, Khalid, who is non-verbal and is on the autism spectrum, and on Abdel’s whole family.
Ms Seif says, “He’s been with his father for a very short time but he really loves him. They have a strong bond, Khalid has photos of him and if anyone tells he looks like him, Khalid will go over to the photo and point towards him,” she added.
She further hopes that if the hunger strike succeeds, they can build up their lives again in the safety of Britain. “I’m really very proud of Alaa for fighting like this, But I’m afraid to lose him. We just want to live a normal happy life as a family now”, she said.
