The British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah has warned his family he may die in prison, as he reaches six months on hunger strike in the run-up to the Cop27 climate conference in Sharm El Sheikh.
“I don’t want to upset you, but I don’t believe there’s any chance of individual salvation,” he told his mother during her visit to Wadi al-Natrun prison. He passed on a list of demands, including the release of those detained by the Egyptian security forces and thousands held without charge in pre-trial detention.
Egypt’s moves to curtail anything other than state-sanctioned participation in Cop27 follows an almost decade-long crackdown on civil society under Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, according to a report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), released on Monday.
The HRW report cites 13 environmental activists, including some who fled the country, fearing for their safety.
Human rights and environmental groups told HRW they remain wary of public engagement with Cop27, fearing reprisals from the state. “The security apparatus will probably now more than ever before focus on environmental civil society in Egypt,” said one activist, now living in exile.
Activists “described a sharp reduction in the space for independent environment and climate work since President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi’s government took office”, including harassment and intimidation, cuts to essential funding, difficulties travelling and fears of security forces’ intimidation of their contacts or themselves if they conducted or organised field research, according to the report. “We haven’t even thought of protesting,” one activist said.
Members of the environmental movement in Egypt also spoke of a clear divide, where work perceived as in line with the government’s priorities, such as climate finance or recycling, have received expanded space to operate while activists feel unable to conduct any activities that could be perceived as critical of the government or its private interests, notably issues with water scarcity or industrial pollution. One activist described the government’s mega-projects, such as the Suez Canal Economic Zone or the construction of a new capital, as “a red line”, adding: “I can’t work on this.”
Abd El-Fattah, a figurehead of the Egyptian uprising of 2011 and regional pro-democracy movements, has spent most of the last decade behind bars, and was last year sentenced on terrorism charges for a post about torture on social media. While the 40-year-old activist became a British citizen almost a year ago, British officials have been prevented from visiting him in detention to check on his wellbeing. He is now 164 days into a hunger strike in protest at his treatment, consuming just 100 calories a day, and has threatened to escalate his strike to one of just water and salt.
“When I last saw Alaa three weeks ago he looked so drained. He was struggling to stand,” said his sister, Sana’a Seif. “I was speechless. I wasn’t allowed to hug him. Alaa is sacrificing his life to demand his right for consular access while the Foreign Office shies away from acting firmly to assert that right.”
Supporters of the activist say the British authorities are failing to use leverage afforded to them by their cooperation with Egypt in their role as Cop26 president and major financial and political partners in order to push for Abd El-Fattah’s freedom.
Former British prime minister Boris Johnson raised Abd El-Fattah’s case in a call with Egyptian president Abdel Fatah al-Sisi on 25 August, and Liz Truss pledged while foreign secretary to secure his release. A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development office (FCDO) declined to answer questions about how the continued detention of a British citizen might impact participation in Cop27, saying: “We are working hard to secure Mr Abd el-Fattah’s release and we continue to raise his case at the highest levels of the Egyptian government.”
In the weeks leading up to November’s climate conference, which Egypt is keen to promote as an opportunity for environmentally friendly investment despite ongoing human rights concerns, British International Investment, the development finance arm of the FCDO, pledged to invest a further £87m in Egypt, in addition to the more than £660m worth of projects it currently funds. BII recently also signed a memorandum of understanding to finance a green hydrogen plant through a subsidiary in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, a project with links to Egypt’s vast military economy.
“The UK and Egyptian governments are doing huge business deals in preparation for Cop27 while a British citizen is dying in an Egyptian prison. This is a horrible precedent with a country known for its human rights abuses … Liz Truss said she was working for his release. Now that she’s prime minister, she has to make it happen,” said Seif.
While Egypt has promised to allow protests at Cop27, its foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, who is overseeing the conference, has stipulated that only limited protests held in areas designated by the government will be permitted. Egypt has also curtailed civil society activity, limiting attendance among domestic groups to those who do not criticise the government.
The Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is leading Cop27 preparations, declined to comment.
