Article author:
Reuters
Farah Saafan and Nafisa Eltahir
CAIRO — Imprisoned Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abd el-Fatah is accused of escalating a five-month hunger strike. , one family member told Reuters. He ingested a few solids as part of a campaign to protest his detention.
Several rights groups, the leader of President Hosni Mubarak's 2011 uprising that ended his 30-year rule, said his case was linked to Western countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. show that they are prioritizing national interests over promoting freedom.
Egypt's most prominent dissident used to eat a grain of fiber, an apple or cucumber a week, and 100 calories of liquid a day to survive, his sister Sanaseif later told Reuters. I will visit him on Tuesday.
"During the visit, he was leaning against the glass partition. He was struggling, but he was trying to put it together," she said. Told.
In June, her mother, Layla Suif, expressed her concern that her son's health was rapidly deteriorating.
Abd el-Fattah launched his hangar strike on 2 April in protest against detention and prison conditions. He was jailed for five years in December on charges of spreading fake news for sharing a social media post about a prisoner's death.
Egyptian officials did not respond to a Reuters call for comment on Abd el-Fatah's case, but he has been fed. said he had been moved to a prison with better conditions earlier this year. has defended
Neither Abd el-Fattah nor his family expect Egypt, a close ally of the US, Britain and other Western countries, to release him anytime soon, his sister said. .
"Because we know the fact that Allah has become a well-known case to other governments, even though we have done our part, we cannot see the consequences. I am very frustrated with what we are not achieving, which means these governments are not doing anything, their role," Seif said.
Access to the UK
She appealed Abd el-Fatah's plight to many, including members of the British Parliament and the UK Foreign Office, but the They are pushing us into a situation," he said. She's consular access level," she said.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs, Federal and Development Office said:
A British government official said Prime Minister Boris Johnson raised the matter directly with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in a recent phone call.
Some critics say the United States, a major source of arms and military aid, should suspend that aid because of Egypt's rights record. The U.S. State Department declined to comment.
Abd el-Fattah's aunt, Ahdaf Soueif, a renowned Booker Prize shortlisted novelist, regularly tweets about him. In June, she tweeted:
Egypt's state media outlets declined to answer calls to the Ministry of Interior, saying their questions about the Abd el-Fatah case and allegations of human rights abuses went beyond their scope. said.
RIGHTS RECORD
Several human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights His Watch, have documented the Sisi regime's actions, from torture to enforced disappearances and the detention of tens of thousands of political prisoners. accused of perpetrating widespread human rights abuses.
Sisi denies that there are political prisoners in Egypt. He said stability and security are paramount, and authorities promote rights by trying to provide basic needs such as work and housing.
Analysts say Western powers are reluctant to take serious action against a strategic ally that has served as a mediator in longstanding issues such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, which controls the Suez Canal. The world's most valuable sea route.
"I think the problem is that governments in the West, the United States, etc., are unwilling to change their policies to better promote democracy and human rights," he said. Seth Binder said: Middle East Democracy Project, a US-based advocacy group. "And people like Allah are its victims."
Abd el-Fattah had been in prison for much of a decade since the 2011 uprising overthrew Mubarak. The uprising initially gave hope to generations of activists in Egypt and beyond.
But as his protests entered a new and more dangerous phase, Seif went from securing his own release to becoming a symbolic figure calling for the release of thousands of other prisoners.
"I have lost hope of survival. They (the Egyptian government) are stubborn and use me as a role model," said Abd El-Fatah. told her during a visit, she quoted. (Additional reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Andrew MacAskill; writing by Michael Georgy; editing by Jon Boyle)