Egyptian Human Rights Lawyer Ahmad Seif Dies at 63; Two of His Children Are in Prison for Protests

Seif with Defendants

Veteran Egyptian human rights lawyer and activist Ahmad Seif El-Islam has died at the age of 63.  He had suffered a heart attack two weeks ago.

Seif (1951-2014), an attorney, has actively defended protesters and activists for decades; though from the political left himself, he defended clients from across the political spectrum. He resigned from the Human Rights Council to protest the 2013 coup.

Seif, in fact, headed an entire family of activists. His wife Laila Soueif is a professor at Cairo University and an activist; his son, Alaa Abdel Fattah, is perhaps the best known non-Muslim Brotherhood political prisoner in Egypt, once a pioneering blogger prominent in the 2011 Revolution and now serving 15 years for violating the anti-protest law; after being allowed to visit his unconscious father in the hospital, Alaa last week announced he was beginning a hunger strike. At that time the family issued this statement.

Mada Masr just published an open letter from Alaa in prison.

Alaa's youngest sister Sanaa is also in prison awaiting trial for violating the protest law and was allowed to visit her father. The third sibling, Nora, is also an activist opposing military tribunals..

Activist Family: right to left, Ahmad, wife Laila, Ala, Nora, Sanaa

The funeral is tomorrow, and a Facebook page is urging people to attend.

See also The Guardian here and Zeinobia here.

Carlos Latuff cartoon (source)

EIPR Issues New Study on Reproductive Health and Rights in MENA

The Egyptian Initiative on Personal Rights (EIPR), marking the 20th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), has released a major new report, “Reclaiming and Redefining Rights: ICPD+20 Status of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Middle East and North Africa”. You can read the press release here and read or download the full report (PDF) here.

The press release notes:

The report evaluates the progress made by a select number of countries in the region (six) towards fulfilling their commitments under the International Conference for Population and Development (1994)Programme of Action.  The six countries are: Egypt, Kuwait, Yemen, Palestine, Turkey and Tunisia. The report relies on data from different United Nations bodies and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) for the countries researched. The report also relies on a wide range of qualitative studies and human rights reports to support the quantitative statistics and data, as well as several interviews with activists and NGOs in the six countries mentioned.

Using several indicators to measure this progress, the report is divided into three main sections: the first covers the status of women’s rights in the examined countries as well as the health expenditure. The second part uses reproductive health indicators to measure the status of maternal care, abortion, fertility and family planning and reproductive cancers. The third part examines the states’ protection of sexual rights by monitoring sexuality education, sexually transmitted infections, HIV, early marriage, human trafficking and gender based violence in the six countries.

Launched on the occasion of the 20 year review of the Programme of Action, the reports concludes with policy recommendations for countries in the region on reproductive and sexual rights. The report highlights the importance of the commitment of the countries to ensuring and guaranteeing for its citizens and residents access to affordable and of good quality comprehensive sexual and reproductive health services. It also recommends to the countries that they review laws that limit the access to the above services for groups who need them, including women and youth.

Humanitarian Needs of Syrian Children

I find it hard to write about Syria; it's so depressing and there are no easy solutions. But the humanitarian issues are real, immediate, and addressable. As you may know, MEI recently sponsored a conference on just this subject.

Here's a moving appeal from Karen Betts, Foreign Policy Counsellor at the British Embassy in Washington on the Embassy's "Global Conversations" Blog," Syrian Children Need Our Help."

It's worth a read.

Not Revolution 2.0: Social Media as Lynch Mob in the Kashgari Case

I haven't commented up to now on the case of Hamza Kashgari, the Saudi journalist who had to flee the Kingdom due to his Twitter tweets about the Prophet Muhammad, and who was then seized in Malaysia and extradited back to Saudi Arabia for possible trial, which could even entail the death penalty. The basic issues of freedom of expression seem clear enough, and the case is even more dismaying because of Malaysia's role in delivering him back to KSA after he had made his escape. Certainly Kashgari's tweets were ill-advised for someone living in Saudi Arabia (what parts of "Commission for the P:romotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" and "Religious Police" did he not understand?), but the potentially draconian punishment is provoking justifiable outrage. Background stories here and here if you haven't been following it.

But there's another side to the whole Kashgari issue that is worth noting amid all the talk over the past year of the Arab uprisings as "social media revolutions," "Revolution 2.0," and so on. In the Kashgari case, it is the social media that have been baying for his scalp.

As this piece in Canada's MacLeans notes,  the Internet has been playing the role of lynch mob in the Kashgari case. YouTube videos call for his death; chat rooms demand it.

Then there is the battle of the Facebook groups. As of this writing, the "The Saudi People Demand Retribution from Hamza Kashgari (Arabic)" Facebook page has 26,711 members.  "Free Hamza Kashgari," on the other hand, has 6,700. Of course there are other pages and other forums, but it seems clear that supporters of the Saudi religious establishment are using social media to demand punishment. Though the page itself does not immediately call for his death, many of the posters do. (In contrast, the Grand Mufti of Egypt has noted, "We don't kill our sons; we talk to them.")

Yes, social media can be a major organizing tool for revolutionary change. It can also be the modern equivalent of the lynch mob.

Could Madonna Provide Peace till Summer?

My previous post may have come from The Onion, but despite what you'd think, this one doesn't: it's actually from Haaretz: "Israeli Fans Ask PM to Hold Off Iran Attack over Madonna Show." There's a Facebook Page asking Bibi not to attack Iran until after May 29 so as not to interfere with her concert.Unless it's a gag, the page is here (my Hebrew's pretty poor but it says "Bibi: No! No war with Iran until after the Madonna concert." And some of the posts are in English).And the Facebook page contains this picture as well:

I have to admit, this would be the most talked-about surprise attack in history if it does take place.

Egypt Raids 17 Human Rights NGOs: Did They Just Shoot Santa Claus?

The Egyptian military receives $1.3 billion annually from the US taxpayer. Today the Egyptian government raided 17 human rights organizations and NGOs, reportedly to investigate "foreign funding." Employees are being detained in their offices, computers confiscated, etc. Among the 17 are the US-based National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute (both of which receive State Department funding), Freedom House, and others.

I am, however, doubtful that all these NGOs put together receive as much "foreign funding" as the Egyptian Armed Forces.

This is a sad day for human rights and civil society in Egypt. It also may be the day that SCAF shot Santa Claus.

Sinai Activist Released

Following the recent confrontations between Egyptian security forces and bedouin in Sinai, the government has released some 69 Sinai bedouin who had been detained, including activist Mosaad Abu Fagr, who had been held for 30 months. Al-Masry al-Youm English has an interview with him here. His description of life in Egyptian prisons is not a pretty one.

Abu Fagr has been the subject of international human rights criticism and the release suggests a new sensitivity to the growing tensions between the security forces (the Interior Ministry) and the Sinai bedouin.

Mohamed El-Sayed Sa‘id

Far too belatedly I'm seeing the obits for Mohamed el-Sayed Sa‘id, Deputy Director of the Al-Ahram Center and a longtime human rights activist in Egypt, and a prominent figure. He died in October, apparently. Duly noted.

On the Goldstone Report

Except for remarks in passing about the Palestinian Authority's and Israel's wrangles over the Goldstone Report, I haven't expressed any opinions about the Goldstone Report. Why not?

Many of you are probably aware of the acronym RTFM in computer jargon, which stands for "Read the [censored] Manual!". Well, you see, the Goldsone Report is 452 pages long, and I have both a job and a blog, and I don't want to judge it based on somebody else's precis. And my leisure reading tends to be on non-Middle Eastern subjects. So I thought it might be useful, for those who want to argue the merits, pro or con, of the Goldstone Report: here it is. Have fun. I doubt if I'll have time to get to it soon, but I'm not going to denounce it or canonize it, either one, unread, or just based on the summaries.

Amnesty International's 2009 Reports

Amnesty International's 2009 human rights report has been released. The home page for the Middle East and North Africa is here, and it leads with the war in Gaza. Links to the individual country reports can be found on that page.

Those I've read so far seem to be good summaries. I'll let my readers explore for themselves.