Over 220 Global Organizations Call for Immediate Release of Seven Imprisoned Women Human Rights Defenders in Egypt

Submitted by yasmin on Fri, 10/10/2014 - 10:27

Tweet now! #FreeEgyptWHRDs #NoProtestLaw

In the lead up to the October 11^th trial of seven Egyptian women human rights defenders (WHRDs), who have been detained since June 21, 2014 on charges of violating Egypt’s strict Protest and Public Assembly Law, over 220 women’s and human rights organizations representing nearly 70 countries issued a statement demanding their immediate release.

The signatories to the statement, which include local, national, regional and international groups from across the globe, urge the Egyptian authorities to unconditionally release the WHRDs and drop all charges against them and others detained for exercising rights to peaceful assembly. Those signing the statement also strongly urged Egyptian authorities to revise the Protest and Public Assembly Law, which severely limits freedom of expression, assembly and association rights of Egyptians, to bring it in line with the Egyptian Constitution and African and international human rights standards. Egyptian authorities have in the past year taken a tough stance against civil society groups and civil activism, including public protests. Human rights organizations inside the country and internationally have criticized Egyptian authorities for what they view as serious repressive policies when it comes to civil society activism and public civic engagement and have repeatedly encouraged the adoption of measures that encourage civic participation and free expression and are in line with the spirit of the January 2011 Egyptian Revolution.

The text of the statement and the signatories appear below. Those interested in adding their names to the list of signatories can do so at this link:

http://goo.gl/forms/55wChTGZWr.

Those interested in publicizing the statement are encouraged to post it on their websites and to distribute it broadly to their networks including to media outlets. The hashtag #FreeEgyptWHRDs can be used in this regard on social media.

The text of the statement follows:

Free Egyptian Women Human Rights Defenders

We, the signatories to this statement representing women’s rights and human rights organizations internationally and based in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, call upon Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Yara Sallam, Sanaa Seif, Hanan Mustafa Mohamed, Salwa Mihriz, Samar Ibrahim, Nahid Sherif (known as Nahid Bebo) and Fikreya Mohamed (known as Rania El-Sheikh), seven women human rights defenders (WHRDs) detained since June 21, 2014 on charges of violating the Protest and Public Assembly Law. We strongly urge Egyptian authorities to unconditionally drop all charges against these WHRDs, and other human rights defenders, relating to the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. Further, we call on the Egyptian authorities to revise the Protest and Public Assembly Law in accordance with the Egyptian Constitution and international standards, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights.

Background:

On June 21, 2014, the seven WHRDs were arrested in Heliopolis, Cairo on the sidelines of and in relation to a peaceful protest against the Protest and Public Assembly Law. After using tear gas and birdshot to disperse the crowd, the police arrested Yara Sallam, Sanaa Seif, Hanan Mustafa Mohamed, Salwa Mihriz, Samar Ibrahim, Nahid Sherif and Fikreya Mohamed, in addition to several other human rights defenders. Since their arrest, they have been detained in Qanater women’s prison. The charges against all those detained stem from the Protest and Public Assembly Law and include: participating and organizing an unauthorized demonstration that “threatened public security”, “use of force and violence to terrorize and intimidate citizens”, and "intentional destruction of property".

The first session of their case, also known as the Ittihadia Presidential Palace Case, was held on June 29, 2014. During this hearing, the judge adjourned the session and postponed it until September 13, 2014. At the second session, on September 13, 2014, the prosecution’s evidence was presented to the court. The defense attorneys requested the postponement in order to allow a technical expert to examine and determine the veracity of the video footage evidence presented during the session. The judge again postponed the trial until October 11, 2014, at which time the defense is supposed to be given an opportunity to present its case.

As a result of these delays, these seven WHRDs have remained in prison for over three months pending investigations. Two of the detainees, Ms. Fikreya Mohammed and Ms. Sanaa Seif, were on hunger strike to protest their arbitrary arrest. Ms. Seif’s hunger strike began on August 28 and Ms. Mohammed began her strike on September 11, 2014, and latest news is that she has had to suspend her hunger strike. As a result, both face serious health risks and are extremely weak.

It should be noted that while in detention, the father of Sanaa Seif, prominent Egyptian HRD Ahmed Seif El-Islam passed away. He was also the father of prominent Egyptian HRD Alaa Abdel Fattah, who was recently released on bail.

Signatories to the statement:

Organization Name	Country
1. 1325 Action Group	Nepal
2. ABANTU FOR DEVELOPMENT	Ghana
3. ABIA	Brazil/USA
4. Access Chapter 2	South Africa
5. ACDemocracia	Ecuador
6. ACEP	New Zealand
7. ACT	Egypt
8. Action Canada for Population and Development	Canada
9. Acuarelas, Mujeres en Movimiento Asociación Civil	Argentina
10. ACUNS Vienna	Austria
11. Advocacy for Widows Empowerment Foundation (ADWEF)	Nigeria
12. Advocates for Youth	USA
13. Afghan Women's Network (AWN)	Afghanistan
14. African Women’s Active Nonviolence Initiatives for Social Change (AWANICh)	Ghana
15. AIDOS. Italian Association for Women in Development	Italy, The Middle East
16. Akahata A.C.	Argentina
17. Alliances for Africa	Nigeria
18. Alternativas Pacificas AC	Mexico
19. AMDH	Morocco
20. Amnesty International Nepal	Nepal
21. Amnistía Internacional	Venezuela
22. Ankiram Woman and Child development Society	India
23. Asamblea de Mujeres de Quito	Ecuador
24. Asia-Japan Women's Resource Center	Japan
25. Associação ComuniDária	Portugal
26. Association Dea Dia	Serbia
27. Association for Progressive Communications	South Africa/International
28. Association of War Affected Women	Sri Lanka
29. Association Tunisienne Femmes Démocrates (ATFD)	Tunisia
30. AWID (Association for Women's Rights in Development)	International
31. Azidi Solidarity and Fraternity League	Iraq
32. Barbra Schlifer Clinic	Canada
33. Beit el Hanane	Lebanon
34. BRIDGE, IDS	United Kingdom
35. Bridges for Women	Iran
36. Calala Women's Fund	Spain
37. Cambodian Center for Human Rights	Cambodia
38. Catapult	USA
39. CEE Network for Gender Issues	Slovenia
40. CEJIP	Bolivia
41. Center for Gender Studies	Ethiopia
42. Center for Health and Gender Equality	USA
43. Center for Peace Education, Miriam College	Philippines
44. Centre for Action Research	Pakistan
45. Centre for Economic Social Cultural Rights in Africa (CESCRA)	Uganda
46. Centre for Research, Advocacy, Women and Youth Development	Nigeria
47. Centre for Secular Space (CSS)	United Kingdom
48. Centro de Información y Servicios de Asesoría en Salud	Nicaragua
49. Centro de Promoción y Estudios de la Mujer Andina "Lulay" - CEPEMA "Lulay"	Peru
50. Change for Equality	Iran
51. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation	International
52. C AL Network	South Africa/Africa, regional
53. Colectiva Ciudad y Género AC	Mexico
54. Colectiva Feminista en Construcción	Puerto Rico
55. Colectiva Feminista para el Desarrollo Local	El Salvador
56. Colectivo Feminista Panteras Rosas	Nicaragua
57. Collation on Rights and Responsibilities of Youth	Pakistan
58. Comercio Justo	Uruguay
59. Consutoría Multidisciplinaria en Desarrollo Humano	México
60. Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer	Puerto Rico
61. Corporación Red Nacional de Mujeres Comunales, Comunitarias, Indígenas y Campesinas de la República de Colombia	Colombia
62. Crossroads International	Canada
63. Department of Women Affairs	Bangladesh
64. Development and Leadership Centre	Lesotho
65. Development Organization for Community DOC	Pakistan
66. Development Organization for Social Transformation (DOST)	Pakistan
67. EIMAN	UK
68. Euroregional Center for Public Initiatives	Romania
69. FDH-NGABO asbl	Democratic Republic of Congo
70. Federation for Women and Family Planning	Poland
71. FeministsSA.com	South Africa
72. FGHR	India
73. FOCO INPADE	Argentina
74. FOKUS - Forum for Women and Development	Norway
75. UN CEDAW Committee	Bangladesh
76. Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG)	Uganda
77. Freischwimmen e.V.	Germany
78. FRIDA \| The Young Feminist Fund	México
79. Front Line Defenders (FLD)	Ireland
80. Fundacao Feto iha Kbiit Servisu Hamutuk (FFKSH)	Timor-Leste
81. Getting Right for Every Runaway Child	UK
82. Global Concerns India	India
83. Global Fund for Women	San Francisco
84. Global Network of Women Peacebuilders	USA
85. Good Shepherd Centre for Teenage Mothers	Lesotho
86. Gulf Foundation	Netherlands/Gulf region
87. Haurralde Fundazioa	Spain
88. Hisar Anadolu Support Society (HADD)	TURKEY
89. Human Rights First	USA
90. Humanist Institute for Co-operation with Developing Countries (Hivos)	The Netherlands
91. Humanity Support Foundation	Pakistan
92. Hunger Reduction International	Somalia
93. IDAHOT	International
94. IEWO	International
95. IKFF Växjökretsen	Sweden
96. IM - SOIR	Sweden
97. INCIEDYT	México
98. Institute for Science and Human Values, Inc	United States
99. Instituto de Educación para las Mujeres	México
100. Instituto RUNA	Peru
101. Integrated Women and Children's Development Activities (IWCDA)	Uganda
102. InterLGBT	France
103. International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)	International
104. International Women's Rights Project	Canada
105. Intitut Hak Asasi Perempuan	Indonesia
106. Iraqi Al-Amal Association	Iraq
107. Iraqi Women Network	Iraq
108. Iraqi Al-Firdaws Society	Iraq
109. JASS (Just Associates)	International
110. JASS Southern Africa	South Africa, Zimbabwe, Malawi
111. Jessica Reyes Sánchez	México
112. Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) - New York City chapter	USA
113. Justice and Peace Commission	Mexico
114. Kalidasdih Mohan Mahato Foundation	India
115. Knights For Peace, International	Philippines
116. Labour Education Organisation	Pakistan
117. Ligue du Droit International des Femmes	France
118. Ligue Life ONG	Benin
119. Linksbridge SPC	United States
120. MADRE	United States
121. Makerere University	Uganda
122. Mauj Development Foundation	Pakistan
123. Media Advocacy Group (MAG)	Nepal
124. Medica Mondiale e.V.	Germany
125. Metamorphosis	Serbia
126. MGARO	Tanzania
127. Middle East Studies Association (MESA)	United States
128. Mothers for Active Non-Violence (MOFAN-V)	Ghana
129. Movimiento Amplio de Mujeres	Puerto Rico
130. Movimiento Amplio de MujeresP	Puerto Rico
131. Mujer y Salud en Uruguay - MYSU	Uruguay
132. Mujer y Sociedad	Peru
133. Mujeres por la Vida Contra la VD	Uruguay
134. Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV)	USA
135. Najaat Welfare Foundation	Pakistan
136. National Council of Social Welfare	India
137. Noble Aims Welfare Association	Pakistan
138. O-livestream	USA
139. Oficina Jurídica Para la Mujer	Bolivia
140. ORGENS	Senegal
141. Parliament of the World's Religions	USA/International
142. Peace Foundation Pakistan	Pakistan
143. Pen International	International
144. PEN International, UK Chapter	UK
145. Planeta Mujer	Mexico
146. Plataforma Española de Jovenes contra la violencia de genero	Spain
147. Prabha Khosla Consulting	Canada
148. Pro Mujeres	Puerto Rico
149. PRO-LINK	Ghana
150. Progressive Center for Equality, Symbiosis & Solidarity (PROCESS)	India
151. Quality of Citizenship Jamaica	Jamaica
152. Reach India	India
153. Red de Empoderamiento de Mujeres de Cartagena	Colombia
154. Red Mesa de Mujeres de Cd Juárez A.C.	México
155. REFH	France
156. Refugees Solidarity Movement	Egypt
157. RIFA Rights For All	Rwanda
158. Runu	India
159. RUPSA	Bangladesh
160. Rural Women's Development and Unity Centre	Nepal
161. Rwanda Association of University Women	Rwanda
162. Saathi	Nepal
163. SAFECO - Synergy of Congolese Women's Associations	DR Congo
164. Samanata-Institute for Social and Gender Equality	Nepal
165. Samsara	Indonesia
166. Save The Children Egypt	Syria
167. Sawt al Niswa	Lebanon
168. Seres	Portugal
169. Sexuality Policy Watch	Brazil & US
170. Sharedream	Ireland
171. Shreela Debi	India
172. Sisters in Islam	Malaysia
173. Social Transformative Action Network for Development (STAND)	Sri Lanka
174. Socialist Feminist Collective	Turkey
175. Solveig Senft	Germany
176. Somali Youth Voluntary Group Association (SOYVGA)	Somalia
177. SOS Sexisme	France
178. Sree Saraswathi Thyagaraja College	India
179. Steps Towards Development	Bangladesh
180. STEWARDWOMEN	South Sudan
181. SWL	Syria
182. Takal Welfare Organization	Pakistan
183. Tanagra M. Melgarejo	Puerto Rico
184. TESO WOMEN PEACE ACTIVISTS (TEWPA)	Uganda
185. Association of British Muslims	United Kingdom
186. Coalition for Action 1325	Uganda
187. MATCH International Women's Fund	Canada
188. Trailblazerz Mentoring Foundation	Uganda
189. Trinamul Nari Uddyakta Society (Grassroots)	Bangladesh
190. Uganda Public Rescue Foundation	Uganda
191. Under the Rainbow	South Africa
192. Union de l'Action Féministe	Morocco
193. Urgent Action Fund (UAF)	Africa
194. Ved International Society	India
195. VIDA LESBI	Peru
196. Warvin Foundation for Women's Issues (WFWI)	Iraq
197. West Africa Social Entrepreneurs Network	Ghana
198. WHER	Nigeria
199. Wi'am, Palestinian Conflict, Transformation Center	Palestine
200. WILPF French section	France
201. ًWogood for Human Security Foundation	Yemen
202. Women & Children's Empowerment Network in Africa	Uganda
203. Women Business Center	South Africa
204. Women Development Initiatives (WODI)	Nigeria
205. Women for Women's Human Rights (WWHR) - NEW WAYS	Turkey
206. Women in Action against Gender Based Violence (WACameroon)	Cameroon
207. Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML)	International
208. Women of Halton Action Movement	Canada
209. Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR)	Philippines
210. Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)	Switzerland
211. Women’s Information Center	Georgia
212. WomenCentre	UK
213. World Learn, School for International Training	Uganda
214. World March of Women	France
215. WUNRN	Global
216. YFW	Belize
217. Young Knights	Zimbabwe
218. Young Professional Development Society Nepal (YPDSN)	Nepal
219. Young Women for Change	Mongolia
220. Youth Afrique Leadership Forum	Nigeria
221. Zawadisha	USA