[This is a roundup of news articles and other materials circulating on Egypt and reflects a wide variety of opinions. It does not reflect the views of the Egypt Page Editors or of Jadaliyya. You may send your own recommendations for inclusion in each week's roundup to egypt@jadaliyya.com by Sunday night of every week.]
Political Rights
Detained EIPR head held in ‘inhumane and degrading’ prison conditions
Gasser Abdel Razek, the executive director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights who was arrested on Thursday evening, told his lawyers that he is being held in harsh detention conditions, according to Hossam Bahgat, the founder and president of EIPR, who described the treatment as “inhumane and degrading.”
Gasser Abdel-Razek in Danger. EIPR holds Public Prosecution fully responsible
Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) summoned from jail Gasser Abdel-Razek, Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), today 23 November 2020, to resume interrogating him on charges of ‘joining a terrorist organization with prior knowledge of its objectives’ and ‘using social media accounts to spread false information that may harm public peace’. He is held on account of case 855/2020.
On the deserts Gasser Abdel Razek populated
Lina Atallah writes about the recently arrested EIPR Executive Director Gasser Abdel Razek.
Egypt Faces International Condemnation Over EIPR Arrests
The Egyptian government has drawn the ire of the international human rights community after its controversial decision to arrest three staff members from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
Cairo court places Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh, Alaa Abdel-Fattah on terrorism list
A Cairo criminal court has placed former 2012 presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh and activist and blogger Alaa Abdel-Fattah on the state’s terror list for a five-year period, along with twenty-six other people.
Cairo court orders seizure of funds belonging to 285 Muslim Brotherhood members
The Cairo Court for Urgent Matters has ordered the seizure of funds owned by 285 people affiliated with the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, including a number of public figures who currently reside abroad.
Jailed Fairmont witness in danger, family and lawyer say, as remand detention drags on
A jailed witness in the high-profile gang rape case known as the “Fairmont case” is severely unwell and at risk of self-harm, according to statements by her family and lawyer, who filed a medical report with the Public Prosecution as part of an appeal for her release from pretrial detention on Sunday.
Polls in 13 Egyptian governorates open for 2nd day of parliamentary run-offs
Polls in thirteen Egyptian governorates opened on Monday, marking the beginning of the second and final day of voting in the run-off for the first stage of the country's parliamentary elections at home.
Egyptian court issues preliminary death sentences to two defendants over murder of Maadi woman
Cairo Criminal Court has sought the non-binding opinion of Egypt's Grand Mufti on the preliminary death sentences handed to two defendants for killing a young woman during an attempted robbery in October in Cairo’s Maadi suburb.
Source: Scores arrested following sectarian clashes in Minya
Up to 140 people have been arrested after sectarian violence erupted in Basrha, a village in Minya, over the last few days, according to a well-informed source who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. The clashes broke out after a young Coptic resident of the village reportedly shared content online that Muslim residents of the village perceived as offensive to Islam.
Foreign Policy
Egypt condemns building of new Israeli settlements
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry condemned Israeli authorities’ decision to continue building settlements on occupied Palestinian lands, affirming this policy undermines chances to implement a two-state solution.
The human rights situation in Egypt may raise questions regarding several cooperation points between Egypt and Italy, according to Italian government sources.
Six-nation military exercise in Egypt sees main stage
Egypt's Army Chief of Staff Lt. General Mohamed Farid and many chiefs of staffs of the participating countries attended the main stage at the Mohamed Naguib Military Base, located at Marsa Matrouh governorate, in the northwest of Egypt.
Egypt's Grand Mufti condemns Houthi attack on Saudi oil facility
Egypt's Grand Mufti Shawki Allam has condemned “a terror attack” that was committed on a fuel tank at a petroleum products distribution terminal in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Economy
Egypt’s exports to Nile Basin countries rise 1.4 percent to US$1.22 billion in 2019
The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) announced that the total value of Egyptian exports to Nile Basin countries increased by 1.4 percent to 1.22 billion US dollars in 2019 compared to 1.20 billion USdollars in 2018.
Egypt’s law undergoing complete reformation, says CBE official
Egypt’s law is going through a process of complete overhaul, the legal advisor to the Central Bank of Egypt Tamer al-Dakkak said, beginning with the Cybercrime law which was followed the Protection of Personal Data law, the Electronic Payments law and the Central Bank law.
Egypt tops emerging markets in containing inflation: Report
According to the center’s report, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) confirmed that Egypt achieved the largest annual decline in inflation rates in emerging markets in 2020 compared to 2019, with a decrease of about 8.2 percent.
Domestic Security
The Egyptian governorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Gharbiya, and Luxor are seeing the highest rates of coronavirus infections in the country, said health minister Hala Zayed on Wednesday.
Egypt’s Sisi discusses national project to manufacture, collect plasma derivatives with Grifols CEOs
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed on Tuesday a national project for manufacturing and collecting plasma derivatives in Cairo with the CEOs of the Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols for the collection and manufacture of plasma derivatives, the Egyptian Presidency announced.
From Jadaliyya
Quick Thoughts: Khaled Fahmy on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Egypt
Mouin Rabbani, editor of Quick Thoughts and Jadaliyya Co-Editor, Interviewed Khaled Fahmy, Professor of Modern Arabic Studies at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of the British Academy, and a leading historian of modern Egypt, to get a better understanding of the pandemic’s impact upon one the Arab world and Africa’s central states.
Rim Naguib discusses the colonial practice of ideological-ethnic deportation as an example of the colonial rule of difference.
Arabic
«بهجت»: ظروف احتجاز «عبد الرازق» تظهر نية لسوء المعاملة
The Executive Director of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) has been subjected to inhuman treatment in prison, as part of the government’s deliberate crackdown on rights defenders, according to Hossam Bahgat.
المبادرة مستمرة في العمل: حوار مع حسام بهجت عن رسائل الدعم وانزعاج السلطات
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights will continue to work despite government crackdown, Hossam Bahgat said.
«جاسر» الذي يطبخ لمَن يحب ويصحب إلى الصحراء مَن يحب
Lina Atallah writes about the recently arrested EIPR Executive Director Gasser Abdel Razek.
غابت الدولة.. فماذا جرى للمرأة العاملة؟
The article sheds light on the challenges faced by women at work in Egypt.
The Inter-Parliamentary Union called on the Egyptian authorities to reveal the whereabouts of Mostafa al-Najjar, who has been forcibly disappeared by the Egyptian regime two years ago.
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms called on the authorities to release Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, urban researcher, who has been held in degrading conditions in prison over charges of “joining terrorist groups” and “publishing false information harming national security”.
قوائم الإرهاب: ضمانات دستورية غائبة ومصطلح يفقد معناه
The article discusses how the state uses terrorism lists to unjustly prosecute activists and critics.