Back to the complete issue
Sunday, 31 July 2022

Human rights dominates foreign coverage as state pardons political prisoners

Human rights is again leading the conversation on Egypt in the foreign press this morning: President Abdel Fattah El Sisi on Friday pardoned eight people including journalist Hisham Fouad and anthropologist Ahmed Samir, the Associated Press and AFP report. In a piece that ran before the announcement, Reuters reports that some critics think the presidential amnesty committee responsible for the pardons needs to move faster as the ongoing national dialogue process unfolds.

Alaa Abdel Fattah was not among those released, and his case is again attracting media attention this morning after several US Democratic lawmakers, along with human rights watchdog Amnesty, expressed solidarity with British lawmakers demanding Alaa’s release, the Associated Press reported. The Egyptian-British citizen has been on hunger strike for over 100 days. The news comes as the Egyptian prosecution denied in an official statement that the prominent activist has been mistreated in prison after his family shared concerns over his health status. Separately, Alaa’s sister, Sanaa Seif, told Deutsche Welle of her disappointment that German lawmakers didn’t “rock the boat” and advocate for the release of her brother.

Also making headlines:

  • Activists and environmentalists are voicing concerns that Egypt’s hosting of COP27 will be used to “whitewash human rights abuses in the country”. (The Guardian)
  • Residents of Alexandria held a mass funeral for Youssef Radi, a young sweets vendor — known for his stylish outfits and delicious Freska — who was killed in a road accident last Wednesday. (Gulf News)

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.