Yesterday, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided to release the detainees who were arrested around the UN Women’s Office headquarters yesterday, with financial bail pending investigation in case No. 1567 of 2024, after charging them with assembly and joining a group established contrary to the law, according to lawyer Mahmoud Haider to “Zawia3.”
Haid added that the lawyers Ragia Omran and Mahienour El-Massry, along with journalists Rasha Azab and Eman Awad, were released on bail of ten thousand Egyptian pounds each, and journalists Youssef Shaaban and Mohamed Fargh were released on personal guarantee. The remaining detainees were released on bail of five thousand pounds each.
Egyptian police forces arrested several journalists and activists in front of the regional office of UN Women in the capital Cairo on Tuesday afternoon, following their organization of a protest in front of the UN headquarters to denounce the ongoing aggression in Gaza, in addition to the violations faced by Sudanese women due to the conflict between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces supported by external traditional and new colonial forces since last April and preceding wars and oppression.
The participants intended to submit a memorandum condemning the attacks faced by women during the Sudan and Gaza wars, urging the United Nations to intervene effectively to urgently stop the violence and aggression against women. According to testimonies from the participants in the protest: “An official from the organization came out and invited three of the protesters to meet with the head of the organization, Susan Mikhail, and deliver the memorandum. However, as soon as they entered, the protesters outside were subjected to theft of some mobile phones, while Mikhail reassured them and promised that no harm would come to the protesters outside, but what happened was completely contrary to that.”
The memorandum presented by the participants to UN officials stated: “We are a group of Egyptian women who are horrified by the atrocities faced by Palestinian women due to the genocide war waged by the Zionist occupation against the Palestinian people since October 2023, and the Sudanese women facing atrocities due to internal fighting between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces supported by external colonial and traditional forces since April last year and preceding wars and oppression.” The memorandum described the United Nations as “neglectful” in protecting both populations from ongoing war crimes, especially sexual crimes.
The participants in the presented memorandum also added that the United Nations Women’s Organization, specifically – as the international body concerned with monitoring governments’ efforts to ensure peace and security for women, in addition to being concerned with gender equality and empowering and protecting women from all forms of violence and discrimination – is not only absent from its role in defending the rights of Palestinian and Sudanese women to life, freedom, and dignity, but is also complicit in the war against them through its silence, negligence, and discrimination against them.
They demanded several actions, including an immediate and effective cessation of all military actions by the occupying authority in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories, an immediate and effective ceasefire in Sudan; as Security Council decisions are already late and limited in scope, lacking implementation mechanisms. They also called for the entry of a mission of international observers under the auspices of the organization, and all concerned UN bodies to investigate war crimes, especially those committed against Palestinian and Sudanese women, and to secure hospitals and remaining health service locations and supply them with necessary provisions, also – for the International Red Cross and all organizations concerned with violence against women to visit Palestinian and Sudanese detainees in their official and unofficial detention centers, investigate complaints from detainees, provide all guarantees against abuse, and finally, meet all the needs of both populations through UN-supervised border crossings.
Anger towards what is happening
The list of confirmed detained activists and journalists includes: Lubna Darwish, Mahienour El-Massry, Ragia Omran, Fareeda El-Hefny, Asmaa Naeim, May El-Mahdi, Yousra El-Kalisy, Arwa Marai, Esraa Youssef, and Leena Ali, in addition to journalists Rasha Azab, Eman Awad, and Hadeer Mahdaoui. According to testimonies obtained by “Zawia3,” journalists Youssef Shaaban and Mohamed Fargh were also arrested in connection with the incident. As of the writing of this report, lawyers have not confirmed the number of detainees, with one lawyer speaking to “Zawia3” suggesting that the number may exceed 16 detainees.
A source told “Zawia3” that the incident began with a security personnel seizing journalist Rasha Azab’s mobile phone, and when the participants tried to retrieve it, they were unable to. Shortly after, the protesters were cornered by two security vehicles, attempting to arrest Azab until she was kidnapped, followed by the arrest of the majority of the participants by deployed security forces.
Activists have circulated several posts on social media, considering the UN’s performance regarding the ongoing wars in Sudan and Gaza as inadequate, pointing out “the failure to investigate the testimonies of women who were raped by the conflicting parties in Sudan and the Israeli forces in Gaza.”
Additionally, former presidential candidate and head of the Constitution Party, Gameela Ismail, condemned the events via her Facebook page, stating: “We condemn the arrest of Egyptian women during the demonstration held in solidarity with the women of Gaza and Sudan in front of the UN headquarters in Maadi. The demonstration was violently dispersed, and those detained were transferred to Maadi and Tora police stations,” demanding their immediate release.
In her testimony published on her Facebook page, Ilham Eidarus, the deputy of the emerging Life and Freedom Party, who participated in the demonstration, stated: “Today, along with several women, I headed to the regional office of the UN Women in Maadi to demand effective action to protect our brothers and sisters in Palestine and Sudan. We stood on the opposite sidewalk of the agency, holding banners and chanting our demands. An official from the agency came out, requested representatives from us, and indeed I and lawyer Ragia Omran and May El-Mahdi entered.”
She adds: “Immediately upon entering, we heard screams outside, finding that someone had stolen two phones from the participants and fled in a security vehicle. We continued the meeting with an agency official, Susan Mikhail, who reassured us that we would retrieve the phones. We presented our memorandum and demands, then left to find security forces attempting to arrest journalist Rasha Azab.” According to her testimony, the participants were unable to free themselves from the security personnel, and subsequently, human rights lawyer Mahienour El-Massry and May El-Mahdi, followed by journalist Eman Awad, were arrested.
Not the first time
Today’s protest was not the first organized by Egyptian activists and journalists to condemn what is happening in Sudan and Gaza. In March of last year, they organized a women’s march on International Women’s Day in support of women in Palestine and Sudan, facing war crimes, under the slogan “Stop the Aggression on Gaza and Sudan.” Security forces dispersed the march before it reached the headquarters of the Palestinian Women’s Union in downtown Cairo. Among the participants in that march were some of those detained today.
Security forces detained a number of foreign activists at the end of last year, who came to Cairo to participate in the “Conscience of the World” convoy called for by journalist syndicate chief Khaled Elbalshy, but it was thwarted by security and not implemented. The foreign activists had demonstrated outside the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in downtown Cairo before being arrested and deported.
Last October, Egyptian security forces arrested 43 protesters in Tahrir Square, condemning Israeli occupation crimes in its war on Gaza. Today, Egyptian provinces witnessed massive demonstrations in solidarity with Palestine and to denounce Israeli aggression on Gaza, under a semi-official call from President Sisi to protest. However, the demonstration that led to security intervention and its dispersal was the one that took place after Friday prayers from Al-Azhar Mosque to condemn recent Israeli violations in Gaza, where protesters chanted slogans condemning Israeli aggression, supporting the January 25 revolution, and rejecting the mandate. This demonstration reached Tahrir Square, prompting security forces to forcefully disperse it and close the entrances to Tahrir Square at that time.
Despite promises from the authorities to open up the public sphere, there continues to be a state of continuous tightening, especially regarding solidarity with Gaza and the ongoing genocide. According to a report from Amnesty International on human rights conditions worldwide for the period between 2022/2023, the report mentioned that Egyptian authorities continue to suppress all forms of peaceful opposition and stifle civil space. It added that at least 11 journalists were arrested for their work or critical opinions. At least 26 journalists remain arbitrarily detained on charges such as disseminating false news or misusing social media. The report further noted that at least 600 journalist or human rights-related websites remain blocked.
“Zawia3” continued to communicate with several lawyers who immediately headed to Maadi and Tora police stations upon learning of the incident. Mahmoud Haider, a lawyer at the Regional Center for Rights and Freedoms, said that lawyers faced harassment from security personnel at the Maadi police station, but once journalist syndicate chief Khaled Elbalshy and Constitution Party head Gameela Ismail arrived, they were allowed entry. He added that the station denies the presence of protesters inside and speculates the possibility of their arrival at the Central Security building in Maadi. Several lawyers we contacted confirmed that all information is being withheld, and the location of the detainees has not been disclosed.
