{"id":18647,"date":"2024-03-28T19:41:52","date_gmt":"2024-03-28T17:41:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=18647"},"modified":"2026-10-09T02:24:31","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T00:24:31","slug":"newsletter-28","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/newsletter-28\/","title":{"rendered":"15 Rights Groups Demand the Release of the “T-shirt Detainee”… Ireland Joins South Africa in the Genocide Case"},"content":{"rendered":"

Egypt’s Lowest Population Growth Rate in 50 Years<\/h3>\n

Egypt’s population growth rate has fallen by 46% since 2017, recording 1.4% in 2023, its lowest level in 50 years, according to the Ministry of Planning and Economic Development, which said this “reflects the state’s efforts to address the population issue”.<\/p>\n

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15 Rights Organisations Demand the Release of the T-shirt Detainee<\/h3>\n

15 Egyptian and international rights organisations<\/a> said today that the Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release Mahmoud Hussein, who faces a sentence of up to 25 years in prison merely for wearing a T-shirt bearing an anti-torture slogan.<\/p>\n

Mahmoud Hussein, known as the “T-shirt detainee”, has been held for the second time since August 2023. His family said his mental and physical health has seriously deteriorated. He was first detained in 2014.<\/p>\n

In 2014, he was arrested after peaceful demonstrations held to mark the third anniversary of the 25 January revolution, for wearing a T-shirt bearing the slogan “A Nation Without Torture” and a scarf bearing the slogan “25 January Revolution”.<\/p>\n

Hussein then spent two years in arbitrary pretrial detention before being released on bail in 2016. In 2018, he was convicted and sentenced in absentia to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian authorities re-arrested Mahmoud Hussein at a checkpoint on 30 August last year and held him in an unknown place for 5 days.<\/p>\n

The 15 organisations signing the statement said that when Mahmoud Hussein was first arrested at the age of 18 in 2014, National Security Sector officers subjected him to torture and other ill-treatment in custody, beating him and giving him electric shocks to his hands, back and testicles to force him to sign a “confession”. As a result, he suffers from chronic health conditions that required two hip replacement surgeries and left him dependent on crutches.<\/p>\n

The organisations signing the joint statement include: EuroMed Rights, EgyptWide for Human Rights, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights, REDRESS, FairSquare, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Danish Institute Against Torture (DIGNITY), the Egyptian Human Rights Forum, the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR), Amnesty International, and HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement.<\/p>\n

Last November, Mahmoud Hussein underwent surgery for an anal fistula in a medical facility in prison, but his family fears that he is not receiving sufficient follow-up treatment for his condition.<\/p>\n

A relative of Mahmoud Hussein described the devastating impact of his renewed detention: “Mahmoud’s return to prison is a nightmare the family is now living. He has returned to prison, the place where dreams are killed, at a time when he was trying to survive the effects of his first imprisonment and look to his future. This time with a difficult health condition. Do not forget him there”.<\/p>\n

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26 Organisations Call on the Egyptian Authorities to Stop Detaining and Deporting Sudanese Refugees<\/h3>\n

26<\/a> civil society organisations called on the Egyptian authorities to stop targeting Sudanese asylum seekers and refugees in Egypt. The organisations said the Egyptian authorities have arrested and detained Sudanese refugees and asylum seekers in inhumane conditions, subjected them to unfair trials and forcibly returned them to Sudan, in violation of Egypt’s international obligations, human rights principles and conventions, and the Egyptian constitution.<\/p>\n

On 29 August 2023, the Egyptian government issued Decree No. 3326 of 2023, which allows migrants to regularise their residence in Egypt by paying USD 1,000 plus late fines.<\/p>\n

Immediately afterwards, the Refugees Platform in Egypt, the Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa and other rights organisations received hundreds of reports of systematic arrests of refugees and migrants, arbitrary detention and forced return campaigns carried out by the Egyptian authorities against Sudanese.<\/p>\n

According to the signatory organisations, “the arrest and deportation campaigns began in late August 2023 and are still ongoing. The Egyptian authorities are carrying out these arrests throughout the country, in cities such as Cairo, Giza, Aswan, the Red Sea, Matrouh and Alexandria, and along Egypt’s southern border.<\/p>\n

In Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, documented testimonies confirm the emergence of a clear pattern of systematic security policies, still ongoing, targeting people with dark skin through raids on areas where communities of African nationalities live or stops in streets, bus stations and metro stations on the basis of skin colour”.<\/p>\n

The signatory organisations include the Refugees Platform in Egypt, the Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders in the Middle East and North Africa, the Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms, the Al-Nadeem Centre against Violence and Torture, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, the Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy, EuroMed Rights, the Governance Programs Organisation, Emergency Lawyers, Sudanese Women for Change, the Egyptian Human Rights Forum, Sahaba Organisation for Peace and Development, the Darfur Bar Association, HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement, and Refugees International.<\/p>\n

The signatory organisations called on the Egyptian authorities to stop immediately targeting Sudanese asylum seekers, refugees and migrants with arbitrary arrest and forced deportation, and to abide by the international treaties to which they have committed themselves, in particular the prohibition on forcibly returning refugees to the country they fled, where they face danger if deported or expelled.<\/p>\n

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Visa: Egyptians’ Overconfidence Makes Them Vulnerable to Fraud<\/h3>\n

The latest study by Visa, titled “Stay Secure”, revealed that the overconfidence of users in Egypt makes them vulnerable to becoming victims of online fraud to a worrying degree, warning Visa cardholders not to respond to mysterious messages containing attractive words such as “free gift”, “you have been selected” and “you are the winner”. The study showed that more than half of consumers (58% compared with 56% globally) claim they are smart enough to avoid online and phone scams, but the truth is that nine out of ten people (91% compared with 90% globally) are likely to overlook the warning signs of criminal activity online.<\/p>\n

Visa’s 2023 “Stay Secure” study found that more than half of people in Egypt have been victims of fraud at least once, 53% compared with the global average of 52%. The study was conducted by Wakefield Research in the countries of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA) region. More worrying still is the finding that 14% of victims were deceived multiple times, compared with a global average of 15%.<\/p>\n

Commenting on the study’s results, Leila Serhan, regional director and vice-president leading the company’s business in North Africa, the Levant and Pakistan, explained that the great development taking place today in the “digital world” has in turn led to the development of fraud and of the new methods criminals use to deceive users who do not suspect bad intentions. She added that the methods of deception come in different forms, such as a parcel held at customs, a subscription to a streaming service claimed to have expired, or a free voucher for a favourite brand, and so fraudsters adopt highly convincing tactics to deceive their victims. With the rapid growth of digital payments, it is now more necessary than ever for users in Egypt to recognise the language of fraud and act with a high degree of caution.<\/p>\n

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Egypt to Receive the Second Ras El-Hekma Payment Within Weeks<\/h3>\n

Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said Egypt will receive the second tranche of the financial dues for the Ras El-Hekma project within the next few weeks, according to a statement issued today, Wednesday, by the Cabinet.<\/p>\n

Egypt had received USD 10 billion of the money from the deal, worth USD 35 billion, in the past period, and took steps to convert USD 11 billion of UAE deposits at the Central Bank into local currency, as stipulated in the terms of the deal.<\/p>\n

Madbouly pointed out that the government, through its various ministries, is currently implementing its various obligations in the project to develop Ras El-Hekma city, by facilitating procedures and removing any obstacles, so that the various development projects can begin quickly, and work is also currently under way to promote several other investment projects.<\/p>\n

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Ireland Joins South Africa in the Genocide Case<\/h3>\n

Ireland said on Wednesday it would intervene in the genocide case brought by South Africa against the Israeli occupation, the strongest sign yet of Dublin’s concern about the war on Gaza since 7 October.<\/p>\n

Irish Foreign Minister Miche\u00e1l Martin said on Wednesday that the Irish government would intervene in the case brought by South Africa and argue that restricting food and other necessities in Gaza could constitute genocidal intent.<\/p>\n

Martin told the British Guardian<\/a> newspaper: “We believe there is a case, given the way this war has been conducted”.<\/p>\n

“We will call on the court to consider broadening how it determines whether genocide has occurred, on the basis of an entire population being subjected to collective punishment”.<\/p>\n

He added that there was a clear pattern of behaviour obstructing humanitarian aid, causing widespread suffering. “Half of Gaza’s population faces famine and 100% suffer food insecurity”.<\/p>\n

Dublin had signalled this step in January when it said it was considering submitting a declaration of intervention based on legal analysis of the Genocide Convention and consultation with other parties.<\/p>\n

Martin said in an interview that this process had ended and Dublin had decided to intervene, and that “first and foremost there must be accountability for what has happened in Gaza, but secondly we want to influence the conduct of war in the future”.<\/p>\n

Ireland is expected to submit its intervention after South Africa submits its memorial to the court, which may take several months. Martin said Ireland would engage with partners, raising the likelihood of other countries supporting the intervention.<\/p>\n

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Palestinian Journalist Bayan Abu Sultan Disappears<\/h3>\n

Reporters Without Borders<\/a> announced yesterday the disappearance of Palestinian journalist Bayan Abu Sultan, who was last seen on 19 March 2024 among those detained during the Israeli occupation forces’ storming of Al-Shifa Hospital in the Gaza Strip. The organisation is calling on the occupation forces to immediately disclose her fate.<\/p>\n

The Palestinian journalist’s last post on her X account was on 18 March, one day before contact with her was lost. In it she announced the killing of her brother during the siege and storming of Al-Shifa Hospital by Israeli forces.<\/p>\n

Preliminary investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists, published earlier this week, showed that at least 95 journalists and media workers have been killed since October, in addition to 16 other journalists injured, 4 journalists reported missing and 25 journalists reported arrested, as well as numerous assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship and killings of family members.<\/p>\n

The committee is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, injured or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes, according to the US network CNN.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rights groups demand freedom for Egypt’s “T-shirt detainee” and an end to deporting Sudanese refugees, as Ireland joins South Africa’s genocide case.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":8195,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[412],"tags":[20024,20025,20019,20022,18449,20017,20021,20023,20018,20020],"kateb":[710],"class_list":["post-18647","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-en","tag-bayan-abu-sultan","tag-decree-3326-of-2023","tag-egypt-population-growth","tag-ireland-icj-intervention","tag-journalists-killed-in-gaza","tag-mahmoud-hussein-t-shirt-detainee","tag-ras-el-hekma-payments","tag-south-africa-genocide-case","tag-sudanese-refugees-deportation-egypt","tag-visa-fraud-study-egypt","kateb-zawia3-com"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/\u0632\u0627\u0648\u064a\u0629-\u062b\u0627\u0644\u062b\u0629-1.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18647","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18647"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18647\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18648,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18647\/revisions\/18648"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18647"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18647"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18647"},{"taxonomy":"kateb","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/kateb?post=18647"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}