COP27 Spotlights Human Rights Violations in Egypt

During COP27, Egyptian authorities put their best foot forward to present a respectable image of the current regime, which, despite its bleak human rights record, would have the world believe that its treatment of plants and animals exceeds the way it treats its own citizens. Rights groups estimate Egypt now holds some 60,000 political prisoners, including Alaa Abdel Fattah, a British Egyptian writer and democracy activist who has been in prison for more than nine years. According to the Guardian, Alaa has been on hunger strike for well over 200 days. Since late May, he has been limiting himself to 100 calories a day – a teaspoon of honey and a bit of milk to keep him alive – but as of Nov 2nd, he returned to fully refusing food. Khalil Bendib spoke with Berlin based exiled journalist and democracy activist Hossam El-Hamalawy about Egypt’s horrific human rights and environmental record since the 2013 coup. Is the Sinai peninsula such a suitable venue for a worldwide meeting on climate change? Courtesy of Voices of the Middle East & North Africa (VOMENA).