A group of Nobel Prize winners have called on world leaders visiting Egypt next week for the United Nation’s COP27 climate talks in Sharm el-Sheikh to demand freedom for political prisoners. Specifically, the group is seeking the release of the Egyptian-British writer and philosopher, Alaa Abd El Fattah, now six months into a hunger strike and at serious risk of death.
Abd El Fattah, an activist jailed for calling for democratic change in Egypt, has been prosecuted by four successive Egyptian governments for simply attending protests or posting critical comments online. He’s been imprisoned for most of the past 9 years, and on a hunger strike since April, consuming only 100 calories a day. He revealed to his family this week that he plans to stop drinking water on Sunday, when COP27 begins. This adds pressure to the situation, as world leaders are urged to call for his release.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the conference, Egypt’s state security services have cracked down on civilians, stopping people for questioning and searching their phones for anything critical of the government. Egypt’s government has made it quite clear that protesters are not welcome anywhere outside the strictly controlled “Climate Demonstrations Designated Zone,” in the conference’s “Green Zone. That’s right, in Egypt the government tells you where you can and can not demonstrate.
“The reality most of those participating in #Cop27 are choosing to ignore is not just that Human Rights and Climate justice are interlinked, but in countries like Egypt your true allies, the ones who actually give a damn about the planet’s future are those languishing in prisons.”
-Mona Seif, sister to Alaa Abd El Fattah
Side Items
Brazilian Sore Losers: Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in cities across Brazil, many of them demanding that the military stop the transfer of power to President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. They claimed they were there to save Brazil’s democracy from a rigged election (is there an echo in here?), and the only way to do so is to have the armed forces take control of the government. It’s the classic story of a kid angrily losing a game and trying to take the ball with him
More Baseball: Another game of the World Series took place yesterday, and I’m sure some bored idiots tuned in. Houston won the game 5-0 to tie the series 2-2, but apparently it’s even more exciting because Houston didn’t let Philadelphia score even one time! The term used in baseball is ‘no-hitter’, which I suppose is celebrating the offensive ineptitude of half of the equation. Thank god the World Cup kicks off in 17 days