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COP27 Host Egypt Arrest Environmental Activists – Frustrated with that?


Essay by Eric Worrall

COP27 will be unusually quiet, because local protesters who often appear before such events are likely to end up in jail.

Egypt Hosts Major UN Climate Summit While Environmental Activists Debate

COP27 will pit Biden’s human rights agenda against his climate change agenda.

Via Robbie Gramera foreign affairs and national security correspondent in Foreign Policy.

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September 14, 2022, 3:04 pm

In the run-up to hosting a major United Nations climate summit in November, Egypt has publicly advertised its commitment to curbing carbon emissions and acting as a leader in supporting the world. developing world adapting to new climate shocks. But behind the scenes, The Egyptian government has cracked down on environmental activists in the country with harassment, intimidation and arrests.according to interviews with environmental experts and a new report by an international human rights watchdog.

Egypt’s role as host of the 27th United Nations Conference on Climate Change, or COP27, is supposed to shed light on President Abdel Fattah’s widespread crackdown al-Sisi to the country’s civil society, including environmental advocates, poses a foreign policy challenge to the very democratic powers seeking to advance climate goals ambitious even if it means partnering with some of the most repressive autocracies in the world. For US President Joe Biden, the upcoming COP27 summit puts his human rights policy on a path that could potentially collide with his climate policy.

“There is potential tension between two supposedly disparate areas: human rights on the one hand and human rights on the other,” said Richard Pearshouse, environment and human rights director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), an advocacy group. is powerful climate action. “Now we see that tensions really flare up.”

HRW released a new report this week accusation Egyptian government of “cut short hair[ing]The ability of environmental groups to do their job, through harassment, arrest and intimidation, forcing some activists to flee the country. Other environmental advocacy groups voice concerns that the Egyptian government is limiting the number of civil society groups that will be allowed to attend COP27 and tightly controlling planned protests, eliminating only limited demonstrations in an enclosed area on the sidelines of the conference, which will be held at Sharm el-Sheikh on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula from November 6-18.

Read more: https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/09/14/egypt-cop27-crackdown-enosystemal-activists-united-nation-climate-change/

The cited Human Rights Monitoring Report goes into more detail;

Egypt: Government sabotages environmental groups

COP27 countries should press Cairo to end restrictions, allow participation

“The Egyptian government has arbitrarily imposed funding, research and registration obstacles that debilitated local environmental groups, forcing some activists into exile and others away from important work,” speak Richard Pearshouse, environment director at Human Rights Watch. “The government should immediately lift severe restrictions on independent NGOs, including environmental groups.”

In June, Human Rights Watch interviewed 13 activists, academics, scientists and journalists working on environmental issues in Egypt. All have been involved in promoting, advocating and working on climate action to some extent. Some are now working for NGO groups. Others have stopped for safety or security reasons or left the country. They spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons. Six others declined to be interviewed, citing security concerns or government restrictions that had forced them to stop their environmental work.

Interviewees describe drastically reduced space for independent environments and work climates since the government of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi took office in 2014. They describe harassment and intimidation, including arrests and difficult travelcreate a general atmosphere of fear. These experiences mirror similar tactics pursued by the Egyptian authorities against independent international and local groups in general since 2014 as part of the relentless repression against civil society.

Others described being repeatedly detained for security checks and interrogations at Cairo airport upon departure or arrival, and at times prevented from leaving the country. One person described harassing their partner in Egyptians Against Coal Campaigna popular but ultimately unsuccessful movement that emerges to meet the government’s request to bring coal back to power cement plants since 2013.

Read more: https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/09/12/egypt-go Government-underooter-enosystemal-groups

Well, I’m shocked – who could have guessed a military dictator with one low human rights record will arrest people who might say embarrassing things about government policy, before holding a major international climate conference?

Let’s hope President Biden stays true to his policy of publicly standing up for human rights and finds time to draft a diplomatic letter to Egypt protesting the arrest and intimidation of the politicians. local climate and environmental activism, between Biden’s diplomatic missions to Saudi Arabic, Iran and Venezuela to ask for more oil.


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