Category: Egypt

British man held in Egyptian prison


Abd El-Fattah remains in prison despite being unlawfully detained

June 2025

The case of the British citizen Abd El-Fattah is gaining more publicity and his mother, who has been on hunger strike for 245 days, has just been admitted to a London hospital as her medical condition is now critical. The Egyptian government has behaved atrociously throughout and has denied consular access to him in breach of the Vienna Convention. Appeals by the current and previous prime ministers and the Foreign Secretary have been ignored.

Mr Fattah’s ‘crime’ was to mention that someone was tortured in an Egyptian prison and his campaigning

for human rights in the country more generally. He established the Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms. He is held in very poor conditions in Tora Maximum Security 2 Prison in Cairo (pictured). He is in an airless cell, denied a bed or mattress, not allowed to exercise and is not allowed books or other reading material.

Egypt continues to crush dissent and stifle civil society, arbitrarily arrests thousands including journalists, opposition politicians and peaceful protestors.

His case was debated in parliament in December last year initiated by John McDonnell MP. The Parliamentary Under Secretary John Falconer said:

I re-emphasise, both to Alaa’s family and to the House, that his release remains a priority for the UK Government. I recognise the profound impact that his imprisonment has had on him and his family. The Government, and I as the Minister responsible, are doing all we can to find a resolution. Our priority remains to reunite him with his family, and until that happens, we are working to ensure that he is allowed consular access and support. As I said earlier, supporting British nationals overseas is at the heart of our work at the Foreign Office. That includes dual nationals and more recent British nationals such as Alaa.

Amnesty and two dozen human rights groups have campaigned on his behalf but to no avail. There seems no likelihood of his release since sentences in Egypt are simply rotated. He has been incarcerated for 10 years now. Alaa is part of the Middle East problem more generally and Egypt is seen as important in the issues surrounding Gaza (on its border) and with Iran. The government has been urged to consider sanctions or tougher action but is clearly reluctant to do so. The current Labour government, with its emphasis on growth, is unlikely to take actions which would limit that. The result is that he remains in prison for the foreseeable future. We hope his 69 year old mother, Laila Soueif, survives her ordeal.

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Egypt – threatened execution


Dr. Osama Yassin is a paediatrician – but right now, he is sitting on death row in Egypt – where there is human rights crisis. 

He was arrested in 2013 and has been in solitary confinement since – often denied food and water. He was sentenced to death alongside 11 other men in a mass trial of 739 people and faces imminent execution. 

No specific evidence was introduced against Dr Osama in his trial.

This is reproduced from a message from Reprieve. If you can add your name to their petition that would be wonderful. You can access it here.

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Death penalty report: July


We are pleased to attach our latest monthly death penalty report with thanks to group member Lesley for preparing it. Note that it does not contain any details from China which is the world’s largest executioner of its citizens because details are a state secret. However, a report of the Chinese execution practices was printed in the Sun newspaper in the UK (warning – contains disturbing images).

June JulyDownload
June JulyDownload

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Death penalty in Egypt


This is a post from Reprieve concerning the death penalty in Egypt
Children are still being tried

Four years ago, the Egyptian Government committed – on the world stage – to end the death penalty for children.  But, despite this commitment, a loophole in Egypt’s Child Law continues to allow children to be tried alongside adults on capital offences.  Children in Egypt remain at risk of the death penalty. That’s why some of my team are in Geneva this week.

My colleagues working against the death penalty in Egypt are at a United Nations event this week.  Our aim is to make sure other countries like the UK hold Egypt to account on its failed promise from four years ago. We’re doing this in the lead up to Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN on November 13th.

That means we only have a few weeks to make the case to every other country that Egypt needs to be held accountable for its failure to close the loophole and protect the human rights of children.  The more countries that speak up and put pressure on Egypt, the more likely they are to close the loophole.

In turn, UK officials are more likely to step up if they see that this is something UK citizens care about. That’s why we need your help in spreading this campaign, getting more signatures, and gathering as much support as possible for ending the death penalty for children for good.

Please could you add your support.

Facebook link

Alternatively go to supporters@reprieve.org.uk

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Death penalty report


Attached is the monthly #deathpenalty report prepared by Lesley.

Summary, May 2014

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