As Egyptian activists, human rights defenders and journalists – among many others – face wave after wave of arbitrary arrests, those who aren’t arrested face other… inconveniences.
“How long can Egypt’s government justify the seemingly random arrests of its opposition without being called out as a dictatorship?”
Ragia Omran, human rights lawyer, was stopped at the Cairo International Airport on her way back from Amman, Jordan. Immediately, the rights community rushed to her help. As news of her detention traveled fast, the world wondered how long this crackdown on human rights lawyers will continue. How long can Egypt’s government justify the seemingly random arrests of its opposition without being called out as a dictatorship?
Ragia was released three hours after her detention at the airport, but Malek Adly, human rights lawyer who openly opposed Egypt forgoing Tiran and Sanafeer islands to Saudi Arabia, was arrested and is still in jail pending investigation. The crackdown continues, taking in its wake Adly for speaking his mind.
“I think that there’s definitely more awareness about Human Rights abuses and what happens when people get arrested so we’re just going need a lot more pressure”, Ragia Omran
In her interview with us after the Jan 25 Revolution, Ragia’s words gave us hope regarding human rights in Egypt, “it’s going to take a long time for things to change but I think that there’s definitely more awareness about Human Rights abuses and what happens when people get arrested so we’re just going need a lot more pressure”, she told us. Knowing we now live during times when human rights defenders are the same people facing the violations they are trying to stop, we only hope the awareness Ragia spoke of prevails.