Debates

Thursday, 24 October 2019 - Strasbourg

Egypt

  Irina Von Wiese, on behalf of the Renew Group. – Mr President, I would like to highlight just one case: the case of Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, who is an Egyptian human rights defender and a researcher specialising in housing rights at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedom (ECRF). He was arrested on 11 June near his home in Cairo and taken to an unknown location. Since then, his family have not had any contact with him, the local police station denies his presence within their premises, and the Attorney General has not responded to numerous queries. Ibrahim’s arrest is believed to be linked to his criticism of government housing and urban planning policies, including shanty towns and evictions. He is the fifth staff member of ECRF to be arrested since 2016 as part of a crackdown on human rights defenders in Egypt.

I urge Parliament to recognise this as one of many urgent cases in Egypt and call on the Egyptian authorities to take all necessary measures for the safe release of Ibrahim Ezz El—Din and so many other human rights defenders in Egypt.