/ / Urgent Action: LIFE OF MOTHER PROTESTING SON’S UNJUST DETENTION AT RISK [Egypt Seventeenth UA 132.19]

LIFE OF MOTHER PROTESTING SON’S UNJUST DETENTION AT RISK [Egypt Seventeenth UA 132.19]

UA: Seventeenth 132.19 Egypt

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Prominent Egyptian-British activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, remains arbitrarily detained despite completing the length of his unjust five-year prison sentence on September 29, 2024. Since then, his 68-year-old mother, Laila Soueif, has been on hunger strike. On February 24, 2025, after 149 days on hunger strike, she was hospitalized after her blood sugar and blood pressure were recorded at dangerously low levels. Her life is in critical danger according to a doctor who examined her on February 25. Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has spent most of the past decade behind bars, has been subjected to a litany of human rights violations including arbitrary detention, unfair trial, and torture and other ill-treatment. Alaa Abdel Fattah is a prisoner of conscience who should be immediately and unconditionally released as his detention is solely linked to the exercise of his human rights.

PLEASE TAKE ACTION AS SOON AS POSSIBLE UNTIL: August 27, 2025

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Step 1

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Remember to send your letter by August 27, 2025.

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Sample Letter

Your Excellency,

I am writing to express my deep concern that prominent Egyptian-British activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, continues to be detained, even though he had completed the length of his unjust five-year prison sentence on September 29, 2024. In protest of his ongoing detention, on September 30, 2024, Alaa Abdel Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, announced an open-ended hunger strike, surviving on herbal tea, black coffee, and rehydration salts. After nearly five months of hunger strike and losing nearly 30 kilograms, “there is now an immediate risk to life including further deterioration or death”, according to a report by a medical consultant in Saint Thomas Hospital dated February 25, 2025.

On January 28, 2025, during Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR), the UK has made a statement calling for the release of Alaa Abdel Fattah. On February 27, 2025, a group of UN Special Rapporteurs urged the Egyptian authorities to immediately release Alaa Abdel Fattah. Despite this chorus of voices calling for his release, he remains arbitrary detained while his mother’s life is at risk.

I urge you to release Alaa Abdel Fattah immediately and unconditionally, as he is detained solely for exercising his human rights. Pending his release, he must have regular access to his lawyers, family, and adequate healthcare and be held in conditions that meet international standards for the treatment of prisoners. He must be granted consular access without further delay.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

Sample Social Post

The life of Laila Soueif, mother of Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, is at risk after 5 months of hunger strike against his unjust detention. @alSisiOfficial must ensure his immediate release & allow him to reunite with his family before it is too late

Tweet to the Egyptian President

Step 2

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Mail your letter to the government officials listed below. You can also email, fax, call, or post about them on social media.

Send your letter to:

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

Office of the President Al Ittihadia Palace

Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

[email protected] @AlsisiOfficial

and

CC: Ambassador Motaz Zahran, Egyptian Embassy in the United States

3521 International Court, NW,

Washington DC 20008

[email protected]

When writing your letter, don’t forget to be factual, brief, and show respect. See more letter writing tips and emails, or organize and host a letter writing party.

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