• Urgent Action

Urgent Action: PROMINENT ACTIVIST RISKS INDEFINITE DETENTION (Egypt Sixteenth UA 132.19)

September 27, 2024

On September 29, 2024, prominent Egyptian-British activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, will have been imprisoned for the length of his unjust five-year prison sentence, amid fears that Egyptian authorities will refuse to release him. On December 20, 2021, he was convicted on bogus charges and sentenced to five years in prison, following a grossly unfair trial. 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, torture and other ill-treatment, and periodic bans on family visits. 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: March 25, 2025

take action:

  • Write a letter in your own words or using the sample below as a guide to one or both government officials listed. You can also email, fax, call or Tweet them.
  • Click here to let us know the actions you took on Sixteenth Urgent Action 132.19. It’s important to report because we share the total number with the officials we are trying to persuade and the people we are trying to help.

contact information:

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi

Office of the President Al Ittihadia Palace

Cairo, Arab Republic of Egypt

Email: [email protected];

Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

Egyptian Embassy in the United States

Ambassador Motaz Zahran

3521 International Court, NW,

Washington DC 20008

Email: [email protected]

sample letter:

Your Excellency,

Prominent Egyptian-British activist, Alaa Abdel Fattah, who has been detained since September 29, 2019, is serving an unjust five-year prison sentence following his conviction in a grossly unfair trial. In December 2021, an Emergency State Security Court (ESSC) convicted him on bogus charges of “spreading false news” for sharing a social media post under Case No. 1228/2021.

Following supporter mobilization and public outcries during COP27 held in Egypt in 2022, Alaa Abdel Fattah’s conditions of detention and overall health have improved especially after his transfer to the Wadial-Natroun prison in May 2022. However, authorities keep denying him access to his lawyer whom he has not seen since March 2020. Authorities also continue to deny him consular visits from the British authorities as well as phone calls to his family. Since 2019, prison officials have also denied Alaa Abdel Fattah access to sunlight and fresh air.

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 a consular access without further delay.

Yours sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: