Egyptian activists arrested for contact with western diplomats, Human Rights Watch says

The arrest of Karim Ennarah (pictured) and his colleague Mohamed Basheer was described as an 'alarming escalation' of Egypt's human rights crackdown

An Egyptian human rights defender married to a British documentary maker was arrested in Sinai on Wednesday, days after his colleague was also detained in what their organisation said was retaliation for a meeting held with western diplomats.

Karim Ennarah, who is the director of criminal justice at advocacy group Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, was detained in the resort town of Dahab, three days after the arrest of EIPR’s administrative director Mohamed Basheer on Sunday.

EIPR believes the arrest of its staff was in retaliation for a recent meeting it hosted with western diplomats to discuss improving human rights in Egypt.

Mr Ennarah’s wife Jessica Kelly, a filmmaker focused on the Middle East, said his arrest “something we always feared but naively hoped we could escape”.

National security officers took Mr Ennarah to an undisclosed location after his arrest, EIPR said in a statement, but little further information about his status was available. 

His colleague Mr Basheer is being held on remand for 15 days for “joining a terrorist group and publishing false news”, EIPR said, calling the accusations groundless.

During Mr Basheer’s interrogation, EIPR said investigators focused on a meeting EIPR hosted at its Cairo offices on November 3 to discuss human rights in Egypt with a number of western diplomats.

EIPR director Gasser Abdel Razek told Egyptian outlet Mada Masr he was shocked that “a security force would feel threatened by a meeting with ambassadors.”  

The UK’s deputy ambassador to Egypt attended the meeting alongside the ambassadors of Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland, EIPR said.

Ambassador Paul Garnier, accompanied by 13 ambassadors and deputy ambassador, visited the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights @EIPR for a briefing on the status and work of #civilsociety in #Egypt 🇪🇬
🇩🇪🇨🇦🇨🇵🇫🇮🇪🇺🇮🇹🇧🇻🇸🇪🇩🇰🇪🇦🇧🇪🇬🇧🇳🇱 pic.twitter.com/EZtBgRki9t

— Swiss Embassy Cairo (@CH_Cairo) November 5, 2020

“These arrests are a slap in the face from the Egyptian government to all these diplomats and European countries who attended this meeting,” said Amr Magdi, Human Rights Watch Egypt researcher. 

“They are saying we don’t care, you cannot protect anyone, and we can arrest anyone, including those who are well recognised human rights defenders,” he said.

The arrests represent an “an alarming and dangerous escalation” of a crackdown on human rights defenders and civil society activists underway since former Egyptian army chief Abdel Fattah el-Sisi assumed the presidency in 2014, he said.

“Kareem and Mohammed were arrested for their work, for their mere association with the EIPR, it’s not about attending a protest or an article they wrote. That’s what’s different here from previous arrests of human rights activists,” Mr Magdi said. “We fear that more staffers will be arrested.”

EIPR and Mr Ennarah’s wife are calling on Egyptian authorities to release the men. 

“I know that all of his friends and fellow human rights defenders around the world will be doing everything they can to ensure his release,” said Ms Kelly.