A hundred days before the COP27 summit is due to start in Sharm el-Sheikh, a group of environmentalists and activists have expressed alarm over Egypt’s ability to host the event successfully because of its poor record on human rights, as thousands of prisoners of conscience remain behind bars.
“We are deeply concerned that [a successful conference] will not be possible due to the repressive actions of the Egyptian government,” they said. “Indeed, it seems more likely at this point that the conference will be used to whitewash human rights abuses in the country.”
Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben and the Green party MP Caroline Lucas are among those who have signed a letter detailing their concerns about holding Cop27 in Egypt, and demanding that the Egyptian authorities free thousands of political prisoners and prisoners of conscience.
While Egypt has pledged to allow protests at the summit, albeit in a dedicated area separate from the talks themselves, Egyptian rights activists have increasingly expressed fears that demonstrators and civil society will face danger in expressing their right to protest, particularly those from Egypt and the global south.
Signatories said Egypt freeing prisoners of conscience would show that it was taking seriously its commitment to holding Cop27. “If Cop27 is to succeed, the visibility and positive pressure created by civic mobilisation will be vital – that must include full rights to freedom of assembly, association, and expression around the conference,” they said.
Other potential Cop27 participants, including advisers to the White House, climate activists and rights groups, have also spoken of their fears that hosting the vital talks in Egypt amid the country’s crackdown on civil liberties will render the conference ineffective, particularly in a moment when the world faces increased pressure to act on global warming.
Since coming to power in a military coup in 2013, Egypt’s president, Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi, has overseen a broad crackdown on human rights, targeting all potential political opposition, domestic and foreign media and civil society. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information estimates there are at least 65,000 political prisoners in Egypt’s jails.
The letter echoes concerns from a coalition of 21 rights organisations including Amnesty International and the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies about Egypt’s suitability to host the summit.
“Thousands continue to be arbitrarily detained in Egypt for peacefully practising their rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association. This includes staff of Egyptian independent civil society organisations, human rights defenders and activists in the field of economic, social and cultural rights, and minority rights, as well as lawyers, journalists, academics, women social media influencers and artists,” they said.
