An alleged rape at the Fairmont Nile City hotel in Cairo six years ago helped launch a campaign against sexual assault in Egypt.
Photo: samer abdallah/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesWomen’s rights activists are facing a renewed threat in Egypt after security forces detained witnesses and people who campaigned for the prosecution of several accused rapists, according to several people close to the situation.
Authorities detained six people in recent days, including some who offered evidence in a high-profile case involving a group of wealthy young men accused of gang raping a young woman in a Cairo hotel in 2014. People close to the situation and human rights researchers documenting the case say those detained have been threatened with charges ranging from drug use to incitement to debauchery, an allegation commonly used, activists say, as part of the government’s clampdown on Egypt’s LGBT community and to discredit witnesses.
A statement from Egypt’s prosecutor’s office confirmed that three of the people had been held for questioning and that three others were released on bail earlier this week. Rights advocates say the arrests will likely produce a chilling effect on a growing online campaign against sexual assault in the country, rights advocates say.
Already, the detentions have fueled fears of further raids and arrests among Egypt’s LGBT community and women’s rights activists, particularly that their private lives might be exposed. After the six people were detained, their phones were confiscated and prosecutors acknowledged searching them. Private photos and videos later appeared online in what campaigners said was an attempt to smear their reputation in what is generally a conservative society. It wasn’t clear who uploaded the videos. A government spokesman didn’t respond to a request for comment on the situation.
“I’m terrified,” said one person close to the campaign.
“They think we’ve gotten a little bit too powerful, a little bit too confident,” said another campaign supporter. “They’re trying to say, ‘These are your witnesses? They’re a bunch of sluts and gays.’ ”
The detentions come against a groundswell of online activism in Egypt. One of the most significant elements has been a rise in the numbers of women using social media to express themselves at a time when the government of President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, a former military chief, is already attempting to curb freedom of expression, including bans on street protests and criminalizing dissent online.
Social media influencer Mowada al-Adham was sentenced to prison in July for violating family values.
Photo: khaled desouki/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesIn 2018, a pair of women were arrested and prosecuted after they spoke out against sexual harassment online. Their arrests were seen as a part of a clampdown on perceived criticism of the Egyptian state and society under an expansive security law that the government has used to crack down on those it accuses of harming Egypt’s image. One of the women remains in prison, while the other, a Lebanese national, was deported.
In July, two other women were sentenced to prison for violating family values, as prosecutors put it, after posting videos of themselves singing and dancing on social media platform TikTok.
The campaign against sexual assault began with a series of Instagram pages that helped drum up pressure for authorities to investigate the alleged rape at the Cairo hotel six years ago, gaining hundreds of thousands of followers. The attention compelled Egyptian prosecutors to issue arrest warrants last month for nine men in two separate rape cases. They included several scions of a set of elite Egyptian families, who were accused of drugging and raping a woman at the Fairmont Nile City hotel. Two of the suspects were arrested in Egypt, while another three were arrested in Lebanon after Interpol was notified, Lebanese authorities said. The others fled Egypt, and their whereabouts are unknown, the prosecutors said.
The campaign also helped prompt Egypt’s parliament to pass a law designed to protect the identities of people who report sexual assault and harassment to the authorities.
These modest successes appear to have come at a cost for some of the campaigners, however. One of the women involved with the Instagram pages, a dual Egyptian-American citizen, was detained after security officers knocked on her door at 4 a.m. on Aug. 30. Her male roommate who accompanied her to a police station was also held and remains in custody, according to people close to the situation.
Another witness was detained from her car outside her Cairo home last week after testifying in the 2014 rape case and offering video evidence to prosecutors, the people said.
Rights advocates said the detentions, and the uncertain fate of those involved, would send a signal to other victims and witnesses who might be contemplating speaking out about sexual assault and harassment in Egypt.
“It’s a problem with the Egyptian judicial system. Instead of focusing on the crime, they’re looking into the lifestyles of the victims,” said Hussein Baoumi, a researcher on Egypt with Amnesty International. “It’s victim blaming.”
Egyptian officials have said the effort to curtail dissent is needed for Egypt’s national security and stability. Commenting on previous cases, officials with Egypt’s prosecution have also said that sexual harassment and assault claims shouldn’t justify broader criticisms or insults of the Egyptian state.
Write to Jared Malsin at jared.malsin@wsj.com
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September 04, 2020 at 01:11AM
https://www.wsj.com/articles/womens-rights-activists-face-fresh-threat-in-egypt-after-arrests-11599156673
Women’s Rights Activists Face Fresh Threat in Egypt After Arrests - The Wall Street Journal
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