Egyptian activist arrested for blasting government inaction on sexual harassment
Amnesty International says Amal Fathy is being held over video criticizing state of human rights in Egypt
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An Egyptian activist was arrested Friday over a Facebook video she made criticizing government inaction on sexual harassment, Amnesty International said.
In the May 9 video, Amal Fathy criticized Egyptian authorities for their failure to protect women from widespread sexual harassment, as well as the deteriorating state of human rights in the country and the state of the economy and public services, according to the rights group.
Amnesty said Fathy was arrested at home along with her husband Mohamed Lotfy, a former Amnesty researcher and director of Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms.
Mohamed Lofty was released to be with the couple’s child but a prosecutor ordered Amal Fathy to be held for 15 days on suspicion of “incitement to overthrow the ruling system, publishing lies and misusing social media,” Reuters reported, quoting a lawyer at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms as saying.
The news agency quoted a security source as saying Fathy was arrested over “complaints accusing her of insulting the Egyptian state, by publishing a posting that contained swearing and defamation against Egypt.”
Brave activist #AmalFathy spoke out on #FB about sexual harassment in #Egypt. She said the government was failing to protect women.
This morning they proved her right – by arresting her #FreeAmal #MeToo
https://t.co/GeNNoCRbxP pic.twitter.com/tko7hlj8AB
— amnestypress (@amnestypress) May 11, 2018
Amnesty called for Fathy’s immediate release and said her arrest was “an affront to the freedom of expression guaranteed by Egypt’s own constitution.”
“Amal Fathy criticized the Egyptian government for failing to protect women, and her arrest has shown just how pertinent her concerns are. It is a dark day when the Egyptian authorities are more concerned with silencing a woman who speaks out about sexual harassment than taking steps to address the issue,” said Najia Bounaim, Amnesty’s North Africa campaigns director.
Egypt’s civil society, which played a key role in the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak, has been the target of a sweeping crackdown since President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi led the military overthrow of an elected Islamist president in 2013.
The magnitude of Egypt’s sexual violence problem came to light in the years following the 2011 uprising, when mass rape and sexual assault occurred during several protests.
Since then, organized efforts by civil society to combat the phenomenon encouraged women to be more outspoken about it, despite the insistence of a large sector in society to deny its existence.
AP contributed to this report.
The Times of Israel Community.