Government response

UK response to arrests of human rights workers in Egypt

The UK is deeply concerned about the arrest of 3 staff members from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

An FCDO spokesperson said:

The UK is deeply concerned about the arrest of 3 staff members from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR): Executive Director Gasser Abdel Razek, and employees Mohammed Basheer and Karim Ennarah.

We have been in regular contact with the Egyptian authorities since the arrests took place, and the Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has raised the issue directly with his Egyptian counterpart. We are working closely with partners in the international community who share our concerns.

All human rights defenders should be able to work without fear of arrest or reprisals.

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Updates to this page

Published 22 November 2020