The Egyptian government has drawn the ire of the international human rights community after its controversial decision to arrest three staff members from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). The campaign began with the arrest of EIPR’s Administrative Manager Mohamed Basheer on Sunday the 15th of November, a few days after which, security forces apprehended Karim Ennarah, the head of the organization’s criminal justice unit. A day later, on Thursday 19 November, authorities arrested Gasser Abdel Razek, EIPR’s executive director. In a rebuke against the French government’s criticism of the arrests, a spokesperson for Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that the three human rights activists were being investigated for breaking Egypt’s civil society law, which critics have pointed out is false. The three men face a number of charges, including joining a terrorist organization, spreading false news and misusing social media and these accusations have been made by Egypt’s State Security Prosecution. EIPR claims that one of the detainees, Abdel Razek, has been mistreated by authorities. According to EIPR President and Founder and renowned award-winning investigative journalist Hossam Bahgat, Abdel Razek is in solitary confinement, sleeps in a bed…
