BEIRUT —
The
Egyptian government has severely restricted environmental groups’ work,
leaving activists fearful of publicly scrutinizing authorities ahead of the
country hosting a crucial global climate summit, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said
Monday.
اضافة اعلان
The UN’s annual Conference
of the Parties (COP) involves nearly 200 countries, with hundreds of observers,
NGOs and — very often — mass demonstrations designed to ramp up the pressure on
political leaders to tackle climate change.
Egypt will host
this year’s event, COP27, in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh in November.
“The Egyptian
government has imposed arbitrary funding, research, and registration obstacles
that have debilitated local environmental groups, forcing some activists into
exile and others to steer clear of important work,” said Richard Pearshouse,
HRW environment director.
“These
restrictions violate the rights to freedom of assembly and association and
threaten Egypt’s ability to uphold its environmental and climate action
commitments” as the host of COP27, the rights group added in a statement.
Egyptian
authorities have lately championed concerns that industrialized countries — the
biggest polluters — have fallen short in helping developing African nations
tackle climate change impacts for which the continent shares little blame.
But for one
environmentalist cited by
HRW, this is “because this intersects with their
interests, like the need for more funds”.
HRW said it spoke
to 13 activists, academics, scientists and journalists who have been involved
in climate action in Egypt, who all spoke on condition of anonymity for
security reasons.
Rights groups have
repeatedly condemned Egypt’s human rights record under President
Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, who ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013 before becoming
head of state the following year.
They allege the
country holds some 60,000 political prisoners, many held on charges of
“spreading false news”.
HRW noted that
interviewees pointed to a “recent expansion of official tolerance for environmental
activities that are easily reconciled with government priorities”.
But the rights
group said that activists were fearful of drawing attention to issues including
industrial pollution and the military’s involvement in “destructive forms of
quarrying”, as well as major infrastructure projects.
Leading environmental
organizations in Egypt “have been weakened severely by government restrictions
and a pervasive sense of fear and uncertainty,” HRW said, citing several
insiders within such entities.
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