70 people arrested in Egypt ahead of possible protests Mother gives birth to ‘wrong’ child

About 70 people have been arrested in Egypt in the run-up to the UN climate conference COP27. The German news agency learned this from security circles on Sunday. In addition, security forces sometimes demanded ID cards from pedestrians and randomly checked their cell phones, it said. Human rights lawyer Mohammed Ramadan told the news site Mada Masr that “hundreds” have been arbitrarily arrested in the coastal city of Alexandria. The background is the call for protests in the country on November 11.

The so-called COP starts on November 6 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. There, representatives from some 200 countries want to debate for two weeks on how to reduce global warming. Protests by, for example, climate activists are allowed in a specially designed zone next to the convention center. Otherwise, demonstrations are actually banned in Egypt.

Calls for protests on November 11 and therefore during the COP have been circulating on social media for days. One of the flyers on Twitter speaks of “the last chance to save Egypt”. A hashtag with the words “We all against Sisi” also made the rounds – in reference to President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Previously, there was talk of a planned “climate revolution” on November 11. On this day, US President Joe Biden is expected at the conference in Sharm. The US embassy in Cairo also pointed out that demonstrations had been called for.

Al-Sisi came to power in 2013 after an army putsch and has ruled the country with an iron fist ever since. There is no serious political opposition. Freedom of expression and freedom of the press have been severely curtailed. Human rights activists repeatedly report violations by security forces, some of which are serious, such as torture and extrajudicial killings. The government has promised improvements. However, organizations such as Amnesty International continue to call the human rights situation catastrophic. (saw/sda/dpa)