Resisting oppression in an Egyptian prison cell

On Thursday, I had the wonderful opportunity to accept an award from DAWN (Democracy for the Arab World Now) at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The glittery formal event was literally worlds away from Al-Qanter women’s prison, north of Cairo, where I was arbitrarily detained for nearly two years. I was subjected to forced pelvic examinations and denied access to necessary medical care for serious medical issues, including uterine tumors.

All this came after I was abducted from the streets of Cairo in November 2019, accused of belonging to a terrorist group and authoring “fake news.” In truth, I was detained solely for doing my job, conveying the voice of the weak, particularly those whose human rights had been violated.

I mention this not for my own attention, but because I am one of the lucky ones.

Thanks to an outcry from organizations worldwide, including Amnesty International, I was released in April 2021. Today, I continue my work, bloodied yet unbowed.

According to Reporters Without Borders’ Press Freedom Index, Egypt ranks 166th out of 188 countries considered the most difficult places to work as a journalist, followed by Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Syria and North Korea.

Human rights groups estimate some 60,000 prisoners of conscience remain in Egyptian jails, facilities ripe with overcrowding and human rights abuses.

One of them is my close friend and former cellmate, Hassiba Mahsoub, arrested just a month after me in 2019 for allegedly joining the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egyptian authorities consider a terrorist organization. Mahsoub was released with precautionary measures on December 13, 2020, but rearrested 11 hours later. She remains in prison today.

Mahsoub is an engineer, businesswoman, and human rights activist. She is being punished because of the political affiliations of her brother, who was formerly the Vice President of the Al-Wasat Party and Minister of State for Legal and Parliamentary Affairs under Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi. Morsi was overthrown in a military coup in 2013, led by the man who became Egypt’s current president, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Mahsoub has life-threatening medical conditions and she, too, has been denied treatment repeatedly. She has a heart condition, high blood pressure and several uterine tumors. For two months, she was held in a dangerous ward typically reserved for drug offenders.

For over three years, we couldn’t speak or meet, but we clung to hope. Someday, we will narrate our tale of friendship, resilience and victory that we experienced during those long years in dark cells. Together, fortified by all we’ve endured, even the unthinkable.

According to media and civil society organization reports, women in similar situations are often denied food and water and physically assaulted as well.

As Egypt holds presidential elections, a pivotal moment for its future, over 250 women political prisoners, including five journalists, remain unjustly imprisoned. They sit now, listening to the radio with bated breath, hoping for any news. I once sat with them, sharing their anticipation, and together, we clung to the hope each news signal carried.

Their most fervent hope is that a presidential candidate will prioritize their release. Despite repeated disappointments as recent prisoner pardon lists excluded them, their wish is simple yet profound: that each candidate strives to end the unjust prison sentences.

Today, I appeal to American congresswomen to step in, to work to strengthen protections and the international rule of law, defeating the corruption that leads repeatedly to these arbitrary arrests and detentions in Egypt and beyond. As Margaret Thatcher once said, “In politics, if you want anything said, ask a man. If you want anything done, ask a woman.”

Now is a vital opportunity to reexamine the role of the U.S. and the specific attacks, targeting and treatment of women journalists and human rights defenders that affect greater society in Egypt.

Nothing less than the freedom of the press, the great bulwark of democracy, is at stake.

Solafa Magdy is a freelance journalist and human rights defender. Follow her @solafasallam.