Thunberg calls on Egypt to release political prisoners amid climate summit

Climate activist Greta Thunberg criticized the Egyptian government’s human rights record on day three of the Egypt-hosted COP27 United Nations climate summit, calling for the release of British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

“During COP27, we urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release all those held simply for peacefully exercising their human rights, implementing criteria set by local NGOs for these releases: fairness, transparency, inclusiveness and urgency,” Thunberg wrote on Twitter on Tuesday. “A system that doesn’t address the needs for climate justice and securing human rights is a system that has failed everyone – we need to keep both in mind.”

Thunberg specifically pointed to the case of El-Fattah, a software developer and activist who was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to five years in prison on charges of promoting “false news undermining national security.” His imprisonment has been widely condemned by international human rights groups, and he has spent nearly seven months on a hunger strike.

Activists and human rights organizations have accused the nation of using the COP27 presidency as a means of laundering its human rights record. Earlier this week, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) led a letter urging President Biden to engage Egyptian officials on the issue during the conference.

“We are … deeply troubled by the message it sends to the world that the Egyptian government is hosting COP27 while imprisoning tens of thousands of political prisoners – including many environmental activists,” they wrote. Only last week, security forces arrested Indian climate activist Ajit Rajagopal midway through a March from Cairo to Sharm-el-Sheikh, the Red Sea resort hosting the summit.

Thunberg linked to a petition by 12 Egyptian human rights organizations calling for the immediate release of political prisoners.

“Addressing the environmental crises can not be utilized to greenwash the reputation of one of the worst abusers of human rights in the world,” Yasmin Omar, U.N. and regional mechanisms manager at the Committee for Justice, said in a statement. “The world’s solidarity with our demands created a unique momentum to center human rights in vital discussions during COP27 and to call on Egypt to take concrete steps to release rights detainees and open up civic space.”