UN Experts Urge Egypt To Remove Two Activists From Terrorist List

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2021) United Nations' experts have urged Egypt to remove political activist Ramy Shaath and human rights defender Zyad El-Elaimy from its list of terrorists and stop abusing counter-terrorism powers, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Right (OHCHR) said Thursday.

Shaath and El-Elaimy were detained in June 2019. Shaath's detention was extended for the 21st time on January 24. The activists are said to have been put on a terrorist list by an Egyptian prosecutor on April 17, 2020, despite being absent during the proceedings.

"UN experts urge the Egyptian authorities to remove Ramy Shaath and Zyad El-Elaimy from a 'terrorist' list and to stop the systemic misuse of counter-terrorism powers. The matter was heard on appeal yesterday, and is scheduled to be decided on 10 March 2021," the OHCHR said in a statement.

The experts urged Cairo to observe the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention's opinion stating that Shaath was arbitrarily arrested and should be released.

"These cases are among many others in the past five years in which the Working Group has found the Government of Egypt to be in violation of its international human rights obligations," the experts said adding that this may indicate a systemic issue of the misuse of counter-terrorism authority.

Shaath was the Egyptian coordinator of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel, arrested for aiding a terrorist group.

El-Elaimy, a human rights lawyer, former lawmaker and member of Egyptian Social Democratic Party was arrested and sentenced to one year in prison and a fine for spreading misinformation with intent to undermine public order during an interview with BBC in 2017.