Egyptian lawyer and human rights defender Houda Abdel Moneim is facing a serious health deterioration due to her ongoing arbitrary detention. Her case reflects the ongoing violations against human rights defenders in Egypt.
Fadwa Khaled, the daughter of human rights activist Houda Abdel Moneim, affirmed the significant deterioration in her mother’s health condition during her last visit, noting that her mother suffers from critical health conditions that worsened after she was brought before trial on politically motivated charges.
The daughter appealed to the authorities to release her mother immediately for humanitarian and health reasons, saying, “Enough is enough. Mom will turn 66 years old in January! We want to spend time with her before it is too late.”
The Egyptian Supreme State Security Prosecution sent Houda Abdel Moneim and Ola Al-Qaradawi, the daughter of the late preacher Youssef Al-Qaradawi, in addition to 100 other rights defendants, to criminal trial in Case No. 800 of 2019. The prosecution charged them with “joining a terrorist group” and “spreading false news,” charges that usually directed against human rights activists and politicians.
Hoda Abdel Moneim’s suffering coincides with inhumane detention conditions that contravene international standards for the treatment of prisoners, such as the Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (the Nelson Mandela Rules), which emphasize ensuring adequate health care for detainees. Her continued pretrial detention also constitutes a violation of Egypt’s human rights obligations to the international community.
In flagrant violation of international agreements that protect the right to free speech and a fair trial, this case came amid the ongoing restrictions on public liberties and opposition voices.
The case of Hoda Abdel Moneim is a blatant example of violations of the right to a fair trial and freedom of expression in Egypt. Recycling cases is a capricious tactic used to extend incarceration without a fair trial, which is obviously against both Egyptian and international law. The international community and local and international human rights organizations must intervene to put an end to these practices, and release Houda Abdel Moneim and all those arbitrarily detained in Egyptian prisons.
