Some 70 people have been arrested in Egypt on the eve of the UN climate change conference, COP27, security sources told dpa on Sunday.
The sources say security forces have repeatedly demanded identity documents from pedestrians in the city and arbitrarily searched their cell phones.
Human rights lawyer Mohamed Ramadan told the news portal ‘Mada Masr’ that «hundreds» of people had been arbitrarily arrested in the coastal city of Alexandria. The context is marked by calls for protests in the country on November 11.
The COP conference will kick off on November 6 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheikh. Representatives from some 200 countries will spend two weeks there discussing how to curb global warming.
Protests by climate activists, for example, are allowed in a specially designated area next to the conference center, but all other demonstrations are de facto banned in Egypt.
Calls for protests on November 11, during the COP, have been circulating on social media for days. One of those calling for protests on Twitter speaks of «the last chance to save Egypt».
A hashtag with the words «All of us against Sisi» has also been circulating, in reference to President Abdelfatá al Sisi. Earlier, there was also talk of a planned «climate revolution» on November 11.
On that day, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to attend the meeting. The U.S. embassy in Cairo has also indicated that there have been calls for demonstrations.
Al Sisi came to power in 2013 after a military coup and has ruled the country with an iron fist ever since. There is no serious political opposition, freedom of speech and freedom of the press are massively restricted since then.
Human rights activists have repeatedly denounced serious violations by the security forces, such as torture and extrajudicial executions. The government has promised improvements, however, organizations such as Amnesty International continue to describe the human rights situation as catastrophic.
