Hoda Abdel Moneim and Aisha Khairat Al Shater; Wrongly Detained for 3 Years and Now Considered ‘Terrorists’ in Egypt

“The state believes that a mother who is over 60 years, is a terrorist who threatens Egypt's security. There is a danger that she will see her children and grandchildren, there is a danger that we visit her and be sure about her safety. There is a danger that she gets medical assistance. They are killing us slowly!” Fadwa Khalid, the daughter of "Hoda Abdel-Moneim,” wrote right after the Egyptian Court decision of listing her mother’s name on the terrorists’ list.

Indeed, the Official Egyptian Gazette published on 2 September 2021 the decision of the Cairo Criminal Court, listing 45 defendants, including 7 other women, on the list of terrorism for a period of five years.  The lawyer Hoda Abdel-Moneim and the human rights activist Aisha Khairat Al-Shater were included in the Terrorist list.

Fadwa Khalid posted on her Facebook account “Mom, Do you know that the Official Gazette published an official publication that the Egyptian state put your name on terrorists’ list for 5 years?! Starting from September 2021”

She added “1040 days in prison, two years and ten months. We didn't see each other except while running after her in ambulances and deportations.”

According to MENA Rights Group website, “A wave of arrests occurred in late October 2018, which targeted at least 40 human rights lawyers and activists. During those circumstances, Hoda Abdel-Moneim and Aisha Khairat Al-Shater were detained.

The website emphasized, “On October 31, 2018, at around 11 p.m., state security forces broke into and raided Aisha Al-Shater’s house in Cairo. They arrested her without a warrant and took her to an unknown location.”

It continued, the same scenario was repeated on November 1, 2018, with the lawyer Hoda Abdel-Moneim. “For 21 days, her fate and whereabouts remained unknown.”

Both reappeared on November 21, at the office of the state security prosecutor in Cairo, where they were accused of "joining an illegal group" and "inciting harm to the national economy", then placed in pre-trial detention.

 

On the Terrorists’ List

Fadwa Khalid commented on the Court decision by saying “Mom, 5 years are awaiting us in this horrific situation! Even if you leave the prison now, you will still become imprisoned for 5 years in this country. You are prohibited from traveling. You are prohibited from working in any position in the country. You are prohibited from any money in your name, facilities or companies.”

According to the law regulating lists of terrorist entities and terrorists issued in 2015, the inclusion of any group or persons on these lists is automatically followed by “money seizure, travel ban, and inclusion on the anticipation lists of arrival and travel ban.” It is noteworthy that last August, the Cairo Criminal Court decided to “re-list the (Brotherhood) organization on the list of (terrorist entities) for a period of 5 years.”

Mostafa Azab, the regional director of the Arab Organization for Human Rights in Britain, said that the Egyptian regime is wasting all values of law and humanity in an unprecedented way throughout modern Egyptian history.

 

The lawyer Hoda Abdel-Moneim

Hoda Abdel-Moneim is a 63-years-old human rights lawyer, former member of Egypt’s National Council for human rights, former Egyptian Member of Parliament (2012-2013) and spokesperson for Egypt’s Women Revolutionary Coalition.

She was a Board member of the Egyptian Committee for rights and freedoms (ECRF). She joined ECRF to help record and document human rights violations in Egypt. Especially with regard to women’s and children’s rights. She also was providing legal assistance to alleged victims. 

According to the statement of International Amnesty, “Hoda Abdel-Moneim volunteered as a consultant for the ECRF and had been active in documenting human rights violations including cases of enforced disappearances.”

The statement added, “She is a former member of the National Council for Human Rights and of the Egyptian Bar Association. Hoda Abdel-Moneim had been banned from traveling outside of Egypt since late 2013 without being charged with any offense.

Her daughter Fadwa described her by saying “ you can ask anyone who knows her, they will all agree that Mom is a really good person, kind, stubborn, and helping people in hard situations.”

 

Aisha Khairat Al-Shater

Aisha Khairat Al-Shater Is the third daughter of Khairat Al-Shater who was the Deputy Guide of the Muslim Brotherhood. Aisha got her bachelor’s degree in Science and Education and was actively involved in serving her community. She was a member of the Revolutionary Women's Alliance in Egypt and the Egyptian Coordination for Rights.

Aisha played an important role as a Human rights activist defending women’s rights in Egypt. Moreover, she was fighting individual violations and offering direct assistance to those whose rights have been violated.

Mostafa Azab said, “Aisha and other family members of public political figures are subjected to harassment simply because they bear names that the Egyptian regime classifies as political symbols in a form of collective punishment.”

 

Catastrophic Detention Conditions

Both Aisha and Hoda have been deprived of meeting their relatives and were subjected to abuses in the Egyptian prisons. 

About Aisha’s detention, Amnesty International claimed that “following her arrest in November 2018, Aisha was subjected to severe beating, electric shocks and enforced disappearance. Her predicament did not end when the authorities ordered her transfer to al-Qanater Women’s Prison in late January 2019. Instead, she has been subjected to prolonged solitary confinement in conditions that amount to torture.”

Furthermore, the Egyptian Network for Human Rights said that “Aisha is living an ongoing human tragedy inside prison due to the deterioration of her health, as well as her psychological suffering due to her being deprived of seeing her children closely.”

Najia Bounaim warned on Amnesty International website that “the inhumane conditions to which the Egyptian authorities are subjecting Aisha put her life at serious risk. We are deeply concerned about her deteriorating health and the alarming and abusive conditions in which she is being held”

Concerning Hoda Abdel-Moneim, MENA Rights Group official website indicated that “She has been deprived of visits by her lawyer. Moreover, her pre-existing health problems have become significantly worse, due to the denial of necessary regular medication. In January 2020, she suffered a suspected heart attack in prison. The treatment she received was inadequate and her transfer to the hospital was delayed.

 “On March 17, 2021, in light of the severe risk COVID-19 poses for Abdel-Moneim’s health, MENA Rights Group and six other organizations requested the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders and the UN Special Rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights to urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release her.”