United Nations Forum on the Rights of Minorities – Fifteenth Session Oral Statement – Item 3 on the agenda: General Discussion JUSTICE HOUSE Thank you Mr President. Justice House would like to draw this forum’s attention to the recurrent and systematic pattern of severe acts of intimidation, punishment, and reprisals perpetrated against minority rights activists in Egypt. Reprisals are a widespread practice used by the Egyptian authorities against activists and advocates for minority rights, as well as journalists, both within Egypt and in the diaspora. Mohammed Al-Baker, the Nubian rights advocate, as well as numerous other activists, remain behind bars on the basis of groundless accusations. Furthermore, the families of these individuals are subjected to persecution and harassment. We commend the positive step taken by Egypt in releasing Rami Kamal and Patrick Zaki, activists and advocates for the religious rights of minorities in Egypt, in the aftermath of their arbitrary detention and maltreatment. The decision to release the two activists came after several appeals by the High Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations experts. We request that Egypt permits these two activists to travel and to end the judicial and security prosecutions against them. While I address you, the activist and journalist Ismail Al-Iskandrani and the journalist Walid Muharab remain languishing in jail after the military court issued a 7-year prison sentence to each of them, due to their prominent defence of Bedouin rights in Sinai. In fact, numerous activists concerned with the rights of Bedouin in Sinai have been subjected to arbitrary detention, intimidation, and punishment. Egyptian authorities have relied on anti-terrorism laws to undertake and justify proceedings against advocates and activists. Resulting in such activists facing accusations of establishing and joining terrorist groups. Therefore, many of them have been placed on terrorism lists. Justice House demands the immediate release of activists and advocates for minority rights in Egypt, and for the campaign of reprisals against them to cease, including judicial prosecution, smear campaigns conducted in the media, travel bans, and being placed on terrorism lists. We further call on the international community to provide protection and support to advocates for minority rights in Egypt. Thank you Mr President.