Article Link: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/11/09/cop27-climate-alaa-prison-strike-sissi/
Summary: Egypt is holding the COP27 climate change conference in Cairo, however, the spotlight has been moved towards Egypt’s civil rights abuses rather than the issue of climate change. This comes as Alaa Adbel Fatah, a protestor has gone on a hunger strike and could die in prison. He had been a popular political figure during the Arab Spring in 2011 and was arrested by Egypt’s President Fissi Fatah in 2014 and has been held ever since. Multiple world leaders such as Emmanuel Macron, Rishi Sunak, and Olaf Scholz have all asked Fissi to release Alaa. Multiple climate change activists such as Jean Su state that the credibility of the entire conference relies on Egypt being able to release Alaa and other political prisoners. Climate change and human rights activists alike believe this conference’s legacy will be around Alaa and Egypt’s human rights abuses and not actual progress on climate change.
Analysis: I believe it is very unlikely Egypt will release Alaa. After I had chosen this article, Egypt has committed to improving its human rights situation, however, this is likely going to be very cosmetic and would only make the abuse of civil rights in Egypt less public. They had also never mentioned Alaa’s release. The legacy of this entire summit is going to be related to a side issue and not the actual issue of climate change, which is believed to be the greatest threat to our way of life and humanity in general. It is very likely Egypt will get away with its human rights abuses, as many countries that have been put under a spotlight are able to slowly walk out of them with time. The West will let Egypt get away with these abuses, as the it was the West that had actually supported Egypt’s coup against the democratically elected government in 2013. It is unfortunate, but just like this conference, it is unlikely many major steps will be taken to solve any of the brought up issues, whether it relates to civil rights or climate change. Egypt simply isn’t relevant enough to Western interests to remain a prolonged issue for Western media and politicians alike.
Connection to Class: The COP (Conference of Parties) is hosted as a climate change summit for the United Nations, a political and cultural IGO. Many NGOs are able to participate, as the UN recognizes climate change activist groups are very sufficient in helping the UN and states within it come up with solutions to combat climate change. However, many of these NGOs have taken stances against Egypt, and are using their limited time of spotlight to highlight the human rights abuses of Egypt. This annual conference is one of the few times NGOs are represented and projected onto the international platform by the United Nations.