[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 205 (Monday, November 29, 2021)]
[Senate]
[Page S8777]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            MORNING BUSINESS

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                             HOSSAM BAHGAT

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, in June of this year, Egyptian 
prosecutors opened a criminal investigation concerning human rights 
defender Hossam Bahgat, in relation to a December 2020 tweet 
criticizing Egypt's flawed parliamentary elections. The acts he has 
been accused of would not be considered crimes in the United States, 
nor in any other country that respects freedom of expression.
  Hossam Bahgat is the executive director and founder of one of the 
most respected Egyptian human rights organizations, the Egyptian 
Initiative for Personal Rights, EIPR. His work has been recognized 
around the world, and in April 2021, Mr. Bahgat met with Secretary of 
State Blinken as part of a group of leading human rights activists. 
Other EIPR employees have also been targeted, along with many others as 
part of the government's crackdown on independent civil society 
organizations. In February of 2020, EIPR researcher Patrick George Zaki 
was forcibly disappeared and reportedly tortured. A year ago, three of 
EIPR's senior employees, Gasser Abdel-Razek, Karim Ennarah, and Mohamed 
Basheer, were also arbitrarily detained, effectively silencing them.
  Mr. Bahgat faces up to 3 years in prison and almost $20,000 in fines 
for reportedly doing nothing more than expressing views the Egyptian 
authorities consider to be ``insulting'' or ``false news''. This is not 
the first time Mr. Bahgat has been targeted for his courageous and 
important reporting. In 2015, he was detained for 3 days after 
reporting on officers convicted of planning a coup and was only 
released when the case received international attention from human 
rights groups and the United Nations.
  I have consistently spoken out about human rights in Egypt and in 
other countries, especially when governments crack down on human rights 
activists. The State Department publicly expressed concern in July of 
this year. Today, I am adding my voice to others who have raised 
concerns about Mr. Bahgat's wrongful detention. A verdict in his case 
may be imminent. I hope the Egyptian Government will abandon its 
persecution of Hossam Bahgat and his fellow human rights defenders. 
Like the Department of State, I have been urging the Egyptian 
authorities to make progress on human rights so our two countries can 
expand cooperation in other important areas. Further attempts to 
silence Mr. Bahgat and the other EIPR employees will needlessly impede 
those efforts.

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