Group urges UK envoy to raise human rights issues in Egypt

Published March 16, 2017

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, left, meets with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, at Tahrir Palace in Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (The Associated Press)

The human rights organization Reprieve is urging British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to speak about what it called the "appalling" human rights abuses in Egypt during his meeting with Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.

Reprieve urged Johnson to secure the release of Irish national Ibrahim Halawa, who was 17 when arrested and imprisoned in Cairo in 2013. He was detained in a mosque near Ramses Square as the Muslim Brotherhood held a "day of rage" over the removal of elected President Mohamed Morsi.

Reprieve's Harriet McCulloch says Johnson "must urge Sissi to end these appalling abuses, and free Ibrahim and the many like him."

Before the visit, Johnson said "the U.K. is a champion of a renewed Egypt because stability, peace and growth in this region are the bedrock of opportunity and security."

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