Mona Seif

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Mona Seif ( Egyptian Arabic منى سيف, IPA: [ˈmonæ ˈseːf], born March 12, 1986 ) is an Egyptian human rights activist known for her participation in dissident movements during and after the 2011 Egyptian revolution , her creative way of using social media in campaigns, and for her work on End the military trials for civilian demonstrators. She is studying biology and examining the BRCA1 breast cancer gene .

Mona Seif

background

Seif grew up in a family of activists, and politics was a constant theme in her childhood. Her father, Ahmed Seif , who died in 2014, was a human rights lawyer and opposition leader who served five years in prison during the Mubarak regime. He was tortured while in detention. Her mother, Laila Soueif , is also an activist and math professor. She helped organize demonstrations against the Mubarak regime in the decades before its fall. Her mother is "known in the streets as being cheeky and brave, and on numerous occasions has confronted policemen with nothing more than her scolding, devastating, booming voice and steely eyes."

Seif's brother, Alaa Abd El-Fattah , co-founded the Egyptian blog aggregator Manalaa and began documenting abuse by the Mubarak regime in 2005. Alaa was arrested during a demonstration in 2006 and was detained for 45 days. Mona Seif and Alaa's wife Manal helped organize an online campaign to free him. Seif's younger sister, Sanaa Seif , is also an activist and protester for the opposition.

Seif is a PhD student in biology, with a focus on cancer research. She is investigating the BRCA1 breast cancer gene and its mutation pattern in Egyptian patients. She says she has two full-time careers: one in cancer research and another in human rights activism.

2011 revolution

Nour ( Ayman Nour 's son) & Mona Seif.

In the year before the revolution, Mona was involved in the dissident movement and took part in demonstrations. Between January 25 and February 5, members of her immediate family and many members of her extended family took part in the protests in Tahrir Square .

After Mubarak

Dr. Aida Seif El Dawla and Mona Seif at the “Anti-Torture” conference

Seif is the co-founder of No to Military Trials for Civilians. The group calls for the release of those detained during the revolution, the end of trials of civilians by military courts, the transfer of all civilian trials to the jurisdiction of civil courts, and the investigation of allegations of torture with the participation of the military police. She wrote her blog Ma3t to cover the actions of the military police against the Tahir protesters and asked people to tell their stories.

Seif also criticized the actions of the Egyptian interim government, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) , which demanded the release of protesters without full discharge: "The fact that they have been given suspended sentences does not give them the pride they deserve as revolutionaries, who did nothing wrong. "

Seif estimates that military courts have sentenced 7,000 civilians since Mubarak's impeachment. She notes that the approach of the SCAF has changed since March: Demonstrators are now increasingly receiving suspended sentences instead of up to five years in prison, as was previously the case. She suspects it is an attempt to stop the regular protest marches, which could also be due to pressure from international human rights groups.

She continues to criticize the tactics of the SCAF: “We have evidence that the military is currently taking action against demonstrators (...) They selected well-known figures from the Tahrir protest. They selected people who were known and they tortured and beat them ... and if you read the testimony of the few released, there are still many people who are being unconstitutionally detained. And you see that it's not just about being tortured or beaten, but there is also an element of the army that is trying to break the revolutionary spirit. "

Part of Seif's project is to ask released prisoners to record what has happened to them. In some cases, she was able to get the testimony right after she was discharged and thus also record bruises and injuries. Seif believes that the Internet is the only way to combat this approach.

In 2012 she was a finalist of the Front Line Award for Human Rights Defenders at Risk , which eventually went to Syrian blogger Razan Ghazzawi .

When she pointed out the high risk in Egyptian prisons from the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 , she was arrested.

Controversy

When Seif was named a finalist in Human Rights Watch 's Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders in April 2013 , she and Human Rights Watch were criticized for what some believed to be a determined pro-Palestinian stance. The specific allegations of the pro-Zionist UN WATCH were that they had made clear on Twitter their support for the use of force in attacks on the Egypt-Israel-Jordan gas pipeline, the invasion of the Israeli embassy in Cairo, and rocket attacks on Israel. The allegations were thoroughly examined and dismissed by Scott Long. The three tweets (out of 93,000 examined) show no evidence of support for violence, according to him.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Scott Bronstein, CNN Special Investigations Unit: For Egyptian online warrior, father's torture fueled activism , CNN.com. June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
  2. ↑ CNN's Amber Lyon Reports on the Digital Roots of the 'Arab Spring' - CNN Press Room - CNN.com Blogs , Cnnpressroom.blogs.cnn.com. June 16, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
  3. ^ State Run Newspapers and Mona Seif , on wnycstudios.org
  4. ↑ The happy scientist ME , blog entry, ma3t, November 2012
  5. ^ No Military Trials for Civilians . Retrieved December 29, 2011.
  6. ↑ Military promises activists it will review military trials of civilians | Al-Masry Al-Youm: Today's News from Egypt . Al-Masry Al-Youm. June 1, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  7. ↑ Egypt's ruling military makes promises to No to Military Trials campaigners - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online . English.ahram.org.eg. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  8. ↑ SCAF promises to reconsider military trials . Thedailynewsegypt.com. Retrieved June 22, 2011.
  9. ^ Egypt's Secret Military Trials Erode Activists' Trust . NPR. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  10. ^ Molly Hennessy: Egypt democracy protests: Egyptian activists plan protests over military trials , latimes.com. May 27, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
  11. ^ Bloggers slam army council in anti-SCAF blogging day . Thedailynewsegypt.com. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  12. ↑ Majority of activists in military prisons released, criticism of SCAF continues - Politics - Egypt - Ahram Online . English.ahram.org.eg. May 24, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  13. ↑ Mohannad Sabry: New Egypt? 7,000 civilians jailed since Mubarak fell - World Wires . MiamiHerald.com. June 13, 2011. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  14. ^ The Front Line Defenders Award . Front line. Archived from the original on June 7, 2012. Retrieved July 20, 2012.
  15. ↑ The Guardian : Egypt arrests activists including Ahdaf Soueif over coronavirus protest , March 18, 2020, loaded on April 2, 2020
  16. ↑ Egyptian activist faces pro-Israel backlash after award nomination . Al Akhbar. May 2, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  17. ↑ Tweets for Hatred: Mona Seif, Nominee for 2013 Martin Ennals Human Rights Award . UN Watch. May 1, 2013. Retrieved October 2, 2014.
  18. ^ Scott Long , Hillel Neuer: Liar. Mona Seif: Hero . a paper bird 3 May 2013


personal data
SURNAME Seif, Mona
ALTERNATIVE NAMES منى سيف (ArzS)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Egyptian human rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH March 12, 1986