They denounce the arrest of dozens of people and restrictions on the right to demonstrate before COP27

Euskaraz irakurri: COP27ren aurretik dozenaka pertsona atxilotzen eta manifestaziorako eskubidea mugatzen ari direla salatu dute

The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW), specialized in monitoring the international humanitarian situation, has denounced this Sunday that the Egyptian authorities have arrested in recent days dozens of people who have called for the demonstration and restricted the very right to protest in the days prior to the celebration of the COP27 climate summit in the tourist town of Sharm el Sheikh.

There, the authorities have ordered the placement of cameras in all taxis in the area so that security agencies can monitor passengers and drivers, and have launched an “unduly complex” registration process aimed, according to HRW, at limiting public participation in this summit.

For the deputy director of HRW for the Middle East and North Africa, Adam Coogle, “it is clear that the Egyptian government” led by the ex-military coup leader Abdelfatá al-Sisi “has no intention of relaxing its abusive security measures or allowing the freedoms of expression or assembly”.

Among the arrests, HRW highlights that of the Indian activist against climate change Ajit Rajagopal when he was preparing to carry out an eight-day march from Cairo to Sharm el Sheikh. Rajagopal was released the next day following international criticism.

The governor of the province of South Sinai, Khaled Fouda, has warned that the security forces will only allow concentrations in designated areas, far from the summit

HRW also recalls that the Egyptian Government requires all attendees to download a application that collects personal information and requires access to the mobile’s camera, microphone and location service. “A lot of data,” says the group, “that raise concerns about the right to privacy of the participants.”

Protest at the gates of COP27. Photo: Efe

Greenpeace deploys solar panels in Madrid

For their part, some 40 Greenpeace activists have deployed this Sunday more than 20 portable solar panels and photovoltaic modules in the Temple of Debod in Madrid to demand that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, bring to the COP27 climate summit “commitments of climate justice.

The activists have chosen the Temple of Debod for being the “greatest symbol of Egyptian culture in Spain”.

Within the framework of the summit, environmentalists have also carried out actions in cities such as Getafe, Zaragoza, Teruel, Valencia, Malaga and Arroyomolinos de León (Huelva).