Joey Shea
@joey_shea
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Saudi Arabia and UAE Researcher @HRW • she/her
Joined October 2011
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Last Seen Profiles
Pinned Tweet
A Saudi court has sentenced a man to death based solely on his Twitter& YouTube activity.
Repression has reached a terrifying new stage when a court can hand down the death penalty for nothing more than tweets. Saudi authorities should quash the verdict.
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On July 10, 2023, the Specialized Criminal Court, convicted Muhammad al-Ghamdi of several criminal offenses related solely to his peaceful expression online. The court sentenced him to death, using his tweets, retweets, and YouTube activity as the evidence against him.
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Al-Ghamdi’s brother is a known Saudi scholar and govt critic exiled in the UK. On Aug 24, Saeed wrote on Twitter that the “false ruling aims to spite me personally after failed attempts by the investigations to return me to the country.”
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Saudi authorities in recent years have increasingly retaliated against the family members of critics and dissidents abroad in an effort to coerce them to return to the country, Human Rights Watch said.
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Court docs cite two X platform accounts as belonging to al-Ghamdi. Human Rights Watch found that the first account had two followers and the second had eight.
Both accounts, which have fewer than 1,000 tweets combined, largely contained retweets of well-known critics of govt.
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The court docs say the court issued the sentence on the grounds that the crimes “targeted the status of the King and the Crown Prince,” & that the “magnitude of his actions is amplified by the fact they occurred through a global media platform, necessitating a strict punishment.”
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NEW: Today I testified for
@HRW
at the Senate Subcommittee on Investigations chaired by
@SenBlumenthal
on the links between Saudi’s Public Investment Fund and human rights abuses.
Under MBS, the PIF has facilitated and benefited from human rights abuses.
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Excited to say that I have started as
@HRW
's new Saudi Arabia and UAE researcher. Looking forward to (continue) working with such a brilliant team!
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🚩NEW
@HRW
: Saudi border guards have used explosive weapons to kill 100s Ethiopian migrants trying to cross the Yemen-Saudi border, in a widespread & systematic pattern of attacks.
Systematic abuses of Ethiopians may amount to crimes against humanity.
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I write for
@ForeignPolicy
on how repeated US failures to hold Saudi to account for a litany of human rights violations has emboldened the Saudi govt, allowing it to act with impunity.
Strong, decisive, public action is needed to counter mounting abuses.
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Today marks 2 years since the death of courageous Emirati human rights defender Alaa Al-Siddiq (
@alaa_q
).
In Alaa's memory, we call for the immediate release of her father Mohammed Al-Siddiq & 50 others held beyond their completed sentences in the UAE94 case
#AlaaNeverForgotten
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🚩NEW:
@Microsoft
announced a new new datacenter in Saudi Arabia despite the govt’s infiltration of tech platforms & severe repression.
@HRW
demands Microsoft suspend the investment until it can explain how it will meaningfully mitigate human rights risks
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🚩NEW: After years of unjust imprisonment, the UAE continues to incarcerate 51 Emirati prisoners who long completed their sentences
All 51 are part of the grossly unfair UAE94 mass trial whose convictions violated rights to free expression & association.
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🚩NEW: In our report released today,
@HRW
finds that
#SaudiArabia
’s 1st codified personal status law formally enshrines male guardianship over women & contains discriminatory provisions against women on marriage, divorce & children⬇️
#IWD23
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🚩MBS is getting facts wrong about his own laws. Fox &others havent corrected the record:
The "bad law" leading to a death sentence for tweets was reissued in 2017 --after MBS rose to power.
Death sentences have been meted out for tweets *only* under MBS
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Twitter has been accused in a civil US lawsuit of helping Saudi Arabia commit grave human rights abuses against its users including by disclosing confidential user data at the request of KSA authorities at a higher rate than for the US, UK or Canada.
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[THREAD]
@abulkhaezuran
and I analyzed two of the largest trending hashtags in
#Egypt
yesterday: (#جمعه_الغضب_25_سبتمبر & #السيسي_يهزم_التنظيم_الدولي). The 1st is fervently pro Sisi and the 2nd is fervently anti Sisi.
Here is what we found:
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23 rights orgs, including
@HRW
, call on the UAE to release those unjustly imprisoned before COP28.
Dozens who completed their prison sentences continue to be detained, including 55 dissidents, lawyers convicted in the unfair UAE94 trial.
@GulfCentre4HR
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🚩The
@washingtonpost
urges us to remember the UAE’s ‘last human rights defender’ Ahmed Mansoor at COP28.
Mansoor has been detained since 2017, serving a 10-year sentence on charges related to peaceful dissent.
Ahead of COP28, the UAE must
#FreeAhmed
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NEW🚩The UAE will welcome Assad, a leader implicated in rampant atrocities, to COP28, while civil society will be left out in the cold
It is outrageous that an event meant to spur climate action is being exploited to bring Assad back into the global fold
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🚩قتل حرس الحدود السعوديون مئات المهاجرين وطالبي اللجوء الإثيوبيين الذين حاولوا عبور الحدود اليمنية-السعودية
يقتل المسؤولون السعوديون مئات النساء والأطفال بعيدا عن أنظار العالم بينما ينفقون المليارات على الفعاليات الرياضية لتحسين صورتهم
@hrw_ar
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🚩NEW: Saudi's PIF & PGA have enabled Saudi govt efforts to sportswash its egregious human rights record thru the merger w/ LIV Golf & PGA.
The merger places the Saudi govt in an unprecedented position of influence & control at top levels of golf.
@HRW
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🚩A group of Saudi football fans were sentenced to 1year or 6months in prison. Their crime? Chanting during a football match.
How can fans feel safe if they can be easily sent to prison for chants the govt doesn’t like? Saudi Arabia must quash the verdict
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Excited to share that I am joining
@TimepDC
as a nonresident fellow, where I will be focused on researching information controls across the Middle East.
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On this day 6 years ago, UAE security forces stormed Ahmed Mansoor's home & arrested him.
Mansoor dedicated his life to advancing human rights and because of this, Mansoor has been held in solitary confinement for 6 years, without a bed, a mattress & other basic necessities
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Thousands of Afghan asylum seekers are being arbitrarily detained in the UAE's Emirates Humanitarian City, w/ no fair access to asylum procedures. The UAE should release those detained & the US should expedite processing of pending US asylum applications
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Very excited to be
@rightscon
with
@hrw
in person. Come find me to talk surveillance, censorship, & all things freedom of expression in the UAE and Saudi Arabia. I’ll be chairing a private meeting about digital rights during COP28 in the UAE. DM me if you’re interested to attend!
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The UK govt’s invitation to MBS risks rubber-stamping his repression, entrenching the regime’s impunity for the murder of Khashoggi, and ongoing crimes in Yemen, as well as green-lighting further repression at home.
I spoke last night with
@romillyweeks
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French President Macron, heir one of the largest colonial empires in history, complains to
@benyt
that the English-language media is "imposing their own values on a different society."
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🚩On March 31, Saudi rights activist Abdulrahman al-Khalidi was beaten by police officers inside a Bulgarian detention centre.
Bulgarian authorities should end plans to deport him back to Saudi Arabia where he is at risk of arbitrary detention & torture.
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Bulgaria should immediately end plans to deport Saudi rights activist Abdulrahman alKhalidi to Saudi Arabia where would be at risk of arbitrary detention & torture.
AlKhalidi has been a rights activist for 10+ years, advocating for the rights of prisoners
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10 years ago, Egyptian security forces dispersed the Rab’a sit-in, following a plan that envisioned several thousand deaths, killed a minimum of 817 ppl & more likely at least 1000.
Probably amounting to a crime against humanity, no one has been held accountable a decade later.
On August 14, 2013, Egyptian security forces started to open fire on largely peaceful protesters at Rab’a square in Cairo.
Ten years on, and Egyptian authorities have still failed to hold anyone accountable.
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Danish-Bahraini citizen & human rights defender Abdulhadi AlKhawaja has been imprisoned since 2011 in
#Bahrain
for his involvement in peaceful protests.
11 years are 11 too many & we urgently call on the
#Bahrain
govt to
#FreeAlKhawaja
@bahrainCPnews
@BahrainPMO
@moi_bahrain
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Conclusion: Both hashtags bear well-known signs of coordinated inauthentic behaviour & the anti-regime hashtag arguably bears more signs of inauthenticity than the pro regime hashtag.
/end
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The UAE allegedly planned to use COP28 to sign fossil fuel deals by discussing oil and gas agreements with 15 countries during the conference.
The UAE is seeking to use COP28 to burnishing its image while continuing to push the expansion of fossil fuels.
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🚩At
#SB58
: No Climate Justice Without Civic Space and Human Rights
“For the UAE to be able to host big events, we need to have an open civic space. Without a civic space, we can’t pressure the govt. We need the UAE to release prisoners of conscience before COP28.”
@Alshamsi789
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NEW: A joint report released today,
@hrw
&
@BirdBahrain_
document death sentences of 8 men in
#Bahrain
Courts convicted & sentenced them to death after unfair trials, based solely or primarily on confessions allegedly coerced thru torture & ill-treatment
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"Vice has repeatedly blocked news stories that could offend the Saudi govt, leaving its reporters unsure if they are still able to report freely on the kingdom’s human rights abuses," according to the Guardian.
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In our latest for
@lawfareblog
,
@abulkhaezuran
& I unpack an
#Egypt
/ian
#disinfo
campaign targeting
#Libya
in June 2020.
As
#Haftar
retreated, accounts loyal to the LNA tried to spin dynamic events on the ground in their favor
[THREAD]⬇️
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The fourth iteration of the
#Batel
opposition website, launched in opposition to
#Egypt
's
#constitutional
#amendments
, has been blocked. The pattern is the same: Sudanese providers are the first to implement the block, then Vodafone in Egypt, and then other Egyptian ISPs.
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In our latest for
@just_security
,
@abulkhaezuran
and I write about a
#disinfo
campaign we found in
#Egypt
.
While coordinated behaviour on pro-regime trends won’t come as a surprise, we explain how anti-authoritarians use the same manipulation tactics.
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Netblocks confirms that
#Facebook
messenger and BBC restricted in Egypt.
The blocks come after rare anti-govt protests occurred tahrir square and other cities throughout
#Egypt
last Friday evening.
#EgyptBlocks
#KeepitOn
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In my latest for
@TimepDC
, I analyze COVID19
#misinfo
&
#disinformation
on Egyptian networks and assess the effectiveness of the govts response.
While the govt has pursued some effective strategies, these are tempered by censorship and arrest campaigns.
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The front page of Al Akhbar on September 28th, 1970: 50 years ago today & the day Gamal Abdel Nasser died. Found at Al Azbakeya book market.
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Registration open! Interested in human rights and reform in Saudi Arabia? Join this historic gathering led by Saudi activists and civil society leaders in DC or online on the 2nd of May, and hear about the
@PeoplesVisionSA
and more.
Sign up here :
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For ppl around downtown cairo:
-Remove sensitive content as quickly as possible thru secure documentation applications like Tella
-Download and use secure messaging apps like signal (with disappearing messages and pin lock)
Reminder: Be safe everyone, especially if you are around downtown. Lock your photos and log out of your social media accounts.
#Egypt
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MBS has consolidated economic power most notably via the PIF, a US$700 billion fund built on the state’s oil wealth.
MBS wields significant control over the PIF and exercises unilateral decision-making with little transparency or accountability over the fund’s decisions.
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A chilling message from the COP28 host: speakers at a recent UAE climate summit were told not to “criticise Islam, the govt, corporations or individuals” or protest while in the UAE according to a recent investigation by the
@FT
, writes
@katha_nina
@hrw
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Govts attending
#SB58
should push for rights-respecting and ambitious climate action, including a commit to phaseout all fossil fuels & guarantee that the UAE will enable civil society to freely demand climate action before, during, and after COP28.
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Despite all the secure msg apps (signal, wire, etc etc) the biggest digital security threat to Egyptians is device seizure & searches; technically unsophisticated, but terribly effective.
Password locked & disguised folders to hide Facebook & pics would be a good start.
#Egypt
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15
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I wrote a wild case study for the
@ShorensteinCtr
's Media Manipulation Casebook: Last May, graphic content of executed Egyptian terrorist Hesham Ashmawy was leaked to sync w/ the narrative arc of a Ramadan TV series produced by
#Egypt
's security services.
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In June 2020, 13
#Ethiopian
govt websites were
#hacked
&defaced by Egyptian hackers. The attack demonstrates
#Egypt
’s recent flirtation w/ offensive cyber tools as instruments of foreign policy—as well as Egypt’s
#cyber
limitations.
My latest for
@TimepDC
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#Saudi
authorities executed Hussein Abu al-Khair for a nonviolent drug crime amid allegations of torture. The death penalty should never be imposed for nonviolent drug offenses.
Al-Khair's body should be urgently returned to his family for proper burial.
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The documents also indicated that one of the companies transferred was Sky Prime Aviation, a charter jet company that owned the two planes used in 2018 by Saudi agents to travel to Istanbul, where they murdered Jamal Khashoggi.
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In its draft law on raw materials for the energy transition, the EU wants to rely on certification to decide whether a business gets support. A dangerous idea: Certifications & the audits they rely on are often industry-led, intransparent & lack rigor.
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MBS has consolidated enormous economic power in Saudi Arabia via the Public Investment Fund, exercising unilateral decision-making with little transparency or accountability.
Under MBS, the PIF has facilitated & benefited from human rights abuses.
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Libya’s Govt of National Unity (GNU) is cracking down on nongovtal domestic & foreign orgs. The GNU should withdraw onerous registration & admin requirements and ensure that civic groups are free to operate.
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During
#Egypt
’s constitutional referendum, the website for the “Batel” opposition campaign was blocked at least ten times.
In my piece for
@TimepDC
, I discuss the impacts of this state
#censorship
for both freedom of expression and the economy.
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To think that *68 children* were arrested in the first place.
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HRW is calling on the US to adopt legislation or regulations to increase scrutiny of foreign acquisition of US businesses, particularly to identify any corruption or human rights risks, prior to acquisition of those entities.
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Two construction companies in KSA announced migrant workers will get long overdue unpaid wages but there are serious gaps in the repayment scheme.
@HRW
found many workers were unable to cash their repayment checks& others were entirely unable to register.
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18
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Our new joint report w
@hrw
&
@BirdBahrain_
documents death sentences of 8 men in
#Bahrain
Courts convicted & sentenced them to death after unfair trials, based solely or primarily on confessions allegedly coerced thru torture & ill-treatment.
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An Egyptian court will hear a petition to cancel presidential term limits , arguing that article 140 -- which limits a president to two four-year terms in office -- is “unfair to the great Egyptian people”.
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Terrible news for the global internet freedom, anti-censorship&surveillance community.
@OpenTechFund
has enabled bllns of ppl around the world to have secure access to a free & open internet by funding accessible,
#opensource
projects, tools and research.
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I spoke w
@nytimes
re the Ramadan series #الاختيار3:
“Centralized control over the media in
#Egypt
means they have the ability to control the producers, the actors, the writers, every stage of the production to produce exactly the story they would like to tell about themselves."
President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt says “The Choice 3,” government-produced hit series, tells the truth about his rise. But critics say it’s a rewriting of recent history from an industry increasingly cowed under his rule.
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Excited to be speaking on this (all female) panel today at
@rightscon
with
@maitelsadany
,
@ejbeals
,
@amiramikhail
, and
@bonyanj
. We will be talking about data,
#OSINT
and accountability in MENA. Starts at 12:30pm EST 🔥
At 12:30PM EST today, join
@TIMEP
and
@Eshhad_
for a discussion at
@RightsCon
with
@ejbeals
,
@joey_shea
,
@amiramikhail
,
@bonyanj
, and
@maitelsadany
on “Data Collection and Open Source Investigations: Advancing Accountability and Justice in the Middle East”
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🚩Join
@hrw
@amnesty
@EquidemOrg
in an hour for an event on human rights at COP28 in the UAE.
I will be speaking alongside
@Mustafa_Qadri
@emad_badi
Devin Kenny and Ahmed al-Nuaimi
Livestream link here:⬇️
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The pro regime hashtag bears signs of coordinated inauthentic behaviour (CIB). We found a suspicious spike of 173 tweets in a single minute at 3:18 am UTC on Sept 25, 2020 (5:18 am Cairo time).
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When
@MadaMasr
was raided last Nov, fast, assertive intl pressure was essential in securing the release of 3 arrested journalists.
With 2 employees arrested in 3 days,
@EIPR
is under similar attack. The intl community must respond quickly and assertively w strong statements.
Breaking news:
Karim Ennarah, director of criminal justice at EIPR, arrested while on vacation in Dahab, South Sinai. He has been escorted by National Security officers to an undisclosed location around 2 p.m today.
#Egypt
#HumanRights
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🚩NEW: Jordanian authorities have detained Emirati citizen Khalaf al-Romaithi & may extradite him to the UAE where he is at risk of arbitrary detention & possibly torture
In 2013, he was sentenced in absentia as part the grossly unfair“UAE94” mass trial
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Today,
@Pontifex
lands in
#Bahrain
& meets King Hamad.
@HRW
& 8 human rights orgs are calling on
#Pope
Francis to publicly urge the King to abolish the death penalty and end the country's human rights abuses.
@BirdBahrain_
@SalamDHR_AR
@ADHRB
@CIHRS_en
2
22
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Join me later today as I moderate a conversation w/
@BirdBahrain_
@SAlwadaei
@ColangeloJoshua
& Joe Stork on the serious and persistent human rights violations underlying the convictions and death sentences of eight men in
#Bahrain
11am EST/6pm Beirut
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14
27
Court docs reviewed by HRW show that about 20 companies captured as part of the 2017 corruption crackdown were transferred directly into the PIF at the crown prince’s instructions.
There is a risk that these companies were “transferred” from their owners without due process.
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9
27
Its the beginning of the month... time to pay rent and change your passwords! And get a password manager (if you don't already have one.)
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One of Egypt's most wellknown human rights defenders,
@gamaleid
, was assaulted, threatened, and robbed by street thugs likely sanctioned by govt agencies. Its an unhappy reminder of the unbelievable risks facing individuals brave enough to speak out against tyranny and oppression
The prominent Egyptian human rights lawyer Gamal Eid has been the target of threats, physical assaults, and vandalism since September 30, 2019 that indicate government involvement.
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“President
#Biden
decided to boost the Egyptian regime’s international credibility by attending an event designed to mask its horrendous crimes” writes
@El_Gendy_95
for
@TimepDC
.
#Egypt
#COP27
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