High
Commissioner s Global Update
Statement by Michelle
Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
26
February 2021
Distinguished President,
I welcome
you as a proud representative of the Pacific, recognising
the unique contribution of the Pacific and small island
states to this Council
Excellencies,
Colleagues
and friends,
The leaders of countries are called to
make many difficult decisions in the turbulence of today s
events. To address the multiple challenges of COVID-19, in
terms of health policies; sudden economic crises and
financial shortfalls; and the rising distress of people from
every walk of life is an immense and challenging task. I am
convinced, by my own experience and the lessons of history,
Egyptian student of gender and religion jailed for terrorism on visit home opendemocracy.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from opendemocracy.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
With a Christian activist in jail and a grandmother humiliated, religious freedom advocates weigh the value of progress in church legalization and public rhetoric.
Ahmed Samir
Santawy, a master’s student in Sociology and Social Anthropology at the Central European University (CEU) of Austria, in Vienna, whose academic work focuses on women’s rights in Egypt, particularly on the history of reproductive rights. His main concern is the protection of women’s reproductive rights and their access to legal and safe treatments in order to preserve their lives.
On December 15, 2020, Ahmed Samir Santawy was briefly interrogated[1] at Sharm Elsheikh International Airport in Cairo upon his arrival to Egypt on a study holiday to visit his family, before being allowed to leave the airport.
On January 23, 2021, at 2:00 am, heavily armed and masked officials from the Central Security Forces broke into Ahmed Samir Santawy’s house in Cairo, conducted a search without presenting any warrant, and seized CCTV video footage.