The British Labor Party’s prominent human rights attorney, Helena Kennedy, has proposed that the UK government impose sanctions on key figures within the Egyptian government due to their refusal to release British-Egyptian human rights activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah. In an article for The Guardian, Kennedy called for the UK to bring the case before the International Court of Justice, similar to a recent move by France in a similar case involving a national held in Iran.
As Abd el-Fattah’s mother, Laila Soueif, enters the 243rd day of a hunger strike at St Thomas’ hospital in London, Kennedy argues that stronger measures are necessary. Soueif started the strike to secure either British consular access to her son or his release, and despite doctors warning of the risk of sudden death, her body has adapted to the lack of food over several months. This is her second hospitalization due to the strike.
Over the past decade, Abd el-Fattah has been held in various forms of detention in Egypt. He completed a five-year jail sentence last September, but the Cairo judiciary kept him in prison, claiming that time spent in detention before his sentencing did not count toward his sentence. Soueif’s two daughters remain by her side, with the family insisting that she will not give up her fight.
Helena Kennedy urges the British government to raise the level of response, recommending sanctions against Egyptian authorities responsible for Abd el-Fattah’s continued detention and a halt to new trade and investment cooperation with Egypt. Kennedy criticizes the government’s existing approach as too gentle, emphasizing that Soueif wishes most of all to reunite her son with his 14-year-old son, currently living in Brighton and deprived of time with his father.
Kennedy joined former British ambassador to Egypt John Casson, former Foreign Office minister Peter Hain, and campaigner Richard Ratcliffe in warning against travel to Egypt due to the implications of Abd el-Fattah’s case for British citizens. She suggests that the Egyptian government will take notice if legal failures start to affect British hotel bookings for the winter season.
While the UK Prime Minister has twice called the Egyptian President urging clemency, no concrete punitive measures have been threatened by the UK government.
Soueif’s determination has inspired vigils in Berlin, Washington, and Damascus. Omar Robert Hamilton, Soueif’s nephew, reports that her resolve has only strengthened during her hospitalization, bolstered by messages of support from around the world.
Furthermore, more than 120 former Egyptian political prisoners have appealed to President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi for clemency, noting that they were released from prison without posing a threat to public safety and have since returned to their normal lives.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/02/uk-should-impose-sanctions-on-egypt-over-jailed-activist-alaa-abd-el-fattah-says-helena-kennedy
