Egyptian activist Mona Seif of the No to Military Trials Campaign has been announced as one of the three final nominees for the 2013 Martin Ennals Award (MEA) for Human Rights Defenders.
Seif has been a leading advocate against the military trials of civilians since the ouster of long-time President Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.
The nominees for the Geneva-based MEA established in 1993 are selected by a jury of ten rights organisations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, Human Rights First, FIDH, World Organisation against Torture, the International Commission for Jurists, Front Line Defenders, International Service for Human Rights, German Diakonie and HURIDOCS.
Svenska ambassadören i Egypten, Malin Kärre, twittrar om händelsen:
Another outstanding Egyptian advocate for #HumanRights, #MonaSeif, is nominated for important international price english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/…
— Swe Amb in Egypt (@SweAmbEgypt) 27 april 2013
Men UN Watch har uppmärksammat en annan sida av Mona Seif: Tweets for Terror
UN Watch today called on the jury of the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders, comprised of Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and eight other NGOs, and chaired by Hans Thoolen, to cancel its nomination of Mona Seif, an Egyptian activist who openly advocates terrorism and war crimes, as a top contender for the 2013 prize. She openly incites to violence against civilians, terrorism and war crimes:
– On July 6, 2011, Mona Seif advocated the blowing up of pipelines exporting gas to Israel. “Fuck Israel,” she wrote.
– On November 6, 2012, when Amnesty International tweeted a “Demand that @netanyahu & @AlqassamBrigade stop attacks on civilians,” Mona Seif rejected the call, saying “you don’t ask an occupied nation to stop their “Resistance” to end violence!!! SHAME ON YOU!”
– On November 20, 2012, Amnesty International tweeted: “Stop the madness! Share this image if you want an arms embargo on all sides #Israel #Hamas #Gaza” The image shows innocent civilians in Israel and Gaza. Seif responded: “@amnesty & @hrw r leading a shameful campaign asking Palestinians under occupation & non stop air strikes 2 stop their resistance!”
Kände Malin Kärre till att Mona Seif prisar terrorattacker mot civila? Står hon idag fortfarande bakom påståendet att Mona Seif är en “outstanding egyptian advocate for human rights”?
Och hur kommer det sig att Amnesty och Human rights watch nominerar en terrorsupporter till ett MR-pris?
UPPDATERING: Ambassadör Malin Kärre försöker nu omtolka sina tidigare uttalanden:
@piggelunk @pophoger Min tweet uttryck för respekt för arbete Mona Seif gör i Egypten avs “No to military trials against civilians” (1/2)
— Swe Amb in Egypt (@SweAmbEgypt) 1 maj 2013
@piggelunk @pophoger …och mot användandet av tortyr. Respekt för detta arbete innebär inte att jag delar alla hennes åsikter. (2/2)
— Swe Amb in Egypt (@SweAmbEgypt) 1 maj 2013
Men det är lätt att se att Kärre har fel. Hon har gett sitt stöd för Mona Seifs arbete i sin helhet när hon kallar henne för en “outstanding advocate for human rights”. Trots att Seif alltså stöttar terrorhandlingar mot oskyldiga civila.