Hafez Abu Seada ( ar, حافظ أبو سعدة; 1965 – 26 November 2020) was an Egyptian politician,

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist, and Chairman of the

Egyptian Organization for Human rights The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), founded in April 1985 and with its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, is a non-profit NGO and one of the longest-standing bodies for the defense of human rights in Egypt. It investigates, monitors, an ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

's oldest human rights

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

, most known for his campaigns against torture and police brutality in Egypt. Abu Seada was also member of the National Council for Human Rights, Egypt's national human rights institution.

Biography

Abu Seada was born in 1965 in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. He took part in the student movement of the 1980s against president

Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

's government and was detained several times due to his dissident activities. After graduating from law school he worked as a human rights lawyer and got involved in Egyptian

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Egyptian Organization for human Rights The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), founded in April 1985 and with its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, is a non-profit NGO and one of the longest-standing bodies for the defense of human rights in Egypt. It investigates, monitors, an ...

. He was also appointed in the mid 2000s in the government formed Egyptian National or Human Rights, and was a member of

International Federation for Human Rights The International Federation for Human Rights (french: Fédération internationale des ligues des droits de l'homme; FIDH) is a non-governmental federation for human rights organizations. Founded in 1922, FIDH is the third oldest international h ...

and was its envoy to the

Arab league The Arab League ( ar, الجامعة العربية, ' ), formally the League of Arab States ( ar, جامعة الدول العربية, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world, which is located in Northern Africa, Western Africa, E ...

from 2004 to 2007. Abu Seada took part in dozens of international human rights conferences, as well as attending the

United Nations Human Rights council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), CDH is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a regional group basis. ...

sessions in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

regularly representing the

Egyptian Organization for Human Rights The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), founded in April 1985 and with its headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, is a non-profit NGO and one of the longest-standing bodies for the defense of human rights in Egypt. It investigates, monitors, an ...

which has a consultative status with the UN that gives it the right to observe various UN sessions. Abu Seada was a vocal supporter of Egypt's 2011 Revolution against the

regime, and took part in the street protests that ousted Egypt's longtime dictator, Abu Seada also harshly opposed the

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...

's regime and took part in the June 2013 uprising that ultimately led to the deposing of president Morsi on July 3, 2013. Abu Seada ran in Egypt's 2015 parliamentary elections, he nominated himself in the

Maadi Maadi ( ar, المعادي / transliterated: ) is a leafy suburban district south of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The Nile at Maadi is parallelled by the Corniche, a waterfront promenade a ...

electoral district as a candidate of the

conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

. He pledged that the preservation of human rights and freedom of expression will be on the top of his legislative agenda if elected. Abu Seada's strongest opponents in the elections were Hussein Megawer a leading figure of

's defunct National Democratic Party and a former member of parliament, and Gamal El Sherif a well known lawyer. Abu Seada came in third in the polls, losing in the first round, while El Sherif defeated Megawer in the runoffs by a landslide. Abu Seada attained a PhD in international law from

Alexandria University Alexandria University ( ar, جامعة الإسكندرية) is a public university in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1938 as a satellite of Fouad University (the name of which was later changed to Cairo University), becoming an indepen ...

in 2017, and remained one of the vocal defenders of human rights in Egypt despite a massive government crackdown on civil society. In September 2017, Independent United Watch (IUNW) expressed its profound shock of the actions of some

NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

which became the vehicle for certain governments to attack other countries and senior International human rights NGOs. In this regard, the international organization accused Abu Seada of being a tool of successive repressive Egyptian regimes. The organization said Abu Seada had always sided with the military regimes and turned blind eye to many serious

violations. Abu Seada used his position, the Secretary-General of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, to cover up Egypt's military human rights violations. Furthermore, internal Intelligence US reports said Abu Seada received large funds from UAE between August 2015 to July 2017 to support UAE's foreign and regional policies. Abu Seada died on 26 November 2020, from a

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

infection. He was 55 years old.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seada, Hafez 1965 births 2020 deaths Politicians from Cairo Egyptian jurists Human rights activists from Cairo Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Egypt