Khaled Al-Qazzaz (born July 3, 1979) is an

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

, and

human rights activist A human rights defender or human rights activist is a person who, individually or with others, acts to promote or protect human rights. They can be journalists, environmentalists, whistleblowers, trade unionists, lawyers, teachers, housing campai ...

based in

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 ...

and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Al-Qazzaz graduated from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

with a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

in 2003. Al-Qazzaz was an aide to Egyptian president

Mohamed Morsi Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012Egyptian coup d'etat . Al-Qazzaz remained in an unknown military location for five and a half months. During this time, the Egyptian regime refused to acknowledge that it was holding Al-Qazzaz or to confirm his whereabouts, putting him outside the protection of the law. Eventually, Al-Qazzaz was transferred to

Tora Prison Tora Prison ( arz, سجن طره '; ) is an Egyptian prison complex for criminal and political detainees, located in Tora, Egypt. The complex is situated in front of the Tora El Balad metro station. The main buildings in the Tora Prison complex ar ...

(Scorpion Wing) on December 17, 2014, and held in

solitary confinement Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use additi ...

for nine months. On October 26, 2014, Al-Qazzaz continued his detention in a private hospital for three months due to injuries sustained as a result of his confinement. As a result of efforts spearheaded by his Canadian wife Sarah Attia with the Free Khaled Al-Qazzaz Campaign, Al-Qazzaz was released on January 11, 2015. Despite his release and cleared legal position, Al-Qazzaz was unable to return to Canada for unknown reasons. Al-Qazzaz waited another 19 months for a return to Canada and was in need of immediate medical attention. Attia and the Free Khaled al-Qazzaz campaign had been calling on Canadian and Egyptian governments as well as the international community to urgently assist in securing Al-Qazzaz’s immediate return to Canada. On August 14, 2016, Al-Qazzaz returned to Canada.

Political experience

Al-Qazzaz participated in the events of the

2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

. After the Freedom and Justice Party won the democratic election in June 2012, Khaled was asked to work for the government as a civil servant.

Human rights work

During his term in the Presidential Office, Khaled Al-Qazzaz was directly involved in developing new strategies for the government. Among these initiatives, Khaled was credited with being the first to initiate a Human Rights Portfolio and desk at the Egyptian Presidency. Alongside his political involvement, Khaled continued to advocate for investment in education and education reform as a priority for Egypt.

Imprisonment

On July 3, 2013, Al-Qazzaz was detained by the Egyptian military along with the president and eight other government aides. Khaled remained in an unknown military location for five and a half months, during which time the Egyptian regime refused to acknowledge that it was holding Khaled or to confirm his whereabouts, putting him outside the protection of the law. On December 1, 2013,

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

issued a statement accusing the Egyptian government of forcibly disappearing Al-Qazzaz for almost five months. The statement read that Al-Qazzaz “remains detained without any legal basis at an undisclosed location.”

Solitary confinement

On December 17, 2014 Khaled was transferred to a maximum security prison, the Scorpion Wing in Tora Prison, and held in

for over nine months. Reports later revealed that Al-Qazzaz was held in solitary confinement in a two by two meter cell in one of Egypt’s most notorious prisons. During his confinement, Al-Qazzaz and his lawyers appeared in court on numerous occasions as part of the legal proceedings to call for an end to his detainment. Many of the court appearances ended with the judge extending Al-Qazzaz’s detainment for another 45 days for further investigations.

Hospitalization and release

On October 26, 2014, Khaled was moved to a private hospital where he continued his detention for over three months due to injuries sustained as a result of the extreme conditions of his confinement. On Monday, December 29, 2014, the Attorney General issued an order for Al-Qazzaz’s release. Investigations with Al-Qazzaz came to an end and no charges would be issued. Al-Qazzaz was released on January 11, 2015. When Khaled was first detained, the group Friends of Khaled came together to stand with his wife, Sarah Attia, in her efforts to bring her husband back home to Canada. This was the inception of the FreeKQ (Free Khaled al-Qazzaz) Campaign. While Friends of Khaled began as a group of university alumni who knew Khaled while he studied at the

. Currently, Friends of Khaled has grown across Canada and internationally to include advocates of human rights. The FreeKQ campaign has led initiatives such as phone call campaigns, letter-writing campaigns, petition campaigns, and a ‘pay-it-forward.’

Return to education

Khaled was detained in Egypt for two years until 2016. He was then released and returned to Canada. While in Egypt, he was unable to travel, and his legal team worked with local authorities to facilitate his return to Canada. During that time, he resumed his

Doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

program at

Walden University Walden University is a private online for-profit university headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It offers Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Public Administration, Master of Public Health, E ...

and re-initiated his work in Education consultancy in Egypt.

Statements and interviews

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

reported that any charges brought against him were deliberately fabricated to make him appear guilty. The United Nations’

Working Group on Arbitrary Detention The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) is a body of independent human rights experts that investigate cases of arbitrary arrest and detention. Arbitrary arrest and detention is the imprisonment or detainment of an individual, by a State, wi ...

said that Khaled’s detention was in violation of Egyptian and international law.

References

External links

Free KQ
archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Qazzaz, Khaled 1979 births Living people