LCHR President denied meeting with Ayman Nour

Leadership Council for Human Rights President Kathryn Cameron Porter and Gameela Ismail were banned from entering Egypt’s Tora Prison on Monday, after the two went there to visit Ismail’s husband, jailed opposition leader Ayman Nour. The incident received significant coverage in Egypt, and the photo of Porter and Ismail speaking with the prison authority made the front page of two Egyptian newspapers.

The envoy was refused a private meeting with Nour, leading them to accuse the Egyptian authorities of hiding Nour so as to conceal their mistreatment of him.

Porter and Ismail were able to pass through the gates of Tora Prison but were barred from going further. Porter is on a fact-finding mission this week regarding the human rights situation in Egypt. She expressed her resentment concerning the humiliating treatment by the prison authority, in light of the fact that she had submitted all the needed permissions and documents for the visit.

LCHR will look to obtain approval to return to the prison to see Nour.

For the full story, in Arabic, click here.