Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy
Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy is a co-founder and the coordinator of the Association of the Families of the Disappeared in Egypt, a network of individuals whose loved ones have been subjected to enforced or involuntary disappearances. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy became an active human rights defender working on the issue of enforced disappearances after the disappearance of his son Amr Ibrahim Metwally, who went missing on 8 July 2013. The human rights defender is the attorney in the case of Giulio Regeni, an Italian national who was killed in Egypt under suspicious circumstances. Since 2014, Ibrahim Hegazy has been actively lobbying Egyptian authorities on the issue of enforced disappearances in Egypt.
A significant crackdown on civil society in Egypt has been taking place since 2014. HRDs face an extremely challenging situation due to restrictions imposed on civil society and peaceful public gatherings and protests, travel bans, the arrest and sentencing of HRDs, bloggers, journalists and protesters, as well as an ongoing smear campaign against human rights groups.
