Update: On 21 May 2025, 32 NGOs including the Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), wrote a letter urging UK PM Keir Starmer to tell Egyptian President Al-Sisi to Free Alaa Abd El-Fattah and save his mother Laila Soueif who returned to full hunger strike after taking some supplements to save her life, or face long-lasting ramifications both for Egypt’s reputation and the future of its relationship with Britain.

The Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR) joins the serious repeated appeals urging the United Kingdom’s leaders to immediately call Egypt’s President and ask him to free human rights defender Alaa Abd El-Fattah, whose mother Dr. Laila Soueif has been on hunger strike for 150 days to protest his imprisonment although he has completed his sentence.

You can help spread the word and show solidarity with Dr. Soueif and her son, who is a dual UK-Egyptian citizen currently being wrongfully held in prison in Egypt 150 days past the end of his five-year prison sentence, which expired on 29 September 2024, the day before Dr. Soueif began her hunger strike. This week a doctor says her life is imminently at risk, however, she refuses to end her hunger strike until her son is free.

Dr. Soueif has repeatedly called on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to speak directly to President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt as soon as possible to secure the release of her son. She has protested outside #10 Downing Street in London, where she has been joined by hundreds of supporters.

On 24 February 2025, she was taken to St Thomas’ Hospital due to dangerously low blood sugar levels. Her doctor said, “I have explained that: there is now immediate risk to life including further deterioration or death; and that she is in particular at high risk of sudden death with continued fasting;” and that “her organs, in particular her heart and brain are likely to become affected with damage that could be permanent.” He noted, “the longer the duration of her fasting, the higher the risk of death during the refeeding process, should she cease fasting.”

On 26 February, Prime Minister Starmer responded to over 50 Members of Parliament from all parties who asked him to urgently secure the release of Abd El-Fattah by saying, “I will do everything I can, to ensure the release in this case, and that includes phone calls as necessary. I’ve raised it before. I’ll raise it again. We raise it, and will continue to do so. I gave my word to the family that that’s what I’d do.”

For more information about Alaa Abd El-Fattah, visit the #FreeAlaa website and follow @FreedomForAlaa.

Take Action Now!

Contact the UK authorities and ask them to call President El-Sisi immediately:

1. Mr. Keir Starmer, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom through an online form here, and on X at @Keir_Starmer
2. Mr. David Lammy, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs at fcdo.correspondence@fcdo.gov.uk

GCHR’s Executive Director Khalid Ibrahim with Dr. Laila Soueif and Mina Thabet of International PEN protesting outside 10 Downing Street in London on 04 February 2025.