July 31, 2025
Galal el-Behairy © PEN International
PEN America and 10 human rights organizations wrote to the Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Motaz Zahran urging him to raise our concerns about the detention of poet and PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award honoree Galal el-Behairy with relevant authorities in Cairo.
Your Excellency,
We, the undersigned human rights organizations, are deeply alarmed by the ongoing detention of Egyptian poet and writer Galal el-Behairy, who is imprisoned in the Badr Security Complex. El-Behairy was sentenced in 2018 to three years in prison on charges of “spreading false news,” among other charges, and he completed that sentence on July 31, 2021. Yet, nearly four years later, he remains behind bars without trial or legal resolution—an ongoing violation of both Egyptian law governing the maximum duration of pretrial detention and international human rights standards.
El-Behairy has endured mistreatment including solitary confinement and torture, been denied access to adequate medical care and reading or writing materials, and has undertaken multiple hunger strikes. His despair has grown so profound that he has attempted to take his own life in 2023.
Your Excellency, we appeal to you to urgently convey our grave concerns about el-Behairy’s condition to the relevant authorities in Cairo. We call for El-Behairy’s immediate release and for the period that he remains in detention, we urge the government of Egypt to ensure that he has access to adequate medical care, to reading and writing materials, and to regular visits from his family and legal representatives.
We understand that Egypt recognizes the importance of human rights, particularly as its record plays a significant role in shaping decisions related to U.S. foreign aid. We trust that you will give this request your serious consideration.
Freedom of expression is essential to a thriving democracy. Silencing a poet for his words not only stifles individual creativity but also weakens the broader human rights principles.
Please do not hesitate to contact PEN America should you require any further information.
Yours sincerely,
- PEN America
- PEN Canada
- Artists at Risk Connections (ARC)
- Freedom House
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
- Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
- Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
- PEN International
- MENA Rights Group
- Human Rights and Civic Engagement (HuMENA)
- Democracy for the Arab World Now (DAWN)
