November 9, 2015, New York – In reaction to the Egyptian military’s arrest and incommunicado detention of renowned human rights defender, Hossam Bahgat, the Center for Constitutional Rights issued the following statement:

Hossam Bahgat, the founder of the remarkable Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and a brilliant investigative journalist, is one of the most important human rights defenders in the world. His arrest by the Egyptian military on charges stemming from his investigative reporting in aid of democratic progress in his country is the latest in a string of cowardly reprisals by this authoritarian government against independent journalists and the human rights movement in Egypt – as well as the ideals of the 2011 Revolution they carry. That Mr. Bahgat – who is obviously nowhere close to a security threat – is being held in incommunicado detention in the notorious Egyptian prison system is an outrage. The Center for Constitutional Rights joins the global human rights community in demanding that the Egyptian government ensure the humane treatment and the immediate release of Mr. Bahgat and calls on the U.S. government to make these demands of a government that receives billions of dollars in American aid. All eyes are watching Egypt.