Arrested for Working for Peace: The Story of Aya Hijazi, Undergrad Alumna
As an undergraduate student at Mason's School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Aya Hijazi had a taste for ‘wicked’ problems. She was always searching for underlying elements of conflict that are particularly difficult to resolve. Aya brought a nuanced worldview to the classroom, borne from her experiences growing up between Alexandria, Virginia, and Cairo, Egypt. An attentive listener and an assertive debater, she was quick to test theories against current events. After graduating in May 2009, Aya returned to Cairo, a city that would soon be in flux: in 2011, a popular uprising in Egypt unseated a president who had reigned for thirty years.
In Tahrir Square in 2011, Aya met Mohammed Hassanein, the man who would later become her husband. They were inspired and hopeful about change when the revolution began. However, as the spirit of unity emblematic in the early days of the revolution gave way to divisive politics, the pair saw unprecedented acts of hatred rip into the country they loved. Aya and Mohammed soon married, but instead of holding a lavish ceremony, they used their wedding fund to start a nongovernmental organization called Belady, or "my country." The organization’s purpose was to foster community – to be an ‘island of humanity’ – when it was in short supply. Belady provided educational services to vulnerable children living in the streets in Cairo, as well as organizing campaigns to promote sanitation, and combat sexual harassment. The organization flourished, as did the children who benefitted from the nurturing and supportive environment that Aya, Mohammed, and volunteers created.
Belady had been operating for less than a year when Aya, her husband, six volunteers and several children were arrested in May 2014. Police alleged that the NGO held children against their will, subjected them to physical and sexual abuse, and paid them to participate in anti-government protests. Reports surrounding Aya’s arrest emphasized both the shocking nature of the accusations and her American citizenship, playing into a wider media narrative of subversive foreign influences. Aya and her family have been outspoken in denying the charges, as have 25 local human rights organizations who have called for Aya and her husband’s release. In their statement, the organizations called the trial "another example of the continued suppression of volunteer action and the quashing of youth and civil society initiatives.” Amnesty International estimates that more than 40,000 Egyptians were jailed in a crackdown on youth and civil society organizations since July 2013.
Aya and her family hoped that by not drawing further attention to the case, the U.S. Embassy would quietly exert influence to protect the rights of one of their citizens. Yet after two years, the case and the official efforts to support Aya’s release appear stagnant. The case has been brought to trial on seven occasions then hastily deferred by the Egyptian judiciary on dubious pretexts. In an appeal filed to the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the R.F.K. Center for Human Rights observed, “Despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, including the government’s own forensic medical report on the minors that found no signs of sexual abuse or torture from their time at Belady Foundation, the false charges have been allowed to stand and the case has been referred to trial.” Today, Aya remains in pre-trial detention after more than two years, which exceeds the limitations established in Egyptian law.
Aya’s is the first case of its kind in which an S-CAR graduate has been falsely accused, arrested, and detained without trial in the course of carrying out the work that she trained to do. It is imperative the school set a precedent in its response. The credibility of our institution and our commitment to working to interrupt cycles of violence will be linked to how we respond when an alumna's rights are being abrogated.
Members of the S-CAR community: On this occasion, when an unprecedented event calls us to action, grasp at the opportunity to effect change as a collective. Our community of practitioners emboldens us to pursue our goals by our bond that those who seek justice never act alone. In this faith, let us do right for our own.
Please sign the petition for Aya on: www.change.org/p/free-american-imprisoned-for-helping-homeless-children
###
Aya's case has been covered extensively in the press. To view articles and see television coverage, please visit Aya's S-CAR profile and look under the Media tab. On Twitter and Facebook, the hashtag #FreeAya is used to aggregate content around her case.