THE issue of human rights dominated the early days of the COP27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh, as the survival of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, a British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist, came into doubt.

Mr el-Fattah was arrested during the 2011 uprising that brought about the end of the regime of Hosni Mubarak, and has been imprisoned for much of the past decade by the military government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

He went on hunger strike after his consular visits were stopped, and this week refused to drink water. His sister, Saana Seif, who has been campaigning for his release in the UK, returned to Egypt this week to attend the summit, and, to the surprise of many, was able to gain access to the event, where she held a press conference calling for her brother’s release.

She said: “All we know is that Alaa stopped drinking water 50 hours ago. We don’t know where he is. We don’t know if he is alive. My mother waited outside the prison gates for ten hours yesterday for her weekly letter. They didn’t give her one. She is back at those gates right now.

“I asked the British authorities to get us some proof that Alaa is alive and conscious. I did not get any response.”

It is usual for the hosts of UN climate summits to use the event as a platform to promote the country and highlight the good work it is doing to protect the environment. The authorities may not have expected the focus on the plight of Mr el-Fattah, however.

Ms Seif said: “We know they are happy for him to die — the only thing they care about is that it doesn’t happen while the world is watching. But the world is watching, and it’s not only watching the Egyptian authorities: it’s also watching other governments, including the UK Government.”

Calls for Mr el-Fattah’s release have also been made by Volker Türk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, who said that his life was “at acute risk”.