Interviews with Sally Sami

I´m Sally Sami. I´m turning 32 this year to my unliking. But I´ve been involved in the human rights field since 2001. I really don´t understand or remember why I got involved but there was something about injustice that I felt that needed to be fought against. I graduated from the American University in Cairo as studying political science, international relations, but I had a strong interest in human rights. I started working with several organizations in Cairo, mainly focusing on freedom of expression issues.

Then I traveled to London, where I stayed for three years working with Amnesty International as their regional campaign coordinator. And in 2010 the Khaled Saeed [Khaled Saeed was a young Egyptian who was beaten to death by Egyptian security forces in 2010. His death helped rally opposition to the Mubarak government.] case, I don´t know if people still remember him, which was a major public opinion case.

A young man beaten to death by police officers in Alexandria kind of sparked a movement that suddenly Egyptians are against torture really, physically. They´re going down to the streets calling for an end to torture and impunity. And that kind of encouraged me to come back to Cairo to be involved. I felt there was change coming. I felt I wanted to be part of it. I came back August 2010 to find my place again within the human rights movement in Egypt, after being away for three years.

Sally Sami has been a human rights defender for nearly a decade. She was one of the main coordinators of the Front to Defend Egypt’s Protesters (FDEP) during the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. Sami continues to defend human rights, but has become involved in politics and currently is a leading member of the Egyptian Social Democratic Party and has been elected its Secretary General for Civil Society Affairs.

Twitter: @salamander