September, 04 2014, 11:15am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Donald Campbell: +44 (0) 207 553 8166 / donald.campbell@reprieve.org.uk
Leading Rights Groups and TDs Call for Release of Irish Teen Held in Egypt
LONDON
Rights groups including Reprieve and Amnesty International have joined MEPs, parliamentarians, academics, teaching unions and student groups in calling on the Irish government to secure the release of an Irish teen facing the death penalty in Egypt.
Ibrahim Halawa, a student from Firhouse in County Dublin, was 17 at the time of his arrest in Egypt in August 2013, when he was caught up in the turmoil surrounding protests against the new military government. Detained in a series of adult prisons since, he has been tortured and held in solitary confinement, and has reported being singled out for special abuse because of his Irish nationality.
Despite Mr Halawa's juvenile status, the Egyptian authorities have insisted on trying him as an adult in the country's controversial 'mass trials.'
In a letter sent this week to Taoiseach Enda Kenny, the group says they "call upon you as both concerned citizens and organisations to use the full power of your office to demand the immediate and unconditional release of [...] Ibrahim Halawa".
The letter asks Kenny to:
- Make all possible efforts to secure Ibrahim's immediate and unconditional release;
- Call on the Egyptian Government to treat Ibrahim as a juvenile, in accordance with international and Egyptian law;
- Join the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the European Union, and other governments in condemning Egypt's use of mass trials and the death penalty.
Tineke Harris, one of the signatories to the letter and a director at Reprieve, the UK based legal charity that is supporting Mr Halawa, said: "This 'mass trial' is a mockery of justice, and Ibrahim Halawa's inclusion in it must be stopped. Ibrahim's life is in grave danger - the government should make all possible efforts to secure his immediate release."
Reprieve is a UK-based human rights organization that uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners, from death row to Guantanamo Bay.
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CBO Provides 'Stark Preview of Healthcare Under Donald Trump'
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As Congress negotiates the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, a nonpartisan government analysis warned this week that letting the ACA subsidies expire next year would cause millions of Americans to lose health coverage in the years ahead.
The American Rescue Plan Act "reduced the maximum amount eligible enrollees must contribute toward premiums for health insurance purchased through the marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act, and it extended eligibility to people whose income is above 400% of the federal poverty level," wrote Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Phillip Swagel.
His Thursday letter came in response to an inquiry from U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) along with Reps. Richard Neal (D-Mass.) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.) about "the effects on health insurance coverage and premiums that will result from not extending—either for one year or permanently—the expanded premium tax credit structure."
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"If Congress fails to act, healthcare will become out of reach for millions of Americans, leaving middle-class families to struggle and choose between seeing a doctor or keeping a roof over their heads or groceries in the fridge."
The analysis comes as the world braces for GOP control of Congress and the White House, with President-elect Donald Trump set to be sworn in next month. Since President Barack Obama signed the ACA—also known as Obamacare—in 2010, elected Republicans including Trump have repeatedly tried to gut or fully repeal the law.
In response to the CBO report, Wyden said, "This is a stark preview of healthcare under Donald Trump: higher insurance premiums for families who buy health coverage on their own, and more uninsured Americans who can't afford health insurance at all."
"Republicans have an opportunity to end their ideological crusade against the Affordable Care Act and work in a bipartisan manner to make healthcare more affordable for working families, but instead they seem poised to hand another big tax break to corporations and the wealthy," warned Wyden, the outgoing Senate Finance Committee chair.
In September, Shaheen and Underwood introduced a bill to make the ACA's enhanced premium tax credits permanent. Shaheen said Thursday that the "new data from CBO confirms what we feared: if Congress fails to extend these tax credits, healthcare costs will skyrocket for millions of families and 3.8 million Americans will lose coverage entirely."
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"Taking into account the cuts in premium assistance, nonpartisan organizations, such as the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, report that people will experience estimated premium increases ranging from 41% to 218%, with a median increase of 91%—a near doubling of their monthly costs," he explained.
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Citing several unnamed sources, The Washington Postreported Friday afternoon that Democrats on Capitol Hill privately proposed a deal to extend the ACA subsidies by a year, which "accompanied a broader package of healthcare proposals submitted to Republicans on Thursday night ahead of year-end spending negotiations."
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Despite efforts to salvage the ACA subsidies due to the pain and economic suffering that would follow if they are not extended, progressives across the board continue to argue that Obamacare—which sends billions of federal dollars to the private insurance industry—is a far inferior solution compared with Medicare for All, which would cover everyone in the United States at a lower overall cost than the current system.
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