Kamal Abbas

Who is Kamal Abbas?

Kamal Abbas is General Coordinator of the Center for Trade Unions and Workers Services, an activist group for independent unions in Egypt. Involved in activism for over 20 years, Abbas has been active in mobilizing worker support during the Egyptian revolution of 2011 and its aftermath. His approach emphasizes peaceful strikes and rallies accompanied by demands for better wages and working conditions, as well as more regular elections for union officials, and an independent union system.

He began his work by organizing a strike at a steel plant in Helwan, Egypt in 1989, for which he was arrested, tortured, and fired. That incident led to his starting the CTUWS and advocating for workers' rights throughout Egypt. Abbas' relationship with Mubarak's regime was tense and marked by conflicts with the government and multiple arrests. The Los Angeles Times called Abbas "a major annoyance" to President Hosni Mubarak's regime, and "passionate, methodical and accustomed to police surveillance."

In 2007 Abbas was charged with defamation and sentenced to one year of prison. There was international condemnation of the ruling, with major labor and human rights groups defending Abbas. In February 2012 he was once again sentenced to a prison term, this time six months for "insulting" a public official.