SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot of families and activists holding news conference outside US Supreme Court

2. Cutaway of press

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, Father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"In one letter, he wrote 'I do not know what crime I am supposed to have committed for which not only I, but my wife and children continuously suffer. As a result, I'm in a state of depression and beginning to lose the fight against depression and hopelessness."

4. Wide shot of Azmat Begg speaking

AP Photos - No Access Canada

5. Still photo of detainee Moazzam Begg

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, Father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"He has been held captive for more than two years and in all this time he has never been charged and tried. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice. Before mercy comes justice and my son has been denied justice."

7. Cutaway of press at news conference

AP Photos - No Access Canada

8. Still photo of detainee Murat Kurnaz

9. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rabiye Kurnaz, Mother of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"I want due process and justice for him and I want to see him. If it was possible, I'd want to bring him home, but I know that's not possible. I know he's not doing well. The way they're treating the detainees is against humanity."

10. Cutaway of cameras

11. Wide shot of Terry Waite speaking at podium in front of Supreme Court

12. SOUNDBITE: (English) Terry Waite, Former Hostage in Lebanon:

"We are here today because we believe there has been a major breech of human rights. Perhaps it was done with good intentions, but the consequences will be disastrous, disastrous for the United States and disastrous for all our freedoms."

13. Cutaway of cameras

14. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vanessa Redgrave, Actress, Founder of Guantanamo Human Rights Commission:

"You must have international human rights law and national law in which those international human rights are embodied. And that's why we're here, because this has been denied to the detainees, both in Guantanamo and other places that we've heard about like the British-American base of Diego Garcia. If there are no rights, then what do you have? Some call it an interrogation camp. I'm afraid I have to say I consider it to be a concentration camp."

15. Wide shot of families and press in front of the Supreme Court

16. Family members of detainees walking towards the White House

17. Shot of the White House

18. Azmat Begg standing with other family members outside the White House

19. Rabiye Kurnaz walking in front of the White House with religious leader

STORYLINE:

Family members of some of the detainees being held at US Naval Base in Guantanamo Bay were in Washington on Monday seeking what they say are the basic rights their relatives are being denied.

The European family members of three terror suspects held at the Navy base in Cuba urged President Bush to release the prisoners for trial in their home countries, saying the indefinite detainment is taking a toll on their mental health.

At a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court, Azmat Begg read a letter from his son, Moazzam Begg, one of the estimated 640 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

In the letter, Moazzam Begg says he has never been told of the crime for which he is being held. And he described his detention as being "kept like an animal in a cell" with little sleep and no information.

Azmat Begg, who came from England to pursue due process rights for his son, has written a letter to President Bush in which he pleads for justice, not for mercy.

Like Begg, Rabiye Kurnaz said she's also worried about the health and mental state of her son, who has been held at Guantanamo for more than two years.

Kurnaz, who lives in Germany, said she hasn't spoken with her son since he has been detained. But she fears, he is not doing well.

Human rights organizations have called on the United States to release the prisoners or at least say what is planned for them.

The groups say that the indefinite detentions have led to a deterioration in mental health and dozens of suicide attempts at the prison, set up shortly after the start of the war in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Terry Waite, a Briton who was held hostage in Lebanon for nearly five years in the 80's, said what the US government is doing in Cuba is similar to the injustice of his detention nearly two decades ago. And he called the situation "a major breech of human rights."

The delegation of families was led by the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, founded by actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave.

The group plans to hold a wide range of meetings with human right campaigners and faith leaders in Washington and New York.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month from lawyers representing foreign "enemy combatants" who are being held incommunicado at the military prison.

At issue is whether the prisoners may challenge their detention in US courts.

Administration officials have said they have wide legal latitude to interrogate the detainees for extended period since national security is at risk.

SHOTLIST:

1. Wide shot of families and activists holding news conference outside US Supreme Court

2. Cutaway of press

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"In one letter, he wrote 'I do not know what crime I am supposed to have committed for which not only I, but my wife and children continuously suffer. As a result, I'm in a state of depression and beginning to lose the fight against depression and hopelessness."

4. Wide shot of Azmat Begg speaking

5. Cutaway of press

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Azmat Begg, father of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"He has been held captive for more than two years and in all this time he has never been charged and tried. I do not ask for mercy, I ask for justice. Before mercy comes justice and my son has been denied justice."

7. Cutaway of press at news conference

8. SOUNDBITE: (German) Rabiye Kurnaz, Mother of Guantanamo Bay detainee:

"I want due process and justice for him and I want to see him. If it was possible, I'd want to bring him home, but I know that's not possible. I know he's not doing well. The way they're treating the detainees is against humanity."

9. Cutaway of cameras

10. Wide shot of Terry Waite, former hostage in Lebanon, speaking at podium in front of Supreme Court

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Terry Waite, former hostage in Lebanon:

"We are here today because we believe there has been a major breech of human rights. Perhaps it was done with good intentions, but the consequences will be disastrous - disastrous for the United States and disastrous for all our freedoms."

12. Cutaway of cameras

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vanessa Redgrave, Actress, Founder of Guantanamo Human Rights Commission:

"You must have international human rights law and national law in which those international human rights are embodied. And that's why we're here, because this has been denied to the detainees, both in Guantanamo and other places that we've heard about like the British-American base of Diego Garcia. If there are no rights, then what do you have? Some call it an interrogation camp. I'm afraid I have to say I consider it to be a concentration camp."

14. Wide shot of families and press in front of the Supreme Court

STORYLINE:

Family members of some of the detainees being held in Guantanamo Bay were in Washington, Monday, seeking what they say are the basic rights their relatives are being denied.

The European family members of three terror suspects held at the US Navy base in Cuba urged President George W. Bush to release the prisoners for trial in their home countries, saying the indefinite detainment is taking a toll on their mental health.

At a press conference in front of the US Supreme Court, Azmat Begg read a letter from his son, Moazzam Begg, one of the estimated 640 prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.

In the letter, Moazzam Begg said that he has never been told of the crime for which he is being held.

Azmat Begg who came from England to pursue due process rights for his son, said that he was not asking for mercy for his son but simply justice, a sentiment reflected in a letter that he has written to Bush

Rabiye Kurnaz, the mother of another detainee, said that she is worried about the health and mental state of her son who has been held at Guantanamo for more than two years.

Kurnaz, who lives in Germany, said that she hasn't spoken with her son since he has been detained. But she fears, he is not doing well.

Human rights organisations have called on the United States to release the prisoners or at least say what is planned for them.

The groups say that the indefinite detentions have led to a deterioration in mental health and dozens of suicide attempts at the prison, set up shortly after the start of the war in Afghanistan in October 2001.

Terry Waite, a Briton who was held hostage in Lebanon for nearly five years in the 1980's, said that what the US government is doing in Cuba is similar to the injustice of his detention nearly two decades ago. He called the situation "a major breach of human rights."

The delegation of families was led by the Guantanamo Human Rights Commission, founded by actors Corin and Vanessa Redgrave.

The group has planned to hold a wide range of meetings with human right campaigners and faith leaders in Washington and New York.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments next month from lawyers representing foreign "enemy combatants" who are being held incommunicado at the military prison.

At issue is whether the prisoners may challenge their detention in US courts.

Administration officials have said they have wide legal latitude to interrogate the detainees for extended period, claiming that national security is at risk.

LEAD IN:

Nearly a decade after nationwide protests swept Egypt, the country that was home to an inspiring protest movement, is experiencing an unprecedented crackdown.

STORY-LINE:

In the centre of Cairo, Egyptians stood in rows and prayed together in Tahrir Square in 2011.   

It was not a typical spot for a prayer session and though a spiritual act, that particular prayer was also an act of defiance.

It was not too far from that spot that a crowd lifted the body of a man killed in protests over their shoulders, one day earlier.

That same spot was the site where a sea of people filled the air with jubilations when Hosni Mubarak was removed from power in 2011.

By then, Tahrir Square has cemented itself as a symbol of the Egyptian people's movement, the site of an uprising whose images shook the world.

Over the course of nine years, the square hosted mass protests where the Egyptian people thunderously roared for bread, freedom and justice, the echoes answering back to reflect their woes and pains.    

But the square, its exits and surrounding areas, were also the site of street clashes and group arrests.

Nearly a decade since the sweeping protests of 2011, the square is no longer a site of frequent protests.

The year 2019 marked the continuation of the widening government crackdown on dissent and media in Egypt.

Although 2019 brought him his freedom, prominent Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid popularly known as "Shawkan," is a living example of a journalist affected by that crackdown.

He spent over five years behind bars, to return home to hugs from family and friend in March 2019.

Shawkan pledged to continue working despite severe restrictions imposed on his movements.

He was convicted of involvement in a 2013 sit-in by Islamists that was broken up by Egyptian security forces in an operation that left hundreds dead.

His case comes as Egypt, under President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, has launched an unprecedented assault on reporters and the media in recent years, imprisoning dozens and occasionally expelling some foreign journalists.

In April, a nationwide referendum was held in Egypt amid an unprecedented crackdown on dissent.

Egyptians voted on constitutional amendments that would allow el-Sissi to stay in power until 2030 and broaden the military's role.

Critics have blasted the changes as another major step toward an authoritarian government perhaps even more severe than that of Mubarak, whose nearly three decades of autocratic rule was ended by a popular uprising in 2011.

The constitutional amendment to extend el-Sissi's rule added to concerns that the country was slipping back into authoritarianism years after the pro-democracy uprising.

El-Sissi led the military's removal of an elected Islamist president in 2013 after his one-year rule proved divisive, sparking nationwide protests.

In 2019, that Islamist politician, Mohammed Morsi, died in June.

Morsi of the now outlawed Muslim Brotherhood was Egypt's first democratically elected president.

The 67-year-old Morsi had just addressed the court, speaking from the glass cage he was kept in during sessions and warning that he had "many secrets" he could reveal.

A few minutes afterward, he collapsed in the cage and was buried quietly in the dead of night.

No media coverage was allowed.

Morsi's son Ahmed said security agencies refused to allow Morsi to be buried at the family's cemetery in his hometown of Adwa in Sharqia province, and instead had him interred at a Cairo cemetery dedicated to prominent Islamists.

Dozens of people performed the absentee funeral prayer amid tight security in Adwa, according to residents and videos circulated online.

They took to the streets after the prayers to protest Morsi's death, but security forces dispersed them.

Morsi's Brotherhood accused the government of "assassinating" him through years of poor prison conditions.

Over the years, protesting became increasingly risky and Tahrir Square went quiet, save for the countless number of cars and people passing through it daily.

But it no longer offered Egyptians a soapbox to stand on and speak up.

The government effectively banned all public protests in 2013 shortly after el-Sissi led the military's overthrow of the elected but divisive late president, Morsi.

Since then, anyone who dared take to the streets was quickly arrested and received years-long prison sentences.

Yet in September 2019 a rare burst of protests against el-Sissi. brought back some of the household chants from the 2011 uprising.

People called for el-Sissi to step down, chanting "leave" and "we are protesters, we are free and we will carry on the path".

Protests in several Egyptian cities were quickly broken up by police.

Egyptian authorities have imposed heavy security in the capital, Cairo, particularly around Tahrir Square.

The protests marked a startling eruption of street unrest, which has been almost completely silenced the past years by draconian measures imposed under el-Sissi.

They emerged from an online campaign, led by an Egyptian businessman living in self-imposed exile who has presented himself as a whistleblower against corruption.

His calls for demonstrations come at a time when Egypt's lower and middle classes have been badly squeezed by years of economic reforms and austerity measures.

The businessman, Mohammed Ali, has put out a series of viral videos claiming corruption by the military and government.

Ali has alleged his contracting business witnessed the large scale misuse of public funds in military-run projects building luxury hotels and presidential palaces.

El-Sissi has dismissed the corruption allegations as "sheer lies."

The government stifled the calls for fresh protests against el-Sissi's rule, deploying security forces and closing many of Cairo's main thoroughfares.

Egypt has arrested at least 3,000 people since September amid a sweeping crackdown following the anti-government protests.

Leading pro-democracy activists such Alaa Abdel-Fattah and lawyers attending questioning were among those arrested.

In November, Morsi's death was in headlines once again after a U.N. report attributed it to "brutal" conditions inside the country's jails.

U.N. rights experts said that while in jail he was denied medical care, lost vision in one eye and suffered recurrent diabetic comas.

The experts concluded that the conditions he endured "could amount to a state-sanctioned arbitrary killing," according to the statement by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The U.N. report warned that thousands more prisoners in Egypt are at risk from "gross violations."

In response, Egyptian authorities organised a carefully scripted trip for journalists to Cairo's Tora prisons complex, along with dozens of celebrities and pro-government TV hosts.

Egyptian lawmakers said the late president was treated well in prison.

Alaa Abed, head of the Parliament's human rights committee, told The Associated Press that allegations of Morsi's mistreatment were an attempt to slander the government.

Prison authorities presented reporters with scenes of prisoners playing sports on a green lawn, as well as meals of meat and rice being prepared in the canteen.

Rights activists say conditions in Egypt's prisons are catastrophic, with allegations of torture and beatings.

These groups say tens of thousands are currently locked away, often for months or years without charge.

Later that same month, London-based rights group Amnesty International released a 60-page report detailing how the Egyptian government is using a secretive judicial agency designed to fight terrorism to detain peaceful protesters.

It said Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution, or SSSP, has become increasingly central to el-Sissi's sweeping crackdown on dissent.

The prosecution agency renews people's detentions for months and years without evidence, denying them access to lawyers and a fair chance to appeal, the report added.

After nine eventful years, Egypt will mark the anniversary of the 2011 protest movement on Jan. 25 2020.

In the leadup to the day, a prominent investigative media outlet in Egypt, Mada Masr is circulating a dark bulletin online.   

The website, one of a shrinking number of independent news outlets shared a guide to surviving this time in the city centre of Cairo, where Tahrir Square lies.

Based on lawyers' experiences, the guide cautions people from walking there on foot or using the metro, to avoid arrests.

It warns people from receiving foreigners in their homes in central Cairo and urges them to remove any items on their phones, betraying an interest in politics.

"The streets are generally dangerous," it says.

Cairo - 29 January 2011

++4:3++

1. Top shot of protesters carrying body of dead protester

2. Two protesters with Egyptian flag

Cairo - 30 January 2011

++4:3++

3. Wide of protesters praying at Tahrir square in Cairo

4. Close-up of man praying, Egyptian flag in background

5. People chanting during prayer ceremony

6. Man holding banner reading (English) "Game over Mubarak, No chance, Go out Mubarak"  

Cairo - 10 February 2011

++NIGHT SHOTS++

++4:3++

7. Wide top shot of tens of thousands of protesters at Tahrir square

8. Pan of people chanting UPSOUND (Arabic): "Get out"

9. Closer shot of dance, man banging drum

Cairo - 11 February 2011

++16:9++

++NIGHT SHOTS++

10. Wide top shot of thousands in Tahrir square, fireworks going off to celebrate end of Mubarak's presidency

Cairo - 14 August 2013

11. Protesters carrying injured supporter of late president Islamist politician, Mohammed Morsi into an ambulance, from the Rabaa al-Adawiya camp

12. Close-up of the injured being treated in ambulance

13. Wide of tear gas being fired at protesters, protesters picking it up and placing it in water

14. Wide of tyres burning, with two Muslim Brotherhood supporters showing victory sign to police

15. Close-up of smoke coming from the burning tyres

16. Muslim Brotherhood supporter wearing tee-shirt covered in blood, in front of him there are fires in the street

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Cairo - 14 August 2013

18. Mid of riot police vehicles firing tear gas towards Mohammed Morsi-supporters

19. Zoom in on military helicopter flying over protesters in Rabaa al-Adawiya Square

ASSOCIATED PRESS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Cairo - 4 March 2019

20. Wide of prominent Egyptian photojournalist Mahmoud Abu Zaid, known as "Shawkan," sitting with his family at his house after being released from five years in prison

21. Mid of Shawkan kissing his father

22. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mahmoud Abu Zaid, Egyptian photojournalist:

"I am not the first or last journalist to be detained. Famous journalists were detained and resumed their work when they were released. I will follow the same path."

23. Shawkan using camera

Cairo - 27 March 2019

24. Media and cameras covering conference of coalition of Egyptian opposition parties

25. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Dawoud, former leader of the Constitution Party of Egypt:

"Constitutions are not made to be changed once every four or five years. And when you change the constitution it has to be something totally important."

Cairo - 18 April 2019

26. Various of street banners supporting constitutional amendments in Tahrir square

27. Close of banner reading (Arabic) "Participate (in the referendum) and make your voice heard"

Cairo - 20 April 2019

28. Voters queuing outside polling station

29. Voter casting his vote in ballot box

30. Close of ballot box

Cairo - 17 June, 2019

++MUTE++

31. STILL International journalists and security stand near the graveyard before ex-president Mohammed Morsi was buried, in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was buried under heavy security early on Tuesday, a day after his dramatic collapse and death inside a Cairo courtroom. No media coverage was allowed. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Cairo - 18 June, 2019

++MUTE++

32. STILL The entrance to the public graveyard where ex-president Mohammed Morsi was buried, is cordoned off, in a suburb of Cairo, Egypt, early Tuesday, June 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)

Adwa, Sharqia province - 18 June 2019

33. Absentee funeral prayer in Morsi's hometown of Adwa  

34. Morsi's supporters marching in Adwa streets while chanting (Arabic) "We need a new revolution and down with the military rule"

Cairo - 20 September 2019

35. Wide of dozens of Egyptians protesting near Tahrir square and chanting (Arabic) "Leave!"

36. Various of protest

37. Police vehicles

Near Barcelona - 5 November 2019

38. Egyptian businessman exiled in Spain Mohamed Ali talking

39. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohamed Ali, Egyptian businessman self-exiled in Spain:

"I talked (in my videos) about the army, our media used to portray the military as a very respectable institution, and (that they are) pure and great people. This is the most important institution in the country that the Egyptian people trust. But when I started working with the military, I felt that I fulfilled my dream of working with the highest and most respected institution, then when I associated with the highest-ranking people, I figured out that these people who rule the country are corrupt and all the corruption in Egypt is because of them."

40. Ali in his office

++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE: THE FOLLOWING WAS FILMED ON A GOVERNMENT ORGANISED MEDIA FACILITY++

Cairo - 11 November 2019

41 Exterior of one of the buildings inside Tora prison complex

42. racking shot of group of journalists entering the prison

43. Security inside prison

44. Food tray in prison's kitchen, man picking up meat with ladle

45. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Alaa Abed, head of human rights committee at the Egyptian parliament:

"They are talking about Morsi, and they are trying to tell the world in a way or another that Morsi died due to prison conditions. But I have visited Morsi several times as the head of the Human Rights Committee in the Egyptian parliament and he was staying in a big room, he has all his medications, food, drinks and all that he needed."

46. Barbed wire on top of prison fence

Tunisia - 27 November 2019  

++VIA SKYPE INTERVIEW++

47. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Hussein Baoumi, author of Amnesty International report on Egypt's Supreme State Security Prosecution (via Skype):  

"We are taking about more than 4,000 protesters, who according to the Egyptian public prosecutor were arrested for participating in protests, and they are detained on charges of helping a terrorist group achieve its goals. That makes it clear that from the viewpoint of the Supreme State Security Prosecution and the Egyptian authorities that any opposition, or any political activity not allowed by the Egyptian authorities, is in effect equivalent to terrorism."

Cairo - 15 January 2020

48. Nile River and skyline