Demand an Investigation into the Brutal Murder of My Friend and Classmate Giulio

To Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, and Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni Silveri:

We, the undersigned, demand a full and thorough investigation by independent specialists into the death of Italian student Giulio Regeni, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge.

Giulio Regeni and I spent a year of our lives studying together as classmates at the University of Cambridge. For a year, we attended the same lectures, shared in the same intellectual debates, laughed over pints at the same pubs, and posed for the same happy photographs with our friends.

He was one of the kindest, most genuinely curious individuals I ever knew. So, when I saw his photograph show up on our department's alumni website, I was eager to read what he had been up to. 

But I was horrified to discover that the photo led to an obituary. Even more disturbingly, I learned that on February 3rd, 2016, Giulio's body was found in a ditch next to a highway in Egypt, with signs of extreme torture and mutilation.

The story is sickening and saddening, and difficult to relate. A few years after graduating from our Master's program, Giulio enrolled as a PhD student focusing on trade unions in Egypt. During the second year of his studies, he became a visiting scholar in Cairo, Egypt, where he continued his research. Everyone knew he would accomplish great things.

On January 25th, he went missing on the fifth anniversary of the Egyptian Revolution. Nine days later, when his body had been discovered, it was covered in cigarette burns, stab wounds, and contusions from severe beatings. Initially, the Egyptian government claimed Giulio had died in a car accident; then a few days later, it changed its story by declaring that a gang was responsible. But experts on Egypt's human rights abuses say that Giulio's murder bears the trademark signs of torture by the state's security forces. 

That's why I am calling for an independent investigation by outside specialists. I ask the Italian and British governments to use their diplomatic weight to press for justice for Giulio. I also urge the Egyptian President Sisi to comply with requests to allow experts access to all resources necessary in order to complete a full and thorough investigation.

Without a trustworthy external investigation, none of us who knew Giulio can find closure. We must learn definitively who was behind his brutal and gruesome murder. We must bring those responsible to justice. Giulio was an exemplary person beloved by so many of his friends, family members, and colleagues. We must replace lies and subterfuge with truth now.