Country: Egypt

After having been at the forefront of the Arab uprising, Egypt has witnessed an unprecedented human rights crisis in recent years. Since the 2013 military takeover, abductions, enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention have become systematic. The government led by Field Marshal Abd al-Fattah al-Sisi has instituted a widespread repression of all critical voices, including members of civil society, the media and opposition parties.

Violations to the right to life have also become a major concern. In 2013, the use of live bullets to disperse crowds of protesters led to more than a thousand deaths of civilians, while the lives of individuals in detention continue to be endangered by torture, mistreatment and a lack of medical care. The number of death sentences handed out has also increased, particularly following mass trials to prosecute opponents and demonstrators in the wake of the military takeover.

Fundamental freedoms have been virtually emptied of their substance through the enactment of laws criminalising peaceful dissent and independent media work, forbidding demonstrations and putting the work of NGOs under the strict control of the executive. At the same time, the use of counter-terrorism legislation to prosecute individuals for peaceful criticism is a growing trend.

Egypt: Civil society “foreign funding” case remains unclosed

MENA Rights Group joins 18 civil society organisations in urging Egyptian authorities to close Case 173, which punishes more than 20 human rights defenders through asset freezes and travel bans, and to cease the targeting of independent civil society.

In solidarity with Egyptian fact-checking and independent media platform Matsadaash

MENA Rights Group joins 99+ signatories, including civil society organisations, in condemning the harassment of Egyptian independent media outlets and journalists.

Civil society organisations condemn sentencing of Egyptian academic and researcher Patrick George Zaki

MENA Rights Group joins 40+ civil society organisations in condemning the Egyptian authorities’ sentence against academic and researcher Patrick George Zaki for merely exercising his right to freedom of expression.

Evaluation Report of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights

Executive Summary On June 1, 2023, MENA Rights Group, Committee for Justice, and the Human Rights Foundation evaluated the independence of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) in light of the Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles). The report was submitted to the Sub-Committee on Accreditation (SCA) of […]

Egypt: detained academic at risk of death, Salah Soltan should be immediately released and offered treatment

MENA Rights Group joins 50 human rights organisations in calling for the release of Salah Soltan. The Egyptian academic is held in arbitrary detention, and faces serious medical neglect which may lead to his death.

Joint letter – NGOs call on Secretary Blinken to urge Egypt to withdraw its upcoming NGO registration deadline

MENA Rights Group joins 20 rights organisations in condemning Egyptian authorities’ imposition of a deadline for all NGOs to register in accordance with the draconian 2019 NGO law. We call on Secretary Blinken to urge Egypt to withdraw the deadline.

32 civil society organisations condemn the referral of Mada Masr journalists to trial

MENA Rights Group joins a coalition of civil society organisations in calling on Egyptian authorities to drop the charges against three Mada Masr journalists in the context of a crackdown on independent media.

Solidarity statement with Egyptian poet Galal El Behairy on the 5th anniversary of his arbitrary arrest and his announcement of a hunger strike

MENA Rights Group joined 30 human rights organisations in signing a solidarity statement with arbitrarily detained Egyptian poet Galal El Behairy, who recently went on hunger strike. We urge the international community to pressure the Egyptian authorities into immediately and unconditionally releasing him.