Articles for Egypt

The release without trial of the Egyptian activist of Palestinian origin, Rami Shaath, confirms the credibility of the accusations against the Egyptian authorities of misuse of measures "to combat terrorism". It also confirms the political use of this accusation as a pretext to repress activists and silence opposition voices.

A UN expert has deplored the continuing large-scale arrests and prolonged pre-trial detentions of human rights defenders in Egypt, claiming that activists are being held without arrest warrants, held incommunicado and then charged with multiple spurious crimes.
of multiple spurious crimes.

Alkarama expresses its shock and deep concern regarding the Egyptian Court of Cassation's decision on the death sentences handed down onto 12 individuals. These individuals are leaders of the "Muslim Brotherhood" group in Egypt, arrested in the Rabaa sit-in case in 2013, after prolonged arbitrary proceedings and trials lacking essential guarantees of justice.

Alia Awad, an Egyptian photographer and journalist, who has been detained in prison for nearly five years, and has been banned from visits for nearly a year, faces imminent risks during her detention due to medical negligence as a result of a uterine tumor and other illnesses that have resulted in a serious deterioration of her health.

Egyptians are living the tenth anniversary of the songs of the revolution: "Live - Freedom - Social Justice", those songs and crowds that represented a lifeline out of the state of political tyranny and overthrow former president Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, allowed the Egyptian people to move towards democracy by electing President Mohamed Morsi as the first democratically elected civilian president outside the military establishment. But the change did not last long and the country has entered a dark tunnel since the military coup led by current President Abdel Fattah Al Sissi.

Alkarama expresses its concern about the escalation of violations against journalists in the Arab world during the year 2020. According to data published by international organizations concerned with the defense of journalists, including statistics published by the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists, some 60 journalists and media field workers have been murdered in 2020. The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists reports that there are at least 274 journalists behind bars, the highest number recorded by the Committee since the early 1990s.

The European Parliament has issued a resolution on human rights in Egypt, which is considered as a first step towards upholding the international community's responsibility for international human rights law and combating policies of impunity for violations.

On 9 October 2020, Alkarama sent a complaint to the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) on behalf of Dr Hossam Abouelezz, the former governor of Qalyubia, arbitrarily detained since September 2013. The complaint asks for an urgent action to be taken given that Dr Abouelezz is detained in solitary confinement and is denied access to his family, to a lawyer and to medical care.

A number of United Nations experts in the field of human rights(*) said that Egypt uses special judicial services involved in terrorism cases to target human rights defenders, silence dissidents and detain activists despite the Covid-19 pandemic.  

United Nations independent human rights panel warned of "serious and unnecessary" risks faced by human rights defenders arrested in Egypt for prolonged pre-trial detention . Experts said in a press release that the risks are most evident during the Covid-19 pandemic, and called on authorities to facilitate the release of chronically ill prisoners or detainees without an adequate legal basis.