On the 10th anniversary of the 25 January revolution, the Committee for Justice (CFJ) condemned Egypt’s intensified crackdown on hundreds of citizens as part of its systematic suppression of any attempt to commemorate the revolution.
CFJ monitored 663 violations during the month of January 2021 only, including 215 cases of enforced disappearance, eight of them are against women, and 32 cases of torture, including five cases of torture of women as well.
The organization also monitored 314 cases of deprivation of liberty, 10 of them against women, 100 cases of detention in poor conditions, and two cases of extrajudicial killing.
The organization said that repression and the deterioration of human rights have worsened in Egypt ten years after the revolution.
“With every anniversary of the January 25 revolution, the Egyptian regime deliberately launches arrests and enforced disappearances against hundreds of its opponents, in what looks like revenge against the memory of the revolution, which called for freedom and dignity. The regime’s practices have undermined both freedom and dignity.”
CFJ added that the last ten years can be called the “dark decade” for human rights in Egypt. They were years of oppression and murder par excellence. Extrajudicial killing was the dominant feature during that bloody period in Egypt’s history, thousands were killed with cold blood, their killers easily escaped punishment under flawed laws and a political will that was not keen on achieving justice for the victims and their families.
“The reality that Egyptians are experiencing now is completely different from what the January 25 revolution called for,” Mefreh added.
“What has been documented and published through the reports issued by CFJ confirms beyond any doubt that repression is the prevailing tone in the Egyptian authorities’ dealings with everyone who disagrees with them, and that extrajudicial killings have become easy to commit as long as the perpetrator is simply not punished, and remains free and influential.”
CFJ asserted that the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the January 25 revolution can only be achieved by fulfilling its demands, on top of which was freedom, by releasing tens of thousands of political detainees, compensating them for the violations they suffered, opening extensive investigations into crimes of extrajudicial killings that occurred since the start of the revolution until now, and holding the perpetrators accountable.
The organization also called on the international community to pressure the authorities in Egypt to stop their ongoing violations, and urged them to abide by the international covenants that they signed, which guarantee basic human rights and dignity.
Since 2013, Egypt has witnessed a state of human rights lawlessness due to the new military regime’s disregard for all human rights and for the principles enshrined in international charters and covenants signed by the country.
