The Committee for Justice has documented 545 violations of human rights perpetrated by Egyptian authorities since October in the crackdown that coincided with the UN climate summit (COP27) held in Sharm el-Sheikh between 6 and 18 November.
The violations included: 503 cases of arbitrary detention, 27 enforced disappearances, 16 cases of “recycled” detention, and two incidents of random arrest and detention for several hours.
Approximately 40% of the total violations took place during the month of October, with 223 documented violations, while approximately 59% occurred during only 13 days of November, (322 violations.)
The documented violations took place in seven different Egyptian governorates. Cairo governorate witnessed the highest number of violations (344), followed by Alexandria (58) then Sharqiya (23 violations.)
Concerning the age of victims, CFJ’s analysis found that those with the highest share of documented violations (34) targeted the middle-aged group (35-59 years old), followed by 17 violations against the youth (18-34 years old), then five violations against the elderly (60+ years).
In terms of occupations, CFJ found that the largest category was administrative workers, with 8 documented violations, followed by craftsmen and engineers (5 violations each), then human rights defenders and human rights activists (4 violations). As for gender, the majority of violations occurred against males (525 violations), and the rest (20) were females.
Concerning the legal status, victims currently under pretrial detention suffered the majority of violations, (519), followed by the forcibly disappeared,(24 violations). Those facing investigations before the Supreme State Security Prosecution were victims of 427 documented violations, followed by those under investigation before the Public Prosecution, with 66 violations. CFJ also identified 13 court cases involving 222 victims. The biggest case was Case NO. 1893/2022 Supreme State Security, which has at least 114 defendants so far.
CFJ calls on Egyptian authorities to stop their policy of systematic repression against any call for protests, expression of opinion, or peaceful assembly, and to deal with these calls in a manner that respects the basic human rights of Egyptians. These include the right to demonstrate, peaceful assembly and expression of opinion, open channels of communication and dialogue with all opposition groups at home and abroad, and allowing all groups of society to actively participate in the political and social life in Egypt.
CFJ also calls on the authorities to release the victims who were arrested, to reveal the fate of the forcibly disappeared, and to stop the “recycling” detention policy which circumvents Egyptian and international law in order to keep the victims in prolonged pre-trial detention.
