The Committee for Justice is organizing a side event at the margins of the 85th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The event will take place on 22 October 2025, 11:00 AM at Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Center, Banjul/Gambia
Egypt’s human rights situation continues to face serious challenges, despite the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) issuing comprehensive recommendations during the 2019 country review. Systematic violations—including torture, arbitrary detention, restrictions on civil society, and continued use of the death penalty—remain widespread. Civil society actors and human rights defenders face reprisals, including harassment, intimidation, and criminalization for engaging with regional and international mechanisms.
The upcoming 2025 ACHPR review provides a critical opportunity to evaluate progress on the 2019 recommendations, hold the Egyptian government accountable, and ensure that both civil and political rights, as well as economic and social rights, are being respected. This side event will allow NGOs, activists, journalists, and experts to present updated evidence on the human rights situation, share testimonies of affected families, and propose actionable recommendations for the Commission.
Given the limited transparency and lack of public reporting from the previous review, this session is essential to strengthen ACHPR’s credibility, enhance regional oversight, and promote follow-up mechanisms that can pressure Egypt to implement its commitments.
A distinguished group of experts and human rights defenders will participate including:
1. Mohamed Lotfy – Executive Director of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
2. Ilef Kassab – MENA Human Rights Adviser at the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
3. Amr Magdi – Board Member of the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights
4. Ahmed Attalla – Executive Director of the Egyptian Front for Human Rights
5. Mostafa Fouad – Executive Director of HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement – online
The discussion will be moderated by Mayssa Achek – Cairo Institute for Human Rights
