News briefing
Translated and edited by: Committee for Justice
Geneva: March 23, 2022
The Committee for Justice and Dignity have called on the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva to pay attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt, urging the Council to establish an international mechanism to monitor and investigate human rights violations in the country since 2013.
The two organizations stressed that Egyptian authorities continue to target peaceful activists and critics for prosecution before Emergency State Security Courts, the decisions of which are not subject to appeal. Despite the end of the state of emergency in Egypt last year, Cairo has passed laws that essentially make these emergency procedures permanent.
The two organizations also noted that just over one year ago, the ambassador of Finland addressed this Council on behalf of 32 countries to express their “deep concern about the trajectory of human rights in Egypt.” Since then, the situation has deteriorated further.
CFJ and Dignity added that thousands of dissidents are held in pre-trial detention, in many cases for years, adding to Egypt’s overcrowded prisons where conditions are dire. Last year, 69 prisoners, most of whom were jailed on political grounds, died in custody.
The two organizations explained that the accused are detained without evidence being presented against them, and without opportunities to mount defenses. Where detainees receive judicial release orders, prosecutors add them to new cases on the same or similar trumped-up charges, to keep them in detention.
The two organizations said that, unsurprisingly, incidents of torture and ill-treatment are widespread, and Egyptian authorities violate fundamental human rights with near total impunity.
The organizations stressed that the breadth and gravity of these abuses demand sustained and meaningful attention from this Council. Accordingly, the organizations urge members of the Council to create a mechanism to investigate, document, and prepare case files of the most serious human rights abuses and violations of international law occurring in Egypt since 2013.
