Press release
Translated and edited by: Committee for Justice
Geneva: March 20, 2023
A group of human rights organizations concerned with Egyptian affairs, including the Committee for Justice, are holding a symposium on the prevalence of torture in Egypt, and the lack of accountability for torture crimes, as a side event in conjunction with the 52nd regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.
The organizations stated that the symposium will be held on Wednesday, March 22, from 14:00 to 15:00 CET, in Room XXII, Palais des Nations, Geneva.
Regarding the symposium, the organizations explained that despite the launch of the well publicized “national strategy for human rights” and promises to conduct the so-called “national dialogue process” and to reformulate the presidential pardon committee, torture remains an intractable practice and has become one of the hallmarks of the authoritarian Sisi regime.
The organizations added that the Egyptian authorities are failing to investigate – unilaterally – crimes of torture as a result of collusion by judges and prosecutors, who have an old pattern of wrongful prosecutions, convictions and sentences.
The international community and international organizations have also failed to take appropriate measures to stop systematic torture in Egypt.
It has been exactly two years since 31 countries called for intensive action by the Human Rights Council regarding the situation in Egypt. The aim of this symposium is to highlight the costs of the Council’s inaction, and to assess the nature and context of impunity for torture in Egypt.
Those who are due to participate in the symposium are: Alison McManus, Managing Director of the Freedom Initiative, Mohammed Lotfy, Executive Director of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, Ahmed Mefreh, Executive Director of Committee for Justice, Grant Shubin, Legal Adviser at Dignity, and Sophie Rickard, Researcher and Regional Director of the International Commission of Jurists.
