Press Release
Ahmed Mefreh, the Executive Director of the Committee for Justice (CFJ), participated in a review session of the UN Secretary-General’s report on reprisals against human rights defenders working with UN mechanisms, as part of the Human Rights Council meetings in Geneva.
During the session, Mefreh highlighted the ongoing deterioration of human rights conditions in Egypt, with a particular focus on the situation of human rights defenders and lawyers. He expressed the “Justice Committee’s” deep concern over the increasing cases of reprisals carried out by Egyptian security forces against human rights advocates, especially those cooperating with UN mechanisms.
Mefreh pointed out that these violations include practices such as enforced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, unfair trials, asset freezes, travel bans, and media defamation.
He also drew attention to some detained human rights defenders, such as lawyer Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, lawyer Ezzat Eid Ghoneim, lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim, and doctor Ahmed Shawky Amasha, in addition to the continued listing of Mohamed El-Baqer on terrorism lists despite his release.
Mefreh emphasized that these systematic violations create an atmosphere of fear and repression, undermining human rights work in Egypt. He called on the Council to condemn these actions and pressure the Egyptian authorities to release the detained human rights defenders and drop the charges against them.
CFJ contributed to the preparation of this report by submitting a report on the situation of human rights defenders in Egypt who have cooperated with UN mechanisms and participated in several preparatory meetings related to this important report.
