The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has submitted a written statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council during its fifty-ninth session, held from 16 June to 11 July 2025, within the framework of the Universal Periodic Review mechanism.
The committee highlighted Egypt’s continued failure to implement recommendations related to improving the human rights situation since previous review cycles.
The statement noted that Egypt received a large number of recommendations during the third review cycle in 2019, as well as during the fourth cycle; however, there remains a growing gap between the commitments made by Egyptian authorities at the international level and actual domestic practices, leading to a noticeable deterioration in the overall human rights situation.
In its statement, the CFJ addressed the ongoing violations of civil and political rights in the country, particularly arbitrary detention and enforced disappearances targeting activists, human rights defenders, journalists, and ordinary citizens who merely express their opinions.
The statement also shed light on the practice of re-detaining individuals after their release under legal pretexts aimed at circumventing the allowed time limits for pretrial detention, known as the phenomenon of “recycled detention.”
The CFJ confirmed the continued use of various forms of torture inside detention centers, including beatings, electric shocks, painful positions, and sexual harassment, in addition to inhumane detention conditions such as lack of medical care and prohibition of family visits. The committee pointed out that the number of deaths in detention reached 1,297 cases from mid-2013 until May 2025, including 16 cases in the current year alone.
The statement affirmed a noticeable shrinking of civic space in Egypt, with the continued arrest of journalists and bloggers and the suffocation of freedom of expression under pretexts such as “spreading false news” or “inciting against stability.” The right to peaceful assembly has also been restricted through strict legislation, while restrictions have been imposed on the work of civil society organizations under Law No. 149 of 2019.
The CFJ stressed the systematic targeting of human rights defenders, many of whom face arbitrary detention, harassment, and unfair trials under charges related to national security. The committee also pointed to the continuation of violations against workers, including the suppression of labor strikes and the arrest of union leaders, despite previous recommendations urging the protection of labor rights.
The statement concluded with a set of recommendations, calling on Egypt to adopt a clear and transparent national plan to implement the recommendations issued during the fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review, focusing on the immediate and unconditional release of all arbitrarily detained individuals, ensuring justice and fair trial rights, reforming counter-terrorism and civil society laws, ending violations in detention centers, and supporting the work of human rights defenders without fear of reprisal.
