REFORM OR RHETORIC? A civil society benchmark for criminal justice reform in egypt’s 2027–2032 national human rights strategy

Egypt’s criminal justice system is in dire need of reform. While Egypt’s Constitution and international obligations prohibit torture and arbitrary detention and guarantee fair trial rights, in practice these protections are routinely subverted in the service of national security-related justifications. A constellation of emergency legislation, counter-terrorism laws, expansive national-security powers, exceptional courts, and institutions that operate without meaningful independent oversight collectively result in a system through which gross human rights violations are perpetrated and sustained. In short, Egypt’s criminal justice system suffers from structural deficiencies that preclude the full realization of fundamental human rights.

Egypt’s 2021–2026 National Human Rights Strategy did not confront these issues. Instead, it largely restated existing legal guarantees, emphasized training and institutional initiatives, and pointed to isolated prisoner releases as evidence of progress. In doing so, the Strategy left intact the laws, practices, and institutions responsible for widespread abuses. Moreover, the Strategy was developed without meaningful consultation with independent Egyptian human rights organizations, victims, survivors, or affected communities. Unsurprisingly, arbitrary detention, “case rotation”, enforced disappearance, torture and other ill-treatment, denial of healthcare in detention settings, unfair trials, and reprisals against lawyers and human rights defenders continued during the Strategy’s implementation period.

This Shadow Human Rights Strategy for Egypt 2027–2032 aims to fill this gap. It is intended to serve as a benchmark against which Egypt’s renewed National Human Rights Strategy may be assessed with respect to criminal justice issues. Drawing on years of documentation and reform proposals put forth by Egyptian and international civil society organizations, together with the findings and recommendations of United Nations treaty bodies, Special Procedures, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, this Shadow Strategy, it identifies the minimum reforms required to move from the current system characterized by repression and impunity toward one governed by human rights and the rule of law.