This communication comes within the Arab Council’s monitoring of the human rights situation in the Arab Republic of Egypt. It highlights the Egyptian authorities’ violations of freedom of opinion and expression, peaceful assembly and association, the independence of the judiciary and lawyers, torture practices, restrictions on human rights defenders, and arbitrary detention and torture practices. Ill-treatment and other civil and political rights.
Arab Council researchers prepared the submission, and it is based on data gathered by Egyptian and international human rights organizations regarding the violations.
Submitted to:
Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression; Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association; Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders; Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers; Working Group on Arbitrary detention; Special Rapporteur on Torture; Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls.
Executive Summary:
The report scrutinizes the policies adopted by the Egyptian government in its escalating repression, which began before the announcement of the presidential elections, persisted throughout the election campaign, and the collection of endorsements extended to the commencement of overseas presidential elections. The report also delves into the terrorist lists issued, leading to the exclusion of individuals not only from candidacy but also from exercising their right to free elections. Furthermore, it sheds a clear light on the deteriorating state of freedom of opinion, expression, peaceful assembly, and association in Egypt. This includes severe violations and ongoing retaliatory practices targeting Egyptian politicians, notably the former presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawi and members of his campaign, who were deceitfully brought to trial.
The report also highlights instances of journalists being incarcerated, invoking counterterrorism laws such as Article 35, along with the Egyptian authorities’ targeting of human rights defenders. Additionally, it addresses the subjugation of human rights organizations and NGOs in Egypt to control and surveillance by security agencies under the Civil Society Organization Law No. 149 of 2019. It further outlines the restrictions imposed on civil society organizations, particularly human rights organizations in Egypt, as stipulated by the Law on the Regulation of Civil Work.
Legal context
The Egyptian government is pursuing policies that contradict the most basic international human rights standards that guarantee freedom of expression, peaceful assembly, and association stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948, the rules of which acquire a customary character, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1969 (ICCPR), which Egypt ratified by resolution Republican No. 536 of 1981 has become national legislation requiring the Egyptian judiciary to be committed to implementing it.
The Egyptian government blatantly violates Article 19 of the UDHR, which guarantees the right to freedom of opinion and expression. This right includes the freedom to hold opinions without harassment and to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas by any means, regardless of frontiers. Article 19 of the ICCPR guarantees the right of every human being to hold opinions without harassment and the right to freedom of expression, which includes the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, whether orally, in print, or public. Artistic form or by any other means of his choice, emphasizing that this right may be subject to some restrictions, but provided that they are specified by law and are necessary: (a) to respect the rights or reputations of others, (b) to protect national security, public order, or public health. Or public morals.
The Egyptian authorities violate the right of people to peaceful assembly, form and join associations stipulated in Article 20 of the UDHR, which guarantees every person the right to participate in peaceful meetings freely and associations and prohibits forcing anyone to belong to an association, in addition to Article 21 of the Covenant ICCPR that guarantee the right to peaceful assembly, and does not permit any restrictions on the exercise of this right except for specific measures in a democratic society, by the law, to preserve national security, public safety, public order, protect public health or morals, or protect the rights of others and their freedoms.
The Egyptian government’s practices regarding targeting civil society, including human rights defenders, are inconsistent with its international human rights obligations, particularly those enshrined in Article 22 of UDHR and the ICCPR, stipulating the right of every individual to freedom of association. Associations with others, including the right to establish and join trade unions to protect his interests, and prohibits the imposition of any restrictions on the exercise of this right except those provided by law and which constitute necessary measures, in a democratic society, to maintain national security, public safety or public order or to protect public health, morals, or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.
The strict restrictions imposed by the Egyptian authorities on peaceful dissidents and human rights defenders aim to retaliate against them and limit their freedom of movement in violation of their rights stipulated in Article 12 of the ICCPR, which guarantees every individual legally present within the territory of a state the right to freedom of movement in it, the freedom to choose his place of residence, the freedom to leave any country, including his own, and the inadmissibility of depriving anyone of the right to enter his country arbitrarily. It is prohibited to restrict these rights mentioned above by any restrictions other than those stipulated by law and which are necessary to protect national security or public order, public health, public morals, or the rights and freedoms of others. These are consistent with other rights recognized in the Covenant.
Freedom of expression, association, and participation in a peaceful protest is not a crime, and therefore, the Egyptian authorities’ horrific suppression of peaceful demonstrations, arbitrarily arresting peaceful demonstrators, and keeping them in detention for years without providing them with a fair trial, demonstrates their complete contempt for human rights, and shows a blatant disregard for the right to peaceful protest, and freedom of expression. Under international human rights law, the Egyptian authorities must facilitate the organization of demonstrations as a general rule and allow peaceful protests and assemblies without restriction or condition. The Egyptian authorities must also put an end to the vicious attacks on human rights defenders, civil society organizations, and independent media, leading to an end to the policy of baseless criminal investigations, arbitrary detention summons for forced interrogation, threats to close independent organizations, and travel bans. Other restrictive measures exclude civil society and human rights organizations from playing their role in contributing to building a democratic society based on the rule of law and respect for human rights.
The Egyptian authorities, as a state party to the ICCPR, are required to fulfil their obligations arising from it under Article 2, which stipulates that each state party to the Covenant undertakes to respect the rights recognized therein and to guarantee these rights to all individuals within its territory and its jurisdiction, without any discrimination on any ground, and to take, by its constitutional procedures and the provisions of the present Covenant, such legislative or other measures as may be necessary for such implementation, and to ensure that an effective remedy is provided to any person whose rights or freedoms recognized in the present Covenant have been violated, even if the violation occurred by Persons acting in their official capacity. It must ensure for every complainant in this manner that a competent judicial, administrative, or legislative authority, or any other competent authority stipulated in the State’s legal system, decides on the rights allegedly violated and that it develops the possibilities for judicial redress to ensure that the competent authorities enforce the rulings issued in the interests of the complainants.
The policy of persecution and harassment pursued by the Egyptian authorities against the political opposition, civil society, and human rights defenders with the intention of intimidating and silencing them, and the resulting widespread arbitrary arrests and detention of detainees for long periods without them appearing before the judiciary, represent a blatant violation of the right of every human being to full equality. With others, his case be heard by an independent and impartial court, in a fair and public manner, to decide on his rights and obligations and any criminal charge brought against him under Article Ten of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Egyptian authorities’ policy of further suppressing opposition and human rights defenders and silencing them by constantly including them on terrorist lists entails blatant human rights violations as a result of preventing them from exercising their natural right to express opinions, form associations, peacefully demonstrate, and play a role in political life. Civil and civil society in the country has flagrant violations of human rights guaranteed under Article 14 of the ICCPR, which states the following:
All persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In determining any criminal charge against him or his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal established by law.
Everyone charged with a criminal offence shall have the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law.
In the determination of any criminal charge against him, everyone shall be entitled to the following minimum guarantees in full equality:
(a) To be informed promptly and in detail in a language which he understands of the nature and cause of the charge against him;
(b) To have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence and to communicate with counsel of his choosing;
(c) To be tried without undue delay;
(d) To be tried in his presence and to defend himself in person or through legal assistance of his choosing; to be informed, if he does not have legal assistance, of this right; and to have legal aid assigned to him, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment by him in any such case if he does not have sufficient means to pay for it;
(e) To examine, or have examined, the witnesses against him and to obtain the attendance and examination of witnesses on his behalf under the same conditions as witnesses against him;
(f) To have the free assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand or speak the language used in court;
(g) Not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt.
Recommendations:
In light of the violations above, the Arab Council recommends the following:
Kindly ask the Egyptian authorities to take immediate and effective measures to fulfil their international obligations to respect and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.
Kindly ask the Egyptian government to guarantee freedom of expression, the press, and the right to peaceful demonstration under its obligations arising from international human rights agreements and charters, including artistic expression, online and offline, and freedom of assembly, association, and demonstration. Commitment to supporting a free and active civil society.
Kindly ask the Egyptian government to release all those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression and for the judicial institution and the Supreme Elections Authority to assume their constitutional responsibility to protect the right of all Egyptian citizens to political participation and to organize the upcoming presidential elections by international human rights standards that guarantee the right of every person to run for the elections and be elected without any harassment or intimidation, as it is a sacred constitutional right.
Demand the Egyptian authorities to remove the names of all human rights defenders and civil society activists from terrorist lists immediately and to stop these arbitrary and retaliatory practices aimed at harassing them and suppressing their freedom to express opinions, peaceful assembly, and forming loyal associations.
Kindly ask the Egyptian authorities to provide guarantees of protection for human rights defenders, to exercise their right to expression of opinion, peaceful assembly, and freedom of association, to create a safe and conducive environment for the work of civil society and human rights defenders, to facilitate their work and to protect them from harassment and intimidation, and to stop restricting and criminalizing the work of human rights defenders. Human, politicians, and civil society actors are ending Case No. 173, and foreign financing investigations, travel bans, and asset freezes against civil society.
Request the Egyptian authorities to release those detained for exercising their right to freedom of expression, including all journalists, activists, and human rights defenders, unblock news and social media sites, and stop unnecessarily restricting civil society space, including through asset freezes and bans. Travel, long periods of pretrial detention, and an increasing number of arrests.
Kindly request the Egyptian government that national legislation includes rules that guarantee freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of assembly and association, and facilitating the work of civil society by amending the relevant restrictive legislation to reflect the protections stipulated in Egypt’s 2014 Constitution and aligning its legislation with Egypt’s international obligations in the field of human rights.
Kindly ask the Egyptian authorities to take all necessary measures to ensure access to justice and due process for all persons accused of criminal offences, including those related to security and terrorism, such as access to a lawyer and assistance, and to strengthen criminal procedures to protect the right to defence and a fair trial.
Kindly ask the Egyptian authorities to invite several special procedure mandate holders to the Human Rights Council, facilitate their visit to Egypt, and hold meetings with relevant official authorities, civil society organizations, human rights defenders, and political and human rights activists.
Kindly request the Egyptian authorities to refrain from all acts of intimidation or retaliation against those who cooperate with the United Nations, its representatives, and mechanisms in the field of human rights and to take steps to prohibit and investigate acts of intimidation and retaliation against those who deal with the United Nations and regional human rights systems, and to hold all perpetrators accountable.
Kindly request the Egyptian government to amend the strict “Law Regulating the Practice of Civil Work” of 2019 so that non-governmental organizations can operate freely without interference or harassment from the government.
President of the Arab Council Foundation
Dr. Moncef Al-Marzouqi
Arab Council Foundation foundation under Swiss law
