Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)

The undersigned organizations reject the current version of the Criminal Procedure Law project and demand its withdrawal and a return for review and discussion with stakeholders—including lawyers, journalists, and human rights organizations—before its approval. The amendments included in the current draft threaten justice and the guarantees of fair trials for citizens. On August 17, 2024, the House of Representatives announced the completion of the new Criminal Procedure Law project to replace the existing law, after work that began in 2017 when the government presented it to parliament. Discussions resumed in early 2024, and the law is expected to be presented for general session voting and discussion at the beginning of the upcoming legislative session in October. A subcommittee of the Constitutional and Legislative Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives has been working on the law alongside the original committee, which has been under government influence due to the dominance of members from ruling parties and clear representation from the Ministry of Interior and the Public Prosecution. In contrast, there has been weak representation, averaging one member from each of the official judicial bodies, the National Council for Human Rights, and two academic experts in criminal law. The subcommittee also included representation from less relevant bodies for the discussion, such as the Senate. The lack of representation for stakeholders, such as the Judges’ Club, the Bar Association, the Journalists’ Syndicate, and civil society organizations in both committees, indicates the insincerity of the official authorities, as they claimed in recent years to hold a comprehensive national dialogue to address ongoing political crises. It also reflects an unconstructive approach to the discussion, as criticisms of the draft law have been met with accusations against the critics of stirring public opinion and undermining trust in state institutions, despite the fact that the objectors have proposed practical alternatives to the proposed amendments. The intentional formation of the subcommittee has played a subsequent role in passing the law project through majority voting—a misleading mechanism in this context—resulting in the approval of articles that represent the interests of the executive authority, namely the government, the Public Prosecution, and the Ministry of Interior, who have the majority voting power. This occurred despite claims that each entity has only one vote, regardless of how many representatives they have; nevertheless, the official government side remains the majority. More: https://lnkd.in/eW-bUz73

📌 The EFHR released a commentary titled "Decline in Prison Oversight," which evaluates the performance of the National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) in monitoring detention facilities during the period from 2020- 2023. The commentary aims to assess the Council's performance under its new composition since 2021, specifically in the area of prison oversight, which is one of its primary responsibilities. This issue has been the subject of numerous complaints from many citizens and increasing allegations regarding the deterioration of prisoners' and detainees' rights in these facilities. The commentary is based on the NCHR's 16th report, covering the period from 2020 to 2023, and is analyzed in light of the Paris Principles concerning independent councils. 🔗 More: https://lnkd.in/eYM7NdiD

Several UN human rights experts issued a letter addressed to the Egyptian government on July 30, 2024. The letter was signed by the Special Rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights while countering terrorism, and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment. In the letter, the experts condemned the arbitrary detention and torture of five Egyptian citizens for criticizing economic conditions and policies on social media platforms, including Facebook and TikTok, between December 2023 and February 2024. The letter highlighted that the charges against these individuals appear to be linked to their online posts criticizing inflation and economic conditions. They were charged with terrorism-related offenses, such as joining or funding a terrorist group and spreading false information. In some cases, they were also charged with forming online groups aimed at disrupting public security. In addition to arbitrary detention, the letter raised serious concerns regarding the alleged use of torture, including beatings and electric shocks, during the detention of these individuals. The complaint noted that the families of the detainees were not informed of their whereabouts during the initial period of their detention, suggesting that these incidents may amount to enforced disappearances. Moreover, the arrests were conducted without following proper legal procedures, including the absence of arrest warrants, and the detainees were interrogated without legal representation. The letter included inquiries from UN experts seeking further details from the Egyptian government on several matters, to which the government had not responded at the time of publication. These inquiries include requests for clarification on the legal basis for the arrest and prosecution of these citizens, as well as the use of counter-terrorism measures, and how these actions align with international human rights standards, particularly with respect to arbitrary detention, fair trial guarantees, and the prevention of torture. The experts recommended that the Egyptian authorities impartially review the cases and release the individuals if the charges are found to be baseless. They also urged the authorities to investigate allegations of torture and enforced disappearances and ensure accountability for any human rights violations. Additionally, the experts called on Egypt to review its counter-terrorism legislation and practices, particularly those that impact freedom of opinion and expression. More: https://lnkd.in/eYAQgPuP

📌The Egyptian Front for Human Rights and the Egyptian Human Rights Forum stated in a joint report released today that Egyptian authorities continue to target and intimidate human rights defenders (HRDs) in the diaspora in an attempt to silence them and end their legitimate activities. The report reveals patterns of targeting human rights activists abroad, which include issuing prison sentences in absentia, launching investigations, and bringing politically motivated charges against some in relation to their peaceful exercise of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. The tactics also involve the arbitrary deprivation of consular services, such as the denial of national ID cards, birth certificates for them and their children, and the renewal of Egyptian passports. Additionally, the report highlights the freezing of the civil registry status of prominent HRDs within Egypt to deprive them of their identification documents, placing human rights defenders residing abroad on terrorism lists, intimidating their family members living in Egypt, tracking and monitoring the activities of rights defenders in their countries of residence, and targeting activists and their organizations digitally through surveillance and spyware programs. The report, titled "Transnational Repression: Targeting Egyptian Human Rights Defenders Abroad", documents the official security and political strategy that has targeted the Egyptian human rights movement since the end of 2013. This strategy has led to the restriction of independent human rights activism within Egypt and repressing human rights defenders beyond the country’s borders, affecting the families of the members of the HRDs. The report is based on a series of interviews with a sample of Egyptian activists and HRDs who were forced to leave Egypt between 2017 and 2020 and are currently residing in the EU, the US, Qatar and Turkey. 🔗 More: https://lnkd.in/e3vKwjRN

📌نشرت الجبهة المصرية لحقوق الإنسان اليوم تعليقًا بعنوان: "تراجع الرقابة على السجون" حول تقييم أداء #المجلس_القومي_لحقوق_الإنسان الرقابي على مقرات الاحتجاز في الفترة من 2020-2023، والذي يهدف للتعقيب على أداء المجلس القومي بتشكيله الجديد منذ عام 2021 في ملف الرقابة على السجون باعتباره من أبرز الملفات الداخلة في اختصاص المجلس، ولكونه محل شكاوى متكررة من جانب مواطنين كثر، ودعاوى متزايدة حول تدهور لحقوق النزلاء والسجناء بهذه المقرات. يعتمد هذا التعقيب على التقرير السادس عشر للمجلس الذي يغطي الفترة من 2020 -2023 وفي ضوء مبادئ باريس بشأن المجالس المستقلة. للمزيد: https://lnkd.in/e2AuyatP

انتظرونا غدًا..

📢 EFHR and 24 human rights non-governmental organisations have sent a letter to the Irish government expressing their deep concern about Ireland’s recent decision to designate Egypt, Morocco and Algeria as safe countries of origin. 🔗More: https://lnkd.in/g2ddH4yS

📢 يهدف هذا التعليق للتركيز على ظاهرة تقاضي المدنيين أمام القضاء العسكري كظاهرة استثنائية آخذة في التوسع والاستقرار في النظام القانوني المصري بالخلاف لطبيعة التقاضي العسكري والذي يتعامل مع فئة متخصصة بعينها، وبما يخالف القواعد الحقوقية القانونية الدولية والمحلية المستقرة حول حق المدنيين في المحاكمة أمام القضاء الطبيعي، وما يتبع هذا الانتهاك القانوني من تطبيق للعقوبة في مقرات إنفاذ عسكرية استثنائية بالمثل، يُعاني المحتجزون المدنيون فيها من انتهاكات أخرى تُصّعبْ من استثنائية الوضع الذي يمرون به. 🔗للمزيد: https://lnkd.in/eHMVDuip

The undersigned human rights organizations urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately release political activist Mohamed Adel, and to comply with their duty to protect his life and health, now in danger due to the hunger strike he started in protest against the illegal renewal of his detention and the restrictions imposed on him in prison. 🔗More: https://lnkd.in/eaFHDj8j

بين الموت المباشر والموت البطيء، يترقب #السجناء في مصر مصيرهم في مختلف #مقرات_الاحتجاز. تتزايد الوفيات داخل أقسام الشرطة والسجون وغيرها من الأماكن المجهولة بشكل يجعلها أكثر من مجرد صدفة عرضية. تتنوع الأسباب بين القتل المباشر دون مساءلة، وترك المحتجزين فريسة للأمراض حتى يقضى عليهم، وذلك بعد تخلي الجهات المعنية عن مسؤولياتها تجاه السجناء أو استخدام هذه المسؤولية لقتلهم. للإطلاع على تقرير الجبهة المصرية مع سبق الإصرار والترصد حول الموت في مقرات الاحتجاز المصرية https://lnkd.in/ec-hQi5h