Egypt: Free Speech Prosecuted

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BEIRUT Egyptian In another violation of free expression, authorities have arbitrarily detained and prosecuted at least four government critics in recent weeks simply for exercising their rightful freedom of expression in the course of their work, Human Rights Watch and eight other groups said today. Those prosecuted include two detained journalists and an exiled researcher.

Authorities have used solitary confinement, abusive pretrial detention, and unfounded terrorism charges against critics. The family of one detainee claimed he was tortured. Despite the government’s harsh crackdown, free speech and independent media have been hampered in recent years. Claims Reforms are being implemented.

“Egypt cannot turn a new page without respecting freedom of expression, which is an essential component in promoting other political and economic rights,” he said. Bassam KhawajaDeputy Director for the Middle East and North Africa Division at Human Rights Watch. “Egypt should immediately stop targeting critics and immediately release those who have been unjustly detained.”

On July 22, 2024, authorities detained political satirist Ashraf Omar. Al-Manassa is an independent news website where Omar published his cartoons. His family explain Security forces from the Interior Ministry’s National Security Agency (NSA) arrested him in a late-night raid. Omar’s wife Nada Mouhis In a public statement That CCTV video display A group of men in plainclothes and police uniforms arrived in two minibuses, raided the house and left 40 minutes later after blindfolding Omar. They then took him to an undisclosed location, where he was held for more than 48 hours. Declared National Security Service officers tortured him, including threatening to punish him with electric shocks.

On July 24, security officials took Omar to Supreme National Security Procuratorate Cairo, a branch of Egypt’s public prosecutor’s office, was accused of abusing its power and Responsible for maintaining thousands Peaceful activists and journalists are detained for months or years before trial without evidence to prove their guilt. Omar’s lawyer, prominent human rights defender Khalid Ali explain Prosecutors ordered Omar’s detention on charges of “joining a terrorist organization,” “misusing social media” and “spreading false news,” charges prosecutors often use to jail actual or perceived critics.

On July 16, security forces raided the home of journalist Khaled Mamdouh in Cairo and arrested him late at night. explain Members of the security forces searched Mamdouh’s apartment and seized his electronic devices, but they did not reveal their identities or produce a judicial warrant.

Mamdouh’s lawyer, Fatma Selaq, said authorities held Mamdouh in secret detention for five days before handing him over to prosecutors on July 20, the day his formal arrest was recorded. explain At a press conference on August 8, security forces said the search was “horrifying,” surrounding Mamdouh’s apartment for six hours and briefly detaining his son.

Prosecutors have held Mamdouh in custody since July 20. His lawyer said prosecutors had not provided any evidence of criminal wrongdoing but accused Mamdouh of belonging to an unnamed “terrorist organization” and “spreading false news.”

Sairag said Mamdou is currently being held in Abu Zabar Prison, and prosecutors are conducting a pretrial detention renewal hearing via a video conference system. Human Rights Watch Record This abusive approach of prolonging pretrial detention without bringing detainees before a judge seriously undermines due process. It prevents judges from assessing the legality and conditions of detention and the well-being of detainees, and violates multiple fair trial guarantees, including the right to legal counsel.

Human Rights Watch interviewed a third journalist who worked with Mamdou for the Arab Post and said he fled the country in the last week of July for fear of arrest after Omar and Mamdou were detained. He said security forces were searching for him and raided his home after he fled. The journalist was arbitrarily detained for more than two years in 2018 for his legitimate work as a journalist.

In early July, prosecutors brought researcher and journalist Abdulrahman Mahmoud Abdul, also known as Abdulrahman Ayyash, to trial. The indictment said Ayyash and four others were charged with “leading a terrorist organization,” while 41 others were charged with joining or financing an unnamed group.

Ayyash, who lives in exile, says lawyers with the Egyptian Front for Human Rights obtained the case file and notified him, but he has not yet received formal notice of the charges. The indictment describes Ayyash as a “supervisor” at the Arab Post, although he says he resigned from his job there in 2018. Ayyash was employed by Human Rights Watch as a senior research assistant from August 2018 to September 2021. After leaving Human Rights Watch, Ayyash joined the Freedom Initiative in Washington, D.C., and currently works as an independent consultant to the Center for Middle East Democracy. Ayyash has also written for publications of several organizations, including the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Century International, and the Arab Reform Initiative.

Security forces previously raided Ayyash’s home in July 2022 and detained his father after questioning him about Ayyash’s human rights and political activities. Transferred to trial He was charged with possession of printed materials and information undermining the Constitution, but was not found guilty and detained for several months. In November 2022, the court acquitted him.

On July 16, the Ministry of the Interior Claimed to have been detained An alleged Criticism of President Sisi The statement, posted on a billboard in Giza and going viral on social media, said such criticism was protected peaceful free expression and should not be punished.

Under President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, freedom of expression, including media freedom, Face ruthless attacks Egypt has been one of the countries with the highest number of journalist detentions for many years, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Discover As of 2023, Egypt accounts for more than 13% of all detained journalists worldwide. Egypt’s mainstream media is severely restricted, and the few remaining media websites face government restrictions and harassment. Egyptian authorities have previously Abuse Terrorism Law Prosecution Journalist, activist and critic.

Egypt is a party to international instruments guaranteeing the right to freedom of expression, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Article 19) and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Article 9).

“The attacks on freedom of expression in Egypt must stop,” said Said Benabiya, Middle East and North Africa director for the International Committee against Racial Discrimination. International Commission of Jurists“Instead of suppressing independence, criticism and dissent through arbitrary detention and prosecution, Egyptian authorities should ensure that all people can participate in public debate, express their opinions publicly and criticize state institutions and officials without intimidation or reprisals.”

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