Human Rights Organizations and journalists reaffirm the need to defend Press and Media freedom in Egypt
Statement
Following a series of consultations with Egyptian media organisations and journalists on Press and Media freedom situation in Egypt, and in light of the recent violations to freedom of expression, including the latest Supreme Council for Media’s decision to arbitrarily reject journalist Faker Tany’s website registration, and earlier prosecution and enforced disappearance of journalists Khaled Mamdouh and Ashraf Omar, the undersigned organisations and journalists emphasize the importance of to protecting freedom of expression in Egypt.
These incidents are just the latest examples of a stifling system in Egypt designed to repress opposing voices, which has been refined over the past ten years. Over ten years after Sisi’s takeover of power, the media landscape in Egypt have been steadily deteriorating. Freedom of expression and press freedom continue to be almost nonexistent in the country as government-affiliated entities and individuals control the almost totality of television channels, news websites, newspapers and advertisement agencies, and reshape their editorial policies to serve the ruling regime.
Egypt ranked 170/180 in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index of Reporters Without Borders and, based on the findings of the annual report of the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) on violations against press and media in Egypt in 2023, journalists, photographers, bloggers, and other media personnel continue to be subject to smear campaigns, police raids, and are routinely arrested, arbitrarily detained and/or jailed under due to the misuse of penal code, anti-terroism law cyber crimes law and other freedom of expression restricting legislations.
Independent media outlets like Mada Masr and Al-Manassa are frequently subjected to censorship. Hundreds of websites, including major independent news portals and prominent human rights sites remain blocked and face legal and security persecution. Additionally, there are numerous restrictions on the freedom of flow of information, access to sources, and reaching the local audience. This impacts not only local journalists but also those working in exile.
Meanwhile, Sisi’s attempts to convince international partners of Egypt’s democratization are gaining him more support, with the most notable being the European Union through its proposal for a Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership with Egypt, valued at 7.4 billion dollars, followed by the United States’ decision to release the full amount of its military and financial aid to Egypt. However, despite the launch of Egypt’s National Human Rights Strategy and National Dialogue three years ago without consultations with independent CSOs, there has been little to no progress in advancing human rights. This lack of progress was noted by the European Parliament in its resolution of 24 November 2022, concerning the human rights situation in Egypt.
In this extremely challenging context, independent media and bloggers have continued to be on the front line, putting their life and freedoms at risk to preserve a pluralism of voices and contrast state-fabricated narrative.
therefore we urge international policymakers, including EU Institutions and member states, to maintain pressure on the Egyptian regime to:
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- Release immediately and unconditionally all journalists in pretrial detention, as well as all detainees in pretrial detention on charges related to freedom of expression, and drop all charges against them;
- Lift restrictions on journalists, media activists and bloggers, including travel ban and asset freeze;
- Lift the blockage on websites and ensure the constitutionally stipulated right of access to information is enshrined in national legislation;
- Cease the practice of censorship, harassment and intimidation of journalists and citizens exercising their right to freedom of expression;
- Accept the recommendations and requests of the Journalists Syndicate and cooperate with them to ensure the necessary protection for journalists.
- Amend legislation that restricts freedom of opinion and expression, particularly the Counter-Terrorism Law, the Law on Terrorist Entities, the Anti-Cybercrime Law, and the provisions related to publishing offenses in the Penal Code.
List of signatories:
- Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
- Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms ( ECRF )
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)
- Egyptian Human Rights Forum (EHRF)
- EuroMed Rights
- HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
- International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
- REDWORD for Human Rights & Freedom of Expression
- Refugees Platform In Egypt (RPE)
- The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
- Zawia3_ زاوية ثالثة
- Abdelrahman ElGendy – Independent journalist
- Ahmed Elazhary – Independent journalist
- Mohannad Sabry – Independent journalist and researcher
- Rasha Qandeel – Journalist and academic
- Solafa Magdy – Freelancer journalist
- Sayed el Mansy – Independent journalist