COVID-19 has provided another excuse for the Egyptian regime to expand its powers and crack down on rights, freedoms and rule of law in the country. Meanwhile, Egypt is facing its worst human rights crisis in recent history. After a continued state of emergency dating from before the Mubarak regime was lifted in 2012, Egypt … Continued
Many of us are under lockdown to minimise the risk of contracting COVID-19. This is not the case for human rights defenders in pre-trial detention in Egypt. The authorities’ refusal to release them from imprisonment in unsanitary conditions is indicative of their exploitation of the pandemic in an attempt to eliminate their critics. Egyptian prisons … Continued
Geneva, 13 March 2020 Human rights organisations regret Egypt’s lack of constructive engagement during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) and denounce Egypt’s reprisals against NGOs and human rights defenders who submitted information for Egypt’s UPR. Egypt’s human rights record was reviewed in November 2019, when UN Member States presented 372 recommendations. Yesterday, at the outcome … Continued
EuroMed Rights, together with six other NGOs, sent on February 19, 2020 a joint letter calling for a comprehensive review of the EU’s relations with Egypt to the President of the European Council Charles Michel, the High Representative of the EU Josep Borrell and the Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi. The severe deterioration … Continued
Since 20 September 2019, peaceful protests against rampant corruption have been repressed with an iron fist in Egypt. According to the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, at the time of writing, over 3,300 peaceful protesters have been arrested and 117 others have been forcibly disappeared. 200 have been reported to be released on 8 … Continued
With the Egyptian authorities’ crackdown against protesters intensifying in recent days, four Egyptian human rights defenders testified at an event today hosted in the European Parliament by MEP Hannah Neuman. Ahead of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Egypt due to take place at the United Nations Human Rights Council in November 2019, the defenders … Continued
It was a striking choice for France to invite Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi to attend the 24-26 August G7 summit in Biarritz, for which the chosen theme is “the fight against inequality”. The number of Egyptians under the poverty line has clearly risen according to official Egyptian 2018 statistics, while the World Bank estimates that … Continued
Following an outcry from human rights activists and NGOs, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has decided to postpone its regional conference on “Defining and Criminalizing Torture in Legislation in the Arab Region” due to be held on 4-5 September 2019 in Cairo. EuroMed Rights welcomes this move and is … Continued
EuroMed Rights has declined the invitation received from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to take part in the regional conference on “Defining and Criminalizing Torture in Legislation in the Arab Region” to be held on 4-5 September 2019 in Cairo, Egypt. In an open letter addressed to UN High … Continued
EuroMed Rights strongly condemns the impunity enjoyed by the perpetrators of the Raba’a massacre and calls for them to be brought to justice. We encourage the EU to implement the 21 August 2013 EU Foreign Affairs Council Conclusions and call upon the EU member states to stop selling arms to authoritarian regimes such as Egypt. … Continued
