Egypt: thousands of enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions at the center of the dialogue with the Committee

Published on 17 Mar 2023, 01:01 PM

Egypt reviewed by the Human Rights Committee after more than 20 years

Mohamed Mahmoud Street during the third anniversary of violent and deadly clashes near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Nov. 19, 2014. - REUTERS/Amr Abdallah Dalsh

The Human Rights Committee reviewed the fifth periodic report of Egypt with the State delegation on February 28 and March 1, 2023. The review was long overdue, since the last dialogue between Egypt and the Committee took place in 2002. A large number of civil society organizations and members of the NHRI were present in Geneva for the review.

The delegation of Egypt was headed by Mr Omar Marwan, Minister of Justice of Egypt, who gave the opening remarks. He talked about the gain in women’s rights in the country since 2014 and the June Revolution. Since then, he said, women’s rights have been translated into laws, strategies and executive programmes, like the criminalization of violence against women.

Enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions

During the dialogue, the Committee asked Egypt about enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions in the country. Egypt receives the highest number of communications from the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances and oftenly has not acted upon them. The Committee asked about concrete measures for victims of enforced disappearances and remedies available.

To this, the delegation replied that enforced disappearances and all such forms of deprivation of liberty were criminalized in Egypt. Those incidents were all properly investigated, and there were no such things as secret detention centers in the country. Moreover, regarding the Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, they were collaborating with them to organize training of law enforcement officers.

Death penalty

Egypt delegation at the dialogue with the Human Rights Committee during its 137th session

Another issue brought up was the use of the death penalty. A Committee member mentioned that, in Egypt, the use of the death penalty for non-violent crimes had increased worryingly, and the country had one of the highest rates of executions in the world. Moreover, it is not reserved to the most serious crimes, there is no possible appeal, and in certain cases it even involves children. The Committee asked the delegation whether they were considering adopting the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

The delegation responded that the death penalty was only applied to the gravest of crimes, for felonies that posed a threat to society, and after a fair trial with the presumption of innocence. They denied that any child had ever received a death sentence.

Freedom of expression, association and assembly

Lastly, the Committee considered the lack of freedom of expression of protesters and the harassment of journalists, human rights defenders, and lawyers in the country. They are oftenly arrested, targeted, or have travel bans imposed on them. Moreover, there was excessive use of force against peaceful protestors, like during the 2013 protests against the military intervention, where about 900 people were killed following the violent dispersal by security forces. In 2018, there was a mass trial of 700 people who attended the protests.

In this regard, the State delegation denied that there was any policy that targeted journalists or human rights defenders. Both journalists and lawyers have favorable status in the Constitution and were protected when targeted, but the delegation stressed that they were not immune if they broke the law.

Watch again the dialogue with the Committee here (part one) and here (part two).

Recommendations of the Human Rights Committee

Concluding Observations on Egypt fifth periodic report were released on March 24, 2023. The State party is requested to provide, by 24 March 2026, information on the implementation of the following  recommendations:

National human rights institution

The State party should continue its efforts to ensure that the National Council for Human Rights fully complies with the principles relating to the status of national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights (the Paris Principles) and is able to carry out its mandate fully, effectively and independently.

Death penalty

In the light of the Committee’s general comment No. 36 (2018) on the right to life, the State party should take all measures necessary, including legislative action, to ensure that the death penalty is never mandatory and is provided only for the most serious crimes, involving intentional killing, defined clearly in law. In this regard the State party should proceed with the review of crimes punishable by the death penalty, planned under the National Strategy on Human Rights.

The State party should also:

  • (a) Ensure that pardon or commutation of the sentence is available in all cases, regardless of the crime committed;
  • (b) Ensure that the death penalty is never imposed in violation of the Covenant, including in violation of fair trial procedures, ensure that legal assistance is always made available, and ensure that evidence obtained under duress and torture is inadmissible in court;
  • (c) Ensure that no person who was below 18 years of age at the time of the commission of an offence is subjected to the death penalty and those charged with a capital offence have access to an effective and independent age determination process, and are treated as children if doubts remain about their age at the time of the crime;
  • (d) Ensure that prisoners on death row, their families and legal counsel are always provided advance notification of execution of the sentence;
  • (e) Give due consideration to establishing a moratorium on the death penalty with a view to abolishing it; and consider acceding to the Second Optional Protocol to the Covenant, aiming at the abolition of the death penalty.

Liberty and security of the person

In the light of the Committee’s general comment No. 35 (2014) on liberty and security of person, the State party should:

  • (a) Ensure that no detainee is held without the prompt filing of criminal charges, and that all pretrial detainees are brought to trial expeditiously in public trials that meet fundamental due-process requirements;
  • (b) Ensure that statutory limits to the duration of pretrial detention are enforced, including by putting an end to the involvement of security agencies in the decision-making process on the release of detainees and the practice of “rotation” under which detainees are added to new cases on similar charges;
  • (c) Increase the availability of and recourse to alternatives to pretrial detention, in light of the United Nations Standards Minimum Rules for Non-custodial Measures (Tokyo Rules), including by giving due consideration to such alternatives particularly when delays become necessary in investigation or trial.

Here you can find all the recommendations given by the Committee in the Concluding Observations.

The follow-up report of Egypt on the implementation of the recommendations is due in 2026. The next list of issues will be adopted in 2029, and the next periodic report is due in 2030.

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