Articles for Egypt

On March 28, 2019, Alkarama has submitted its shadow report ahead of Egypt’s upcoming third Universal Periodic Review (UPR) before the UN Human Rights Council that is scheduled in November 2019. The UPR, which is held every four to five years, is a peer-review mechanism during which UN Member States assess each other’s human rights records and make recommendations based on the principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On March 27, 2019, journalist and head of Mada Foundation, Hisham Jaafar, was released upon decision of the Cairo Central Criminal Court, after spending over three and a half years in prison.

On 31 January 2019 Alkarama sent a communication to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions to call on the Egyptian authorities to publicly release the names of all those killed during the 30 December 2018 operation presented as counter-terrorism by the authorities as a response to the terrorist attack of 29 December 2018 in Giza against a tourist bus.

(Geneva, September 25, 2018) ­– Alkarama has requested the urgent intervention of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) following the abduction of 31-year-old Egyptian citizen Magdy Ez Eldin by members of the National Security Forces.

(Geneva, August 23, 2018) – On August, 17, 2018, Mohammed Atta, a 40-year-old Egyptian citizen, was coming back to Egypt with his spouse from Saudi Arabia, where he works as a senior sale consultant. Upon their arrival at the border security control of Cairo airport, officers proceeded to arrest him without providing any explanation. Since then, his family has been inquiring about his fate and whereabouts with the authorities, to no avail.

(Geneva, July 31, 2018) – On July 12, 2018, Alkarama requested the intervention of several UN Special Procedures* in the case of Aliaa Awaad, an Egyptian photojournalist who was arrested on October 23, 2017 for her coverage of terrorist activities, and is currently detained at Al Qanater Prison.

Update: Mohamed Adel was transferred to Mansoura Prison on July 3, 2018. Since then, he has been denied visits from his family and his lawyer. Adel is currently under investigation by the Sherbin Prosecution in relation to a new case, the circumstances of which remain unknown.

(Geneva, June 6, 2018) – Intensive care doctor Yahya Kamal has reappeared 12 days after his arrest at Cairo Airport on May 22, 2018.

Kamal was arrested upon entering border control at around 4 p.m. on May 22 while on his way to Saudi Arabia for a work trip. Kamal’s wife and brother, who were there to see him off, witnessed him being arrested by national security and border patrol officers.

(Geneva, June 1, 2018) – In recent weeks, the Egyptian authorities have increased their crackdown on peaceful dissent, with waves of abductions of human rights defenders, activists and bloggers.

Kamal Hassan Mehdi Hassan and Manal Yamani Ala Yamani

 

(Geneva, May 30, 2018) – Alkarama has requested the urgent intervention of the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) in the case of a married couple who have been missing since their abductions by Egyptian homeland security on May 24, 2018.