Egypt

At the height of Egypt’s revolution in 2011, millions of Egyptians demonstrated for greater civic and political freedoms. But since the 2011 uprising, successive governments have adopted laws and policies which restrict public protest and free association. Under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s administration, new laws severely curtail freedom of expression, association and assembly, and resorted to lethal violence and detention to repress those that protest and express dissent. Egyptian authorities routinely arbitrarily arrest citizens to suppress dissent. Journalists, protesters and human rights defenders are prosecuted and often detained for long periods in pre-trial detention, with credible allegations of torture and other ill-treatment not investigated in a prompt, impartial and thorough manner. Civil society face severe restrictions and human rights defenders are threatened with criminal prosecutions and travel bans, making their work increasingly dangerous. Along with human rights defenders, women and LGBTQI individuals are hit hardest by the crackdown. 2017 saw the crackdown on free expression extend to the internet, with hundreds of websites, including those of media outlets and human rights organisations, blocked. Hate speech increased online and in the media.

ARTICLE 19 has been monitoring Egypt’s shrinking civic space: its violations of freedoms of expression, association and assembly being reported  to international human rights mechanisms. We monitor digital and surveillance threats and attacks on sexual and gender minority groups through our work with Egyptian civil society and human rights groups.

UN: Working Group must take action on case of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah
24.11.2023 4 min read

UN: Working Group must take action on case of activist Alaa Abdel Fattah

Click here to go to article
Middle East: Serious violations against the right to peaceful assembly
26.06.2023 7 min read

Middle East: Serious violations against the right to peaceful assembly

Click here to go to article
UAE: Egypt critic Sherif Osman will face torture if extradited
20.12.2022 5 min read

UAE: Egypt critic Sherif Osman will face torture if extradited

Click here to go to article
COP27: Transparency must underpin actions to address climate change
14.11.2022 7 min read

COP27: Transparency must underpin actions to address climate change

Click here to go to article
Boundaries of Expression podcast #FreeToProtest: Climate action
04.11.2022 3 min read

Boundaries of Expression podcast #FreeToProtest: Climate action

Click here to go to article
Egypt: Release Alaa Abdel Fattah and Mohamed el-Baqer
29.09.2022 11 min read

Egypt: Release Alaa Abdel Fattah and Mohamed el-Baqer

Click here to go to article
Egypt: End the blocking of news websites
01.08.2022 6 min read

Egypt: End the blocking of news websites

Click here to go to article
Egypt: UK must act now to save jailed blogger and activist
27.05.2022 6 min read

Egypt: UK must act now to save jailed blogger and activist

Click here to go to article
Digital stop & search: How police scrape social data to persecute LGBT people
07.03.2022 1 min read

Digital stop & search: How police scrape social data to persecute LGBT people

Click here to go to article