This report is issued by the "Research and Reports Unit at the Shehab Center for Human Rights" as a human rights report released on the occasion of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Human Rights in Egypt, scheduled for January 2025.
As part of the 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council's Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Egypt's human rights record will be reviewed in January 2025.
Through this report, we shed light on the human rights situation in Egypt over the past period, exposing the practices of the Egyptian regime during this time. These include the disregard for recommendations provided to Egypt during the 34th UPR session in 2019, violations against political opponents and human rights defenders, instances of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, arbitrary detention, unfair trials, the use of the death penalty, impunity for perpetrators of violations, violations of women's rights, and restrictions on freedoms.
Definition of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR)
The Universal Periodic Review is a unique process that involves reviewing and assessing the human rights records of United Nations member states. It is an important procedure established by the Human Rights Council to allow states to demonstrate the actions they have taken to improve human rights conditions.
The goal of the UPR is to improve human rights situations globally, with tangible benefits for the people. It is designed to support the promotion and practice of human rights, evaluate states' human rights records, and address human rights violations.
Review of Egypt's Record in Previous UPR Cycles
In the 2010 UPR session, the Egyptian government received 160 recommendations. In the 2014 UPR session, it received 300 recommendations.
On November 13, 2019, during the UPR session, the Egyptian government received 372 recommendations addressing various human rights violations, including unfair death sentences, persecution of human rights defenders, violations against women, systematic torture, enforced disappearances, and Egypt's failure to adhere to international human rights treaties.
Despite the recommendations made to the Egyptian government during the 2019 UPR session to improve human rights conditions, the situation has deteriorated further. This includes an increase in unjust death sentences, the widespread occurrence of enforced disappearances, and significant prison abuses. The regime has intensified its targeting of human rights defenders, and children and women have not been spared these violations, whether through restrictive laws or oppressive practices by state authorities.
The National Human Rights Strategy as a Facade
In an attempt to "whitewash its image before the world," the Egyptian regime announced the National Human Rights Strategy in 2021 at a press conference hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The strategy contained vague phrases and unsubstantiated claims, resulting in no real change on the ground. This initiative served as a cover to deceive the international community ahead of the COP27 Climate Summit, hosted by Egypt in 2022, aiming to create the illusion of ongoing political reform.
Changes in the Prison System Terminology
The regime enacted Law No. 14 of 2022, amending certain provisions of Law No. 396 of 1956 regarding prison regulations. The amendments replaced the terms "non-central prison" and "central prisons" with "public reform and rehabilitation centers" and "geographic reform centers," respectively. These linguistic changes failed to result in any tangible reforms to the prison system, conditions, or treatment, maintaining the reality of these facilities as prisons in the legal sense.
The persistence of these practices underscores that the Egyptian regime continues to commit widespread human rights violations against its citizens, as evidenced by reports from local and international human rights organizations.
Read the full report here: Universal Periodic Review of Human Rights in Egypt – January 2025.
