Despite the formal lifting of the “state of emergency” on 25 October 2021, the Emergency State Security Court (ESSC) continues to be used by Egyptian authorities as a tool to crackdown on dissent and the legitimate exercise of human rights fundamental freedoms, the International Commission of Jurists and the Egyptian Commission on Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) said today.
The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) calls on the Egyptian authorities to immediately quash the convictions of torture victims who were convicted of “terrorism-related” charges and sentenced to terms of imprisonment ranging from five years to life as punishment for exposing their ordeal and their torturers.
On 10 November 2022, Egyptian authorities denied human rights defender Giorgio Caracciolo, an Italian national and Deputy Director for International Programs at DIGNITY and a member of the executive committee of EuroMed Rights, entry to Egypt and required him to leave Cairo International Airport on a flight to Paris, France.
In the run up to the UN Climate Change Conference 2022 (COP27) taking place in Egypt’s resort town of Sharm El Sheikh from 7 to18 November 2022, the undersigned organizations, groups and individuals note with great concern the human rights situation in Egypt and in particular the government’s restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly, which risk to undermine a successful, inclusive and participatory climate summit.
The ICJ, as part of a global coalition, has called on Egyptian authorities to immediately drop all charges, close all cases involving them, and promptly release Mohamed el-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah.
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