Geneva, Switzerland and Washington D.C., United States [February 10, 2025] –  The Committee for Justice (CFJ) and RFK Human Rights highlighted the situation of human rights in a joint submission to the United Nations around Egypt’s Universal Periodic Review. 

In the joint submission, CFJ and RFK Human Rights provide an overview of the crackdown on civic space in Egypt. The report includes instances of violations of the rights to freedom of expression, privacy, and digital rights. In addition, the submission notes that the government violated the right to freedom of association and assembly of human rights defenders, lawyers, journalists, and critics. 

Furthermore, the organizations assessed Egypt’s implementation of the recommendations it received during the 2019 UPR session. Despite Egyptian authorities accepting 66 recommendations during the previous UPR, none were effectively implemented. Instead, violations persisted, including the targeting of human rights defenders, suppression of freedom of expression, and abuse of the judicial system. 

The submission noted that violations such as arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances have continued to be used as tools of repression, along with the misuse of anti-terrorism laws to target political activists and opposition figures. This regression in the human rights situation was exacerbated by the 2023 presidential elections and the Gaza conflict, during which Egyptian authorities carried out multiple arbitrary arrests, suppressed protests, and increasingly targeted activists and journalists. 

CFJ and RFK Human Right’s joint submission decries the lack of progress since the 2019 UPR review session and alarming measures taken by the Egyptian government to repress dissent. The report concluded with recommendations for Egyptian authorities to take immediate and comprehensive steps to end repressive practices against journalists, human rights defenders, and activists, including the following:

• Cease targeting individuals, including human rights defenders and lawyers, for their activities or opinions; ensure independent, transparent investigations to hold perpetrators accountable for gross violations, including arbitrary arrests, torture, and enforced disappearances;
• End abusive judicial practices by removing improperly designated individuals from Egypt’s terrorist lists and by releasing political prisoners, and others held for exercising fundamental rights;
• Uphold constitutional and international legal standards for freedom of expression and press by ensuring that laws on freedom of expression comply with the ICCPR; guarantee access to free, independent information by ending media censorship, website blocking and ending unlawful digital surveillance;
• Repeal restrictive laws, including the cybercrime and NGO laws, and collaborate with independent organizations to create a legislative framework supporting freedom of assembly and NGO operations.

“The human rights violations outlined in our report, along with the government’s failure to implement recommendations from past UPRs, paint a grim picture for the future of human rights and democracy in the country,” said Ikechukwu Uzoma, senior staff attorney at RFK Human Rights. “Now more than ever, the Egyptian government must demonstrate greater respect for its human rights obligations to benefit all Egyptians and the region.”

“The UPR process offers a critical platform to hold states accountable for their human rights obligations,” said Ahmed Mefreh, director of CFJ. “The Egyptian government must seize this opportunity to address the mounting human rights violations and demonstrate genuine commitment to international standards by implementing these recommendations in both policy and practice.”

Egyptian authorities must implement desperately needed reforms to fulfill its obligations under international law and avoid repeating its failure to address recommendations made since the last UPR session.

The Committee for Justice (CFJ) is a Geneva-based non-governmental organization dedicated to defending victims of human rights violations across the Middle East and North Africa. 

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (RFKHR) is an international non-profit organization founded to continue Robert F. Kennedy’s legacy of fighting for justice and human rights. RFKHR engages in strategic litigation and advocacy to protect civic space worldwide.