Egypt should immediately halt deportations of Eritrean asylum seekers to their home country, where they face detention and the risk of torture, Human Rights Watch said today.

Egypt should under no circumstances deport Eritrean asylum seekers now in detention without first allowing the UN refugee agency access to assess their refugee claims.

Since June 2007, Egyptian border guards have killed at least 32 African migrants trying to cross into Israel, and Israel has forcibly returned at least 139 border crossers to Egypt.

Egypt should immediately release six men who have been detained for more than 90 days without charge since their arrests following a workers strike and street protests in Mahalla al-Kobra in April, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch also called on authorities to suspend the prosecution of 49 others by a security court where procedures violate fair trial rights and to investigate allegations that some of the men were tortured.

Egyptian authorities should immediately remove all restrictions against a labor organization and comply with a court order to legally recognize the workers’ rights group, Human Rights Watch said today.

The United Nations General Assembly should reverse its decision to exclude three human rights and sexual health nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from its June 10 high-level meeting on HIV/AIDS, a coalition of human rights groups and international AIDS organizations said today.

Egyptian authorities should investigate the forced return to Sudan of at least 11 Sudanese who were officially recognized as refugees and asylum seekers, Human Rights Watch said today. The forcible return (refoulement) of people to a country where they have a well-founded fear of persecution constitutes a breach of Egypt’s basic obligation under international refugee law.

A Cairo appeals court’s decision to uphold the sentences imposed on five men jailed in a crackdown on people living with HIV/AIDS underscores the Egyptian government’s dangerous indifference to public health and justice, Human Rights Watch said today. The May 28 ruling upheld the maximum three-year prison terms for each of the five, following a months-long campaign targeting men with HIV/AIDS. A total of nine men have been sentenced to prison so far.