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Egypt Anatomy of a State Security Case The “Victorious Sect” Arrests This 74-page report examines the case of the so-called Victorious Sect, a group of 22 young Egyptians charged with plotting to carry out violent attacks on tourists and other civilian targets in Cairo. HRW Index No.: E1909 December 11, 2007 Also available in 
Download PDF, 441 KB, 87 pgs Purchase online Download E-Book Prohibited Identities State Interference with Religious Freedom
HRW Index No.: E1907 November 12, 2007 Also available in
Download PDF, 400 KB, 100 pgs Purchase online Download E-Book Off the Record U.S. Responsibility for Enforced Disappearances in the “War on Terror” This 21-page briefing paper, published by six leading human rights organizations, includes the names and details of 39 people who are believed to have been held in secret US custody abroad and whose current whereabouts remain unknown. The briefing paper also names relatives of suspects who were themselves arrested and detained, including children as young as seven. The list of missing people includes nationals from countries including Egypt, Kenya, Libya, Morocco, Pakistan and Spain. They are believed to have been arrested in countries including Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Somalia and Sudan, and transferred to secret US prisons operated by the CIA. June 7, 2007 Human Rights Council Membership Requires Steps to Address Violations A Briefing Paper by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and Human Rights Watch In this 13-page briefing paper, Human Rights Watch and the EIPR said that Egypt’s terrible human rights record made that country a poor choice for membership. They nevertheless welcomed the Egyptian government’s public pledges to improve its practices domestically and to strengthen the capacity of the council. May 25, 2007 Also available in
From a Flood to a Trickle Neighboring States Stop Iraqis Fleeing War and Persecution Iraq’s neighbors are refusing entry, imposing onerous new passport and visa requirements, and building barriers to keep refugees out. In certain cases, they are also expelling Iraqis back to Iraq.This briefing paper focuses on new restrictive measures taken by Jordan and Egypt to prevent more refugees from coming. Syria, which is hosting about 1 million Iraqis, denied visas to Human Rights Watch researchers seeking to document their situation. Saudi Arabia is building a US$7 billion high-tech barrier on its border to keep Iraqis out, while Kuwait is categorically rejecting Iraqi asylum seekers. April 17, 2007 Also available in
Monopolizing Power Egypt’s Political Parties Law This 17-page briefing paper outlines the sweeping powers that Egypt's Political Parties Law grants to the Political Parties Committee, a body dominated by the president and the ruling party, to license and suspend political parties. The law gives President Mubarak and the ruling party broad authority to choose who may compete against them and under what terms. In this paper, Human Rights Watch says that reform of this law is particularly important given the possibility that the government might bring back party-list voting, which would require voters to choose parties rather than individuals. January 4, 2007 Also available in
False Freedom Online Censorship in the Middle East and North Africa This 144-page report documents online censorship and cases in which Internet users have been detained for their online activities in countries across the region, including Tunisia, Iran, Syria and Egypt. These attempts to control the flow of information online contradict governments' national and international legal commitments to freedom of opinion and expression and the summit's own Declaration of Principles. The report is based on an examination of thousands of Web sites from Middle Eastern countries and interviews with dozens of writers, bloggers, computer experts and human rights activists. HRW Index No.: E1710 November 15, 2005 Download PDF, 1800 KB, 118 pgs Purchase online Download E-Book From Plebiscite to Contest? Egypt’s Presidential Election On September 7, Egypt will hold its first-ever multi-party presidential election, as distinct from the single-candidate plebiscites that have so far characterized the “re-elections” of President Husni Mubarak. This election, however, is seriously flawed by requirements that effectively negate the possibility of any opposition leader from seriously challenging President Mubarak’s hold on power. September 2, 2005 Egypt: Margins of Repression State Limits on Nongovernmental Organization Activism This 45-page report discusses the impact of the law governing associations, Law 84/2002, which came into effect in June 2003. The report concludes that the most serious barrier to meaningful freedom of association in Egypt is the extra-legal role of the security services. Human Rights Watch documented numerous cases where the security services rejected NGO registrations, decided who could serve on NGO boards of directors, harassed NGO activists, and interfered with donations reaching the groups. HRW Index No.: E1708 July 4, 2005 Download PDF, 235 KB, 47 pgs Purchase online Reading between the “Red Lines” The Repression of Academic Freedom in Egyptian Universities This report details ongoing government restrictions on classroom discussions, research projects, student activities, campus demonstrations and university governance. The report addresses conditions in public institutions including Cairo, Alexandria, `Ain Shams, and Hilwan Universities, and private institutions like the American University in Cairo. HRW Index No.: E1706 June 9, 2005 Download PDF, 544 KB, 102 pgs Purchase online Black Hole The Fate of Islamists Rendered to Egypt Sometime at the end of February 2004, six Egyptians, alleged militants who had spent several years in exile in Yemen, the last several in official custody, were surreptitiously ferried from Sanaa to Cairo, very much against their will. Among them was Sayyid Imam `Abd al-`Aziz al-Sharif, formerly a leader of Egypt’s al-Jihad al-Islami, a group that had been responsible for numerous acts of political violence. HRW Index No.: E1705 May 10, 2005 Download PDF, 542 KB, 64 pgs Purchase online Still at Risk Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture This 91-page report documents the growing practice among Western governments—including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands—of seeking assurances of humane treatment in order to transfer terrorism suspects to states with well-established records of torture. The report details a dozen cases involving actual or attempted transfers to countries where torture is commonplace. HRW Index No.: D1703 April 15, 2005 Download PDF, 563 KB, 94 pgs Purchase online Cairo to Kabul to Guantanamo A Human Rights Watch Briefing Paper `Abd al-Salam `Ali al-Hila, a Yemeni intelligence officer, disappeared in Cairo in 2002. Since then, he is believed to have been held without trial in Azerbaijan, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. March 30, 2005 Also available in 
Printer friendly version Egypt: Mass Arrests and Torture in Sinai This 48-page report documents how, in the weeks and months after the bombing that killed 30 people in the resort town of Taba, the State Security Investigation agency conducted mass arrests in northern Sinai without a warrant or judicial order as required by Egyptian law. HRW Index No.: E1703 February 22, 2005 Also available in
Download PDF, 318 KB, 49 pgs Purchase online Divorced from Justice Women’s Unequal Access to Divorce in Egypt This 62-page report documents serious human rights abuses stemming from discriminatory family laws that have resulted in a divorce system that affords separate and unequal treatment to men and women. HRW Index No.: E1608 December 1, 2004 Also available in
Download PDF, 441 KB, 70 pgs Purchase online Empty Promises Diplomatic Assurances No Safeguard Against Torture Individuals suspected of terrorism should never be returned to a country where they risk torture and ill-treatment. Promises of fair treatment by states with well-known records of torture are inherently unreliable, and governments that justify returns through such promises, known as “diplomatic assurances,” are violating the absolute prohibition against torture and eroding a fundamental principle of international law. The death penalty, however reprehensible, is legal and usually carried out publicly. But torture is illegal and practiced in secret. Governments routinely lie about whether they’re torturing people or not, and in some situations they may not even have adequate control to guarantee security. This 39-page report documents cases where governments returned or considered returning suspects on the basis of such formal guarantees, and raises concern that in some cases, those returned were, in fact, tortured or ill-treated. HRW Index No.: D1604 April 15, 2004 Download PDF, 360 KB, 39 pgs Purchase online In a Time of Torture The Assault on Justice in Egypt's Crackdown on Homosexual Conduct This 144-page report documents the government’s increasing repression of men who have sex with men. The trial of 52 men in 2001 for the “habitual practice of debauchery”—the legal charge used to criminalize homosexual conduct in Egyptian law—was only the most visible point in the ongoing and expanding crackdown. Today, Egyptian police use wiretaps and a growing web of informers to conduct raids on private homes or seize suspects on the street. Undercover police agents arrange meetings with men through chat rooms and personal advertisements on the Internet—and then arrest them. HRW Index No.: 1564322963 March 1, 2004 Download PDF, 1100 KB, 150 pgs Purchase online Egypt’s Torture Epidemic Torture in Egypt is a widespread and persistent phenomenon. Security forces and the police routinely torture or ill-treat detainees, particularly during interrogation. In most cases, officials torture detainees to obtain information and coerce confessions, occasionally leading to death in custody. In some cases, officials use torture detainees to punish, intimidate, or humiliate. Police also detain and torture family members to obtain information or confessions from a relative, or to force a wanted relative to surrender. February 25, 2004 Also available in
Printer friendly version Security Forces Abuse of Anti-War Demonstrators Egypt should investigate and discipline police and plainclothes security officials who beat demonstrators protesting the Iraq war and tortured some of those detained. In this 40-page report, Human Rights Watch documents excessive use of force by security forces to disperse demonstrators protesting the U.S.-led war against Iraq in March, violating their right to freedom of assembly. After arresting hundreds of protesters, police then beat and mistreated many detainees, some to the point of torture, and failed to provide medical care to persons seriously injured. Human Rights Watch calls on the government to dismiss charges against persons detained solely for attempting to exercise their right of free assembly. HRW Index No.: E1510 November 7, 2003 Download PDF Purchase online Egypt: The Human Rights Impact of Counter-Terrorism Measures Egypt has a long history of using anti-terrorism decrees and emergency rule to suppress peaceful dissidents, as well as to punish opponents advocating or using violence. But repressive measures have intensified since the September 11 attacks. March 26, 2003 |
 
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