Search Results

Sort by
News

Documents Claim France Abets Deadly Egyptian Air Strikes

French Authorities Should Immediately Investigate; Stop Arms Sales

A media investigation has alleged that classified documents show that a secret French military intelligence operation may have supported the Egyptian Air Force in targeting civilians under the guise of fighting terrorism. The documents appear to…
Two men in suits shake hands and pose for a photo
News

Egypt: End Harassment of Rights Defender

Verdict on Hossam Bahgat Speech Charges Due November 29

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities should cease the harassment and persecution of prominent human rights defender and journalist, Hossam Bahgat, who faces abusive charges intended to punish him solely for exercising his right to freedom of expression and…
Several European diplomats attend a meeting at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights' (EIPR) office in Cairo on November 3, 2020.
News

Egypt: UNDP Report Whitewashes Human Rights Violations

Joint Letter by Human Rights Organizations Calls for Accountability

(New York) – The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) September 2021 Egypt Human Development Report includes false and misleading claims, Amnesty International, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Human Rights Watch said today.…
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on September 14, 2021.
News

Egypt: Terrorism Laws Abused in Businessmen’s Arrests

Juhayna Owners Charged as ‘Terrorists’ after Refusing to Surrender Shares

(Beirut) – Two Egyptian businessmen have been detained for months, reportedly after they refused to surrender their shares in their company to a state-owned business, Human Rights Watch said today. Egyptian authorities should immediately release the…
Seif Safwan Thabet, Chief Executive Officer of Juhayna
News

Evicted from Their Office, Al Jazeera Works from a Front Yard in Tunisia

Authorities Arbitrarily Target Media and Critics

I first met Lotfi Hajji some 15 years ago, after Tunisian authorities under President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali had refused a request by Al Jazeera, the Qatar-funded pan-Arab television station, to accredit the Tunisian journalist as their local…
Al Jazeera correspondent Lotfi Hajji reporting from Tunis after Tunisian authorities evicted the pan-Arab television network from its offices, November 5, 2021. 
News

Egypt: US Advocate’s Father Held Incommunicado

‘Disappeared’ in Reprisal as Egyptian Officials Visit Washington

(Beirut) – Egyptian authorities have held Salah Soltan in incommunicado detention since June 2020, in conditions that amount to enforced disappearance and may amount to torture or other ill-treatment, in likely retaliation for his son’s human rights…
Salah Soltan
News

Egypt: Rampant Abuses Make for Poor Climate Host

Civil Society Participation in COP27 at Grave Risk

(Beirut) – The choice of Egypt to host the next UN climate summit severely imperils Egyptian and international civil society participation, a crucial feature of the global efforts to address the climate crisis, Human Rights Watch said today. Under…
A group of uniformed police with riot gear stand on the street
News

A Discriminatory System Killed a Transgender Man in Egypt

By reforming its own system, Egypt can influence positive changes in other countries in the region and lead the way for clear and accessible legal gender recognition mechanisms.

August 26 should have been a day of celebration for Ezz Eldin, a 26-year-old transgender man, but it ended in tragedy. He bled to death after he was prematurely discharged following a gender-affirmation surgery in an underground clinic…
The transgender pride flag.
News

Letter to President Biden on US Policy Toward the Middle East

November 3, 2021 President Joseph R. Biden 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20500 RE: US Policy Toward the Middle East Dear President Biden, When you were elected last year, we urged your incoming administration to strive to be a…
News

Egypt: Emergency Provisions Made Permanent

Update to News Release Published on October 26, 2021

(Beirut, November 5, 2021) – Days after President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced the end of Egypt’s nationwide state of emergency on October 25, 2021, the government sent a slew of legal amendments to the parliament, incorporating many emergency-law-…
A security officer holding a weapon
News

Tunisia: Attack on Director of LGBT Group

Police Officers Suspected; Investigation Needed

Two police officers apparently brutally attacked the director of a Tunis-based LGBT rights group on October 21, 2021, Human Rights Watch said today. The attack on Badr Baabou took place against a backdrop of mounting abuses targeting LGBT activists by…
Badr Baabou, director of Damj Association for Justice and Equality, following his assault by suspected police officers in Tunisia. © 2021 Badr Baabou
News

Egypt: Ending State of Emergency a Start But Insufficient

Little Impact on Civil Liberties Without Changing Abusive Laws

(Beirut) – Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s October 25, 2021 announcement that he is lifting the nationwide state of emergency is positive, but far from sufficient to begin to quell the country’s prolonged human rights crisis, Human Rights…
Egyptian security forces cordon off roads during curfew hours in Cairo, Egypt, Sunday, March 29, 2020
News

UN Rights Body Should Ensure Scrutiny for Abuses in Egypt

Item 4 General Debate

Madam President, In the six months since a large cross-regional group of states delivered a joint statement on Egypt’s steadily deteriorating human rights situation, the Egyptian government has continued its widespread human rights violations and…
A masked Egyptian policeman watches Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt.
News

UN Development Agency Embraces Egypt’s Abusive Rulers

Donors Shouldn’t Engage in Whitewashing Horrendous Rights Record

The United Nations Development Program’s (UNDP) Egypt office issued a press release last week lavishing praise on President al-Sisi’s government’s supposed “good governance and accountability.” This is a very different Egypt from the one Human Rights…
President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi on September 14, 2021.
News

Tunisia: President’s Repressive Policies Abrogate Rights

Dozens Placed Under Arbitrary House Arrests

(Tunis) – Arbitrary and politically motivated acts of repression have proliferated in Tunisia since July 25, 2021, when President Kais Saied suspended parliament, Human Rights Watch said today. He also lifted parliamentary immunity, dismissed the head…
Tunisian President Kais Saied raises his fist to bystanders as he walks along the avenue Bourguiba in Tunis, Tunisia, August 1, 2021.
Report

“Security Forces Dealt with Them”

Summary This report covers a pattern of suspicious killings and probable extrajudicial executions by Egyptian Interior Ministry forces of people who at the moment of their deaths apparently posed no life-threatening danger to security forces or others…
News

Egypt: ‘Shootouts’ Disguise Apparent Extrajudicial Executions

Partners Should Halt Weapons Transfer, Impose Sanctions

(Beirut) – Egypt’s Interior Ministry police and National Security Agency officers have in recent years apparently killed dozens of alleged “terrorists” across the country in unlawful extrajudicial executions they contend are “shootouts,” Human Rights…
A masked Egyptian policeman watches Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt.