The Real Story Behind Egypt's "Shootouts"

(Beirut, September 7, 2021) – 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 Watch said in a report released today.

The 101-page report, “‘Security Forces Dealt with Them’: Suspicious Killings and Extrajudicial Executions by Egyptian Security Forces,” found that the alleged armed militants killed in the so-called shootouts did not pose an imminent danger to security forces or others when they were killed and in many cases had already been in custody. Egypt’s international partners should halt weapons transfers to Egypt and impose sanctions against the security agencies and officials most responsible for ongoing abuses.