Rights and freedoms amid prosecutions and social crises
Rights and freedoms amid prosecutions and social crises
In the seventeenth monthly issue of the “Deleted Lines” newsletter, we monitor an intertwined scene in which issues of rights and freedoms intersect with shifts in public policy, and in which professional and social crises are escalating. Between successive judicial developments, human rights criticism of existing policies, and union moves and workers’ protests, this issue’s coverage is divided among the files of criminal justice, the situation of human rights defenders and crises of freedom of belief, through to professional and labour challenges and the economic and social policies linked to them.
1. Solidarity with Palestine and public accountability
A complaint to the Prosecutor General over a steel shipment from Alexandria to Tel Aviv, and an official denial
The Lawyers’ Committee for Supporting the Palestinian People announced that it had submitted a complaint to the Prosecutor General, No. 1615387, regarding what was circulated on social media platforms about the docking at Abu Qir port in Alexandria of a container belonging to the Swiss company MSC, flying the flag of Panama, suspected of containing shipments of military steel destined for Israeli arms factories.
According to the complaint, the information was based on data published on the (MarineTraffic) platform, indicating that the shipment departed from the port of Sines in Portugal, carrying steel manufactured in India and bound, via an intermediary, for the two companies (IMI Systems and Elbit Systems), which are linked to the munitions industry. Those who submitted the complaint demanded the opening of an urgent investigation, the seizure of the container if the information proved correct, a ban on unloading it, and the holding of the shipping agent to account.
In this context, the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) issued a statement affirming that the circulating information, as it described it, indicates the passage through ports in the region of shipments of raw materials used in military industries, calling for full transparency regarding shipping routes and for preventing any dealings that may contribute to supporting Israeli military industries, and stressing the need for governments and companies to adhere to policies of non-involvement in supply chains linked to human rights violations.
For its part, the Egyptian government denied the validity of the allegations, affirming that Egyptian ports are not used to transport or pass on any shipments of a military nature to prohibited parties, and that all ships and goods are subject to careful oversight by the competent authorities, in accordance with national laws and international agreements. It stressed that what had been raised lacks documented evidence, calling for accuracy and for not being carried away by unconfirmed information.
2. Rights, freedoms and fair trial guarantees
Rights and freedoms
Unionist Mohamed Zahran, “the candidate of the poor”, summoned for questioning
The Supreme State Security Prosecution summoned the union leader Dr Mohamed Zahran, “the candidate of the poor”, founder of the Independent National Union of Teachers, for questioning, charging him with publishing false news and statements inside and outside the country, according to what was announced by human rights lawyer Khaled Ali.
The prosecution decided to release him on bail of EGP 10,000 after an interrogation session that lasted for hours, without prior announcement of the details of the case. This is the second incident of its kind, as he was previously summoned in 2023 over similar charges, coinciding with his participation in the sessions of the National Dialogue.
Zahran holds the rank of “senior teacher”, and is considered one of the most prominent advocates of the independence of the Teachers Syndicate and of holding its elections. He also ran in the 2025 House of Representatives elections before announcing his withdrawal from public life.
And developments in the case of lawyer Ali Ayoub
On 26 March 2026, the Hadayek El-Kobba Misdemeanour Appeals Court in Cairo decided to postpone to a session on 2 April the first hearing of the appeal of lawyer and human rights defender Ali Ayoub against the ruling sentencing him to three years in prison and a fine of EGP 300,000, in a case concerning his being accused of insulting and defaming the Minister of Culture, Dr Gihan Zaki, in order to allow the defence to take recusal measures against the court panel.
The defendant’s defence submitted a formal request to recuse the circuit, asking for time to take the necessary legal measures, which resulted in the proceedings in the original case being suspended until a decision is made on the recusal request, as stipulated by law.
The facts of the case go back to the accusation against Ali Ayoub of insulting and defaming the Minister of Culture, Gihan Zaki, over his publishing documents containing accusations of corruption during the period of her management of the Academy of Arts in Rome. While the defence argued that the publication came within the framework of reporting incidents of corruption, the court considered it deliberate defamation.
Aboul Fotouh released pending his retrial
In a related context of the complexities of the judicial track, the Cairo Criminal Court decided to release Ahmed Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, while temporarily suspending the examination of the case until the legal dispute over jurisdiction is settled.
The case has followed an intricate procedural path between the emergency courts and the criminal courts before being returned to its starting point, coinciding with the inclusion of his father, Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, on the terrorism lists by an official decision.
The origin of the crisis goes back to the Public Prosecution’s referral of Aboul Fotouh to an ordinary criminal court to retry him, even though the original ruling issued against him was from an Emergency State Security Court, whose rulings are of a special nature: they cannot be appealed, and their execution requires ratification by the military governor.
In a judicial precedent, the Public Prosecution allowed the defence team to file an appeal before the Court of Cassation against the “lack of jurisdiction” ruling issued by the appeals court. In parallel with this track, a session was urgently set for 16 March 2026 before a new criminal circuit at the Badr Reform Centre to retry Aboul Fotouh on the original ruling in absentia, a session that ended with his release, which in practice means treating all of last year’s proceedings as if they had never been, and he will be tried anew.
And human rights groups welcome the release of 31 detainees
In another step, the Public Prosecution released 31 defendants in 14 “State Security” cases, among them detainees who had exceeded the maximum period of pretrial detention and others who had spent long years without being referred to trial, in addition to blogger Mohamed Ibrahim, known as “Mohamed Oxygen”, despite his having served his legal sentence.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights welcomed this decision, considering it a positive step, while calling for a comprehensive review of the situation of pretrial detainees and the activation of the Prosecutor General’s directives on releasing those who have exceeded the legal periods.
Recommended reading: Twelve years of siege: how was civic space in Egypt reshaped?
Widening the circle of repression and targeting activists' families
As an extension of these developments, the security pressure on activists and human rights defenders continues. Activist Nour Khalil, executive director of the “Refugees Platform in Egypt”, announced that security forces had besieged his family’s home in Gharbia governorate in an attempt to arrest his brother, a measure he considered a means of pressuring him because of his human rights activity, before the forces later withdrew.
The incident provoked international reactions. For her part, Mary Lawlor, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, described this news as “worrying”, considering that the targeting of Khalil’s family comes in response to his defence of migrants’ rights, the activity because of which he was previously forced to leave the country.
For his part, human rights lawyer Halim Heneish, legal adviser at the Refugees Platform, says that the incident comes in the context of the campaign of blackmail to which those working in the field of human rights abroad are subjected, through targeting their relatives, embroiling them in cases and threatening them, with the aim of restricting their voices. Speaking to Zawia3, Heneish expresses his dismay at the approach followed by the Ministry of Interior, stressing that talking about human rights problems in Egypt strengthens the state and does not oppose it. He believes that harm to Egypt’s reputation does not come from those who talk about violations, but from those who commit them and violate the rights of citizens and their procedures.
He adds that the person who talks about these abuses is in fact seeking to defend the reputation of his country, by showing that despite the existence of violations, there are human rights defenders and lawyers working to spread awareness and take legal action.
Heneish points out that the incomprehensible measures and smear campaigns pursued by the Ministry of Interior are what harm Egypt, and that “the officer who practises torture” is the one who tarnishes the country’s reputation, not the one who talks about rights.
In the same context, a recent report issued by the “Refugees Platform in Egypt” revealed an escalation in systematic digital campaigns spreading hate speech against refugees during January 2026, through the use of fake accounts linking their presence to economic crises and crime rates, which also extended to include the human rights organisations working in this field.
“Flogging of female prisoners” at Mahallet Damana police station in Dakahlia
Court of Cassation lawyer Amr El-Kady submitted a formal complaint to the First Attorney General of the Mansoura Appeals Prosecution (No. 2383 of 2026), demanding an urgent investigation into an assault to which female prisoners were subjected at the Mahallet Damana police station.
The complaint was based on an appeal for help received by the defence team on 15 March, stating that one of the prison officers stormed the cell carrying a “black leather instrument” and forced the female prisoners to turn to face the wall, before he began flogging them on their backs and delivering random blows as “collective punishment” over a quarrel that had taken place between two female prisoners.
The complaint stressed the need to delegate a member of the Public Prosecution to go immediately to the prison to document the injuries and hear the victims’ statements. It affirmed that the incident represents a flagrant violation of the right to bodily integrity and human dignity guaranteed by the constitution and the Penal Code.
The lawyer considered that the use of cruelty and physical assault against the female prisoners in that manner places the officer under the force of the law, pointing to a suspicion of crimes related to “use of cruelty” and “indecent assault by force” as a result of the nature of the degrading physical assault.
Engineer Tamer Sherin detained on a charge of publishing false news
The Economic Affairs Prosecution decided to detain the political leader Tamer Sherin Shawky for four days pending investigation, after he appeared following an official summons, facing charges related to “spreading rumours and false news, stirring public opinion and insulting a public official”.
For his part, Ahmed Tantawi, head of the “Al-Amal Current” party (under establishment), declared his full solidarity with Shawky, describing the charges against him as “repeated and familiar to the ears of the Egyptian people”. He pointed out, in a statement on his official “Facebook” page, that this type of case has been brought against tens of thousands of Egyptian men and women over the past 13 years.
Tantawi affirmed that Tamer Sherin Shawky represents a model of peaceful, democratic political struggle, as he is known for his positions committed to the constitution and the law, and his constant effort at positive participation in defence of citizens’ rights and the interests of the nation.
Recommended reading: Wherever they go, repression follows them: Egyptians abroad besieged by their consulates
3. Refugee rights and international protection
International warnings over escalating security campaigns against refugees
These developments converge with escalating UN warnings, as seven United Nations special rapporteurs and experts expressed their grave concern over the escalation of campaigns of arbitrary arrest and forced deportation of refugees and migrants since October 2025.
The statement pointed to the carrying out of mass deportations without individual assessment of cases, in contradiction with Egypt’s international obligations, particularly given the presence of cases registered with the refugee agency or awaiting the renewal of their residency.
In this framework, the forced deportation of Syrian journalist Samer Mokhtar to Syria provoked wide controversy, after he was lured to the Passports Authority on the pretext of completing his residency procedures, before being detained and deported without being allowed to say goodbye to his child.
This coincided with a digital campaign targeting journalist Eman Adel, the mother of his child, that included hate speech and incitement, which prompted her to close her accounts on social media. Human rights organisations condemned this campaign, considering that it reflects a worrying escalation in digital violence, especially against women journalists.
In the same context, the Refugees Platform and the Women Journalists Coalition demanded immediate legal protection for Eman Adel and accountability for those responsible for the hate campaigns, along with the need to stop policies of separating families and to guarantee Samer Mokhtar’s return to reunite with his family. They also called on social media platforms to take urgent measures to remove the inciting content.
4. Freedom of belief and expression
Freedom of belief
Growing concern over the widening of “contempt of religion” charges in Egypt
In the context of religious and intellectual freedoms, the State Security Prosecution released four defendants in cases related to freedom of belief, as part of a series of cases that have affected dozens of people on charges such as “contempt of religion”.
Despite the release, human rights reports warned of the escalating targeting of holders of dissenting religious views, amid a clear gap between the constitutional texts that guarantee freedom of belief and actual practices.
The Egyptian Initiative said in a statement that “an unprecedented security campaign” has affected about 52 people, among them non-religious people, atheists and holders of critical religious views from Muslim and Christian backgrounds, who faced charges of “contempt of religion” and “joining a group established in violation of the law”, and which led to dozens being held in pretrial detention, prison sentences being upheld against others such as “Augustinos Samaan”, and the continued detention of blogger Sherif Gaber.
And the Baha'i dead search for a "cemetery"
In the same context, a UN report criticised the denial to Baha’is in Egypt of the right to bury their dead, as a result of the refusal to allocate new cemeteries, which places them before recurring humanitarian crises, revealing a pattern of “denial of rights” that extends from life to death.
The report pointed out that Baha’is face an acute shortage of burial places as a result of the governorates’ refusal to allocate new land and their regular disregard of their requests, based on religious fatwas from Al-Azhar and court rulings in Alexandria and Port Said (2021-2022) that argued that granting them this right could increase “division and discord”, which has confined the Baha’i community to a single overcrowded cemetery in Cairo that does not meet their needs and is not compatible with their rites, which prohibit moving the body for more than an hour.
A report by Zawia3 titled “Texts that promise freedom and practices that restrict it: the double face of freedom of belief in Egypt”, revealed a sharp escalation in the targeting of individuals over their dissenting convictions, in a campaign that included enforced disappearance, psychological pressure and social stigma, up to the recording of a death inside prison in January 2026
Recommended reading: Texts that promise freedom and practices that restrict it: the double face of freedom of belief in Egypt
5. Human rights defenders and civil society
Human rights defenders
Hoda Abdel Moneim and the never-ending circle of repression
These problems are manifested even more acutely in the situation of human rights defenders. Human rights organisations demanded the immediate release of lawyer Hoda Abdel Moneim after the deterioration of her health in detention, given that she suffers from serious illnesses, and after requests to exempt her from attending the sessions were rejected.
The Regional Coalition for Women Human Rights Defenders and 11 human rights organisations expressed their strong condemnation of the deterioration of the health of lawyer and human rights defender Hoda Abdel Moneim in her place of detention at the 10th of Ramadan Rehabilitation Centre.
The statement affirmed that Abdel Moneim, who is 67 years old, has been bedridden since the beginning of March 2026 as a result of severe knee pain and complete failure of the left kidney, in addition to suffering from blood clots, pulmonary embolism and previous heart attacks. Despite her critical condition and the hardship of transport, the “terrorism circuit” at the Badr prison complex rejected her request to be exempted from attending the sessions and to be represented solely by her lawyers and her husband.
Hoda Abdel Moneim is a lawyer and human rights defender who previously held membership of the National Council for Human Rights. Security forces arrested her in November 2018 over her human rights activity, and her name was included in case No. 1552 of 2018 Supreme State Security, known in the media as the “Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms case”. Since that date, her pretrial detention continued for more than four years, until 5 March 2023, and despite the end of her sentence on 31 October 2023, she was not released, as she was surprised by the same charges being brought against her again in a new case bearing No. 730 of 2020, and on 18 November 2024 her family was again surprised by her being brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution in connection with a third case, case No. 800 of 2019, on charges identical to those previously brought against her.
Rights groups demand the release of Galal El-Behairy after 8 years of detention
In a related development in the freedoms file, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression revealed the referral of poet Galal El-Behairy to criminal trial in two new cases, as his detention continues for the eighth consecutive year since his arrest in March 2018.
El-Behairy faces repeated charges related to joining a terrorist group and publishing false news, the same charges over which he was previously detained.
The Association explained that the referral procedures were marred by difficulties in enabling the defence team to review the case papers or in setting session dates, as a result of delays in sending the files, considering that El-Behairy’s continued detention represents a violation of legal guarantees, especially after he has exceeded the stipulated periods of pretrial detention.
The organisation also criticised what it described as the deterioration of detention conditions and the recycling of charges in new cases based on investigations unsupported by material evidence, considering that this reflects a pattern aimed at restricting freedom of expression and artistic creativity.
Human rights reservations about the "National Human Rights Strategy"
Four human rights organisations welcomed the Egyptian government’s announcement that it is preparing a new national human rights strategy, while expressing concern about a repetition of the shortcomings that marred the previous strategy (2021–2026). In a joint statement, the organisations pointed out that official claims of achieving “tangible progress” contradict UN reports that documented continued impunity, the expanded use of counter-terrorism legislation to restrict the opposition, and continued criticism related to the excessive use of pretrial detention.
In this context, the organisations stressed that the credibility of any human rights strategy is not measured by issuing documents, but by the extent to which it achieves measurable results, criticising the absence of performance indicators and timelines in the previous experience, which contributed to widening the gap between pledges and implementation. They also expressed reservations about assigning the preparation of the strategy to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, considering that real reform must start from within the criminal justice system, by guaranteeing independent oversight of places of detention and stopping the practices of “recycling”.
This comes at the same time as a presidential directive to begin preparing the new strategy, which is to enter into force after the current version expires. In her assessment, Lobna Darwish, a researcher at the Egyptian Initiative, says in a conversation with Zawia3 that the value of human rights strategies lies in the existence of “an implementation plan and accountability tools”, not in merely issuing them, considering that the absence of these elements turns them into “propaganda documents” rather than effective policies; although limited gains have been achieved, such as the empowerment of women in the judiciary, they are met with a continuing decline in fundamental freedoms.
Human rights lawyer Suzan Nada agrees with her, describing the strategy as “ink on paper” because it has not been translated into practical steps, and pointing out that the lack of partnership with civil society in drafting laws such as the “Criminal Procedure” law reflects a disregard for the professional voices that see current pretrial detention as “a disguised punishment” lacking serious investigation.
On the other hand, human rights organisations announced their intention to prepare an independent “shadow strategy” containing clear and measurable criteria, with the aim of providing an objective tool for assessing the seriousness of reforms and the extent to which they are reflected on the ground, in a way that strengthens the rule of law and improves the situation of rights and freedoms.
The Egyptian Network for Human Rights halts its activity
The Egyptian Network for Human Rights foundation announced on Friday the halting of its human rights activity due to circumstances beyond its control, without clarifying the reasons
It said in a statement that the decision comes amid challenges that prevented the foundation from continuing to perform its mission in a way that achieves its goals of supporting and promoting human rights
Recommended reading: What has changed 4 years after the launch of the National Human Rights Strategy?
6. Workers’ rights and protection from dismissal
Workers’ rights
Continued detention of doctors who objected to the abolition of the “assignment“
In parallel, crises are escalating within a number of professional sectors. The Ministry of Health’s decision to amend the system for the “assignment” of medical graduates so that it becomes “according to need” provoked wide controversy, especially after admission rates were significantly reduced.
Political and union forces condemned the arrest of a number of doctors and pharmacists over their objection to the decision, considering it a violation of the right to union activity and peaceful expression.
On 24 March, the State Security Prosecution decided to renew for 15 days the detention of dentists Mohamed Osama and Mostafa Orabi and pharmacist Ehab Sameh, in connection with case No. 945 of 2026 Supreme State Security, on charges of joining an illegal group and publishing false news.
This comes after a previous decision to detain them on 9 March, amid condemnations from political, human rights and union forces, which considered that targeting doctors and pharmacists over their peaceful opposition to the decision amending the assignment system represents a violation of the right to union activity and expression, and an extension of the use of “loose” charges in opinion cases.
The crisis escalated after the application of the “assignment according to need” system instead of comprehensive appointment, which led to a significant reduction in admission rates and provoked widespread anger among graduates, especially with the decision being applied retroactively and the delay in issuing the assignment list.
In parallel, professional syndicates moved to challenge the decision in court, while a number of MPs submitted briefing requests, demanding the establishment of transparent and fair criteria for assignment, guaranteeing graduates’ rights and linking education policies to the needs of the labour market.
Commenting, human rights lawyer Malek Adly, director of the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, affirms that a security approach to professional crises is not a solution and may in fact aggravate them, considering that the moves by a number of pharmacy and dentistry graduates to challenge the administrative decision of the Minister of Health and to demand their professional rights fall within the scope of freedom of expression, the right to organise, union activity and recourse to the courts.
He tells Zawia3: “Resorting to pretrial detention in such cases leaves a negative impact on the union climate and freedom of expression within professional sectors, and sends messages of intimidation that may obstruct public debate on health policies, at a time when the system needs an open dialogue about its crises”.
Recommended reading: Surplus graduates or a planning failure? Reducing the assignment opens a new crisis in the health system
Samanoud workers: delayed salaries and health insurance cut off
In the same framework, workers’ protests were renewed at the Samanoud Textile company, where workers went on an open-ended strike in protest at delayed salaries and the cutting off of health insurance, amid accusations against the management of mismanagement and harassment.
Workers who spoke to Zawia3 revealed a worsening humanitarian crisis as a result of health insurance services being cut off for about 600 male and female workers since last January, because of the management’s failure to remit insurance contributions despite deducting them from wages, which has deprived those with chronic illnesses of their monthly medicines. This pressure coincided with security reinforcements around the factory and night raids on the homes of those inciting the strike.
And 400 workers face arbitrary dismissal at Egypt Aluminium
The crisis also escalated at the Egypt Aluminium company in Nag Hammadi, after the dismissal of about 400 workers, in a step that human rights organisations described as mass arbitrary dismissal, along with the use of means of pressure to force workers to leave work.
In this context, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms affirmed that depriving workers of the means of reaching their workplace represents a form of “disguised dismissal” and of forcing them to leave work, which constitutes an explicit violation of the guarantees established by the new Labour Law No. 14 of 2025.
It stressed that these practices violate Egypt’s international obligations under the ILO conventions (87, 98, 111), which prohibit retaliatory acts against workers because of the right to organise or strike, and prohibit unjustified discrimination in rights and services between workers who perform identical tasks
Recommended reading: Samanoud Weaving: salaries not paid in full, treatment halted, and working hours set to increase
7. Public policy and social rights
Public policy and societal controversy
At the level of public policy, the decision to suspend government services for those who refuse to pay alimony provoked wide controversy, between those who see it as a means of guaranteeing the implementation of court rulings and those who consider it an expansion of administrative penalties that may affect fundamental rights.
Human rights lawyer and former presidential candidate Khaled Ali considers that the recent decision entrenches a punitive philosophy that has been expanding within Egyptian legislation for years, and that it also raises a wide debate that concerns not only its usefulness, but its legal nature and its social and political effects, and the extent to which it entrenches a pattern of administrative penalties that go beyond the traditional framework of implementing court rulings.
He shows that the decision was not issued in a legislative vacuum, as it rests on a previous amendment to the Egyptian Penal Code under Law No. 6 of 2020, which amended Article 293 on the crime of refusing to pay alimony, toughened the penalty and permitted the suspension of some government services for those who refuse to pay as a means of pressure to implement the ruling.
Recommended reading: Alimony in exchange for services: is the state pushing fathers to pay or pushing them out of the labour market?
14 decisions expropriating 253.4 feddans owned by 1,690 citizens
The Cabinet issued two decisions deeming the project to extend Metro Line 2 from Shubra El-Kheima to the Ring Road, and the railway axis project on Al-Gazayer Street in Cairo, to be works of public benefit, which requires the expropriation of about 55 feddans of land and properties owned by citizens, as part of plans to develop transport and link the metro to bus rapid transit projects.
Data from Diwan Al-Omran indicate that about 51% of expropriations in 2025 were for roads and bridges, comprising 14 decisions covering 253.4 feddans owned by 1,690 citizens.
Meanwhile, tensions are escalating in the Old Manial district, where residents have turned to the courts to object to what they described as unregulated demolitions, while the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights affirmed its support for the right to safe housing and its rejection of coercive measures without guaranteed compensation and resettlement.
An international study issued by the Disca Observatory and the Taqato Association pointed out that the wage gap between women and men weakens women’s access to adequate housing, affirming that economic inequality represents a structural obstacle to their enjoyment of their urban rights.
Economic and tax legislation
On the economic side, the House of Representatives approved amendments to the Real Estate Tax Law, including raising the exemption threshold to EGP 8 million, which exempts a broad segment of citizens, while criticism continues regarding the weak efficiency of collection and the limited actual impact of the tax.
Salma Hussein, economic researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal and Social Rights, believes that the real estate tax is one of the fairest taxes and the least harmful to economic activity, since it is a tax on wealth and not on production or work; it is used in many countries as a tool to curb real estate speculation and the storing of wealth in property, and to encourage the release of closed units onto the rental market. However, she criticises the limited progressivity of the amendments, considering that they do not address the gap between small owners and owners of multiple properties.
She explains that the real estate tax, despite its theoretical fairness, remains without real effect so far because of its weak revenue, pointing out that the law stipulates that a quarter of the revenue be allocated to local authorities, which is not actually applied, emptying the tax of its development and service dimension
She says: “The real estate tax must be understood as a tax on wealth; whoever owns more must contribute more to financing the public services from which they benefit”, stressing that achieving justice does not stop at imposing the tax, but is linked to how its revenue is distributed, the transparency of exemptions, and guaranteeing that the proceeds return to citizens in the form of tangible local services”.
Recommended reading: Chaos in Egypt’s real estate market: companies selling units on land not registered in their name
8. Heritage and the right to the city
The Raml tram between development and demolition: is Alexandria losing its heritage memory?
The Alexandria tram development project is provoking wide controversy, amid fears of erasing its heritage character and removing historic trees, alongside questions about its economic feasibility and suspicions of squandering public money.
For his part, Court of Cassation lawyer Mohamed Fattouh filed a police report concerning an incident of damage to public property at the Victoria and Siouf stations.
Fattouh explains that the lawsuit is based on challenging the invalidity of the decision of the Prime Minister issued in 2021 concerning the Raml tram development project, on the grounds that the facility is listed as part of the city’s civilisational heritage and is more than 160 years old, which places it under constitutional protection in accordance with Article 50 of the constitution, in addition to the provisions of the Heritage Protection Law No. 144 of 2006.
He reveals to Zawia3 that the grounds of challenge cover four main axes: harm to the heritage value; the inadequacy of the compensation allocated since 2021 in light of inflation; the absence of a clear environmental study on the cutting down of old trees along the tram line; in addition to the social impact resulting from halting the facility at the same time as the development of the Abu Qir line, which has caused traffic and economic pressure on citizens.
Fattouh believes that putting the tram’s assets up for auction at a value of EGP 176 million represents an undervaluation and involves a suspicion of squandering public money, in addition to a legal defect concerning the authority with jurisdiction over the facility, stressing that the dismantling works are still continuing despite the lawsuit being examined.
For his part, Yahya Shawkat, director of the Built Environment Observatory, criticises the decision-making mechanisms, considering that they reveal an urgent need to reactivate elected popular local councils and to put in place mechanisms that guarantee residents’ participation in decisions on urban development. He points out that the absence of this participation leads to solutions that may not adequately reflect the needs of residents.
He adds that involving citizens through discussion sessions would have led to more balanced development alternatives that take into account multiple dimensions, among them raising the efficiency of the service and preserving the heritage character, in a way that better serves the interests of residents compared with the solutions currently being implemented.
Recommended reading: The Alexandria tram: development faster than court rulings
9. The right to health and treatment
Health and social justice
On the social justice file, the Administrative Court issued a ruling obliging health insurance to provide an insulin pump for a sick girl, in a step considered a victory for patients’ right to treatment.
This comes in the context of repeated demands to provide insulin pumps and their supplies for children with diabetes within the health insurance system, in a way that guarantees that all sick children obtain them without discrimination.
On the other hand, the challenges of the health insurance system persist, especially with complaints about shortages of medicines and services, which forces patients to bear additional burdens.
In this context, four briefing requests addressed to the Ministries of Health and Finance and the head of the Universal Health Insurance Financing Authority, submitted by MP Ahmed Farghaly, member of the House of Representatives for Port Said governorate, in March of this year, revealed the suffering of patients because the authority dispenses cheaper medicines instead of the original vital medicines,
10. Women’s rights and protection from violence
Gaps in the justice and protection system: violence against women is constantly increasing
Coinciding with International Women’s Day, waves of testimonies in which women recount their experiences of violence and sexual assault are being renewed in Egypt, in a context that reflects the persistence of gaps in the justice and protection system.
A petition issued by feminist organisations indicates that the recurrence of these testimonies, from the incidents of mass assaults in Tahrir Square to the “Fairmont” cases and the accusations against “Ahmed Bassam”, reveals the limits of the avenues of accountability and redress.
The petition notes that complaints are often met with scepticism and with the burden of proof being placed on survivors, which turns testimonies into a tool for demanding justice, calling for legal reforms and alternative avenues of accountability, while strengthening community solidarity and turning these waves into clear political and legislative demands.
For its part, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights called on the Public Prosecution to use its powers to appeal the acquittal issued in favour of the defendant accused of harassing Mariam Shawky in the case known in the media as the “bus girl case”, as the Mokattam Misdemeanour Court acquitted him on 24 March, even though the investigations and inquiries had established that he repeatedly harassed her over several days, considering this ruling an undermining of the rights of women and girls to physically and psychologically safe spaces in the public sphere.
Coinciding with the convening of the seventieth session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, Egyptian feminist and human rights civil society organisations and initiatives issued a statement on what they described as women’s “truncated access to gender justice”, pointing to long-standing challenges at the political, social, economic and cultural levels.
The statement documented an unprecedented rise in the rates of killing of women in both the private and public spheres, against legislative faltering in providing adequate protection and limiting impunity, especially in crimes of domestic violence.
The decision on nurseries for working women between welcome and reservations
The Women’s Committee of the Journalists Syndicate welcomed the Minister of Labour’s decision regulating the establishment of nurseries within workplaces, which obliges establishments employing 100 or more female workers to provide an in-house nursery or to contract with another one, while making shared solutions available to smaller establishments, with the aim of supporting the stability of the work environment for women.
Despite the welcome, the step provoked criticism related to implementation mechanisms and the distribution of costs. Omaima Emad, a researcher at the New Woman Foundation, affirms that the decision still makes female workers bear part of the cost of the service, even though it is a legal obligation on the employer, pointing out that the ambiguity of the text regarding the deduction mechanism, whether from the basic or the total wage, may lead to significant deductions, especially given the current economic pressures.
At the same time, Omaima considers that the decision includes positive aspects compared with previous legislation, among them increasing the number of children who benefit and reducing contribution rates, which may ease the burdens of commuting and improve women’s productivity. But she noted the persistence of fundamental problems, most notably restricting the service to women, which reinforces discrimination in the labour market, alongside the absence of effective oversight mechanisms to guarantee implementation.
