Between Prison Walls and the Borders of Exile: The Many Faces of Repression

Between prison walls and the borders of exile

In this issue of “Deleted Lines”, we monitor an overlapping scene of human rights violations in Egypt, between the continuation of the systematic practice of torture inside places of detention and the escalating targeting of children, activists and political opponents, amid worsening crises in the health sector and the decline of legal safeguards for the protection of refugees and prisoners. Through documented testimonies and careful documentation of events, we convey a complete picture of the manifestations of repression and violations that affect various aspects of public life, from police stations and prisons to courtrooms and health facilities.

1. Personal liberty and prisoners of conscience

Arrest of the Son of Egyptian Opposition Figure Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh

Human rights organisations expressed their grave concern over the trial of Ahmed Aboul Fotouh, son of Dr Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh, head of the Strong Egypt Party, before the Emergency State Security Criminal Court, in its first session scheduled for Sunday 27 April, over his publication of information about the violations his father is subjected to in his place of detention.

The organisations stressed that this trial is being held before an exceptional court that does not observe the minimum guarantees of a fair trial, demanding that all charges against Ahmed Aboul Fotouh be dropped, and called for an end to the policies aimed at tightening the security grip on the public sphere, which extend to political activists and their families.

Security forces had arrested Ahmed Aboul Fotouh on 16 April this month at the Qattamiya traffic unit while he was renewing his driving licence, in implementation of a sentence issued against him in absentia in May 2022 of 15 years in prison by the Emergency State Security Court, in a case dating back to 2021.

According to the papers of Case No. 1059 of 2021 (Emergency State Security Felonies), registered as No. 707 of 2021 New Cairo Plenary, Ahmed Aboul Fotouh faces charges of joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes in Case No. 1059 of 2021 (Emergency State Security Felonies), registered as No. 707 of 2021 New Cairo Plenary. It is the same case in which a sentence of 15 years’ maximum-security imprisonment was issued against his father, in addition to sentences of 10 years in prison for each of his deputy, Mohamed El-Qassas, and the vice-president of the Tanta University Students’ Union, Moaz El-Sharkawy.

Alaa Abdel Fattah’s Health Deteriorates after More than 50 Days of Hunger Strike

The family of Egyptian opposition figure Alaa Abdel Fattah expressed renewed fears for his life, after his health deteriorated as a result of his continuing hunger strike for more than 50 days. Abdel Fattah, the 42-year-old British-Egyptian citizen, remains in prison despite the end of his sentence last September. His family appealed to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to intervene to help secure his release. The family said in a statement on Facebook that Alaa’s health has deteriorated markedly since he began his third hunger strike on 1 March, in solidarity with his mother’s partial hunger strike, which began to demand his release. Abdel Fattah is suffering from vomiting, severe gastroenteritis and exhaustion, in addition to chronic inflammation of the oesophagus, as his body rejects the medicines prescribed to him as a result of the long strike.

Dr Laila Soueif spent 7 months on hunger strike to demand the release of her son, who has completed his legal period of imprisonment. For her part, Alaa’s sister, Sanaa Seif, made an urgent appeal to the British Prime Minister, asking him to pressure the Egyptian authorities to raise her brother’s case.

On the Anniversary of 6 April, Mohamed Adel’s Wife Demands His Release

Rofaida Hamdy, the wife of political activist Mohamed Adel, demanded his release after more than 11 years of his imprisonment, during the seminar the movement held under the title “6 April, between the Past and the Future”. During the seminar, the movement discussed the most important milestones and memories of the youth movement, and the horizons of the future and learning from the experience.

For her part, Rofaida Hamdy, the wife of detainee Mohamed Adel, called on Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to grant a presidential pardon to her husband, who has spent more than 11 years in prison, especially since none of the cases in which Adel was accused included charges of inciting violence; rather, they were limited to publishing and broadcasting false news and protesting. She stressed: “If he made a mistake from the state’s point of view, he and his family have already been punished for 11 years.”

In a statement to Zawia3, Rofaida expresses her dismay at the continuation of the situation, noting that she “has taken all possible steps” to reach positive results, but she “no longer knows what the next steps that can be taken are”, as her husband remains in detention. She adds that “she has received many messages from intermediaries from various quarters, including members of the People’s Assembly and heads of parties, in which they promised on several occasions that her husband would be released from prison”, but she has not obtained any result so far. Rofaida stresses that she hopes a presidential pardon will be issued and her husband released, so that he can return to his family after years of suffering.

Tantawi in a New Case

Egyptian opposition figure and former presidential candidate Ahmed Tantawi was released on Sunday, 27 April, hours after appearing before the Supreme State Security Prosecution to be questioned in a new case, according to what lawyer Khaled Ali announced on his official page on “Facebook”. Tantawi’s summons for questioning came a few weeks before the date of his expected release, as his imprisonment was supposed to end at the end of May 2025, after serving his sentence following his arrest on 27 May 2024.

On 27 May 2024, a misdemeanours appeals court had issued a ruling rejecting Tantawi’s appeal against the ruling sentencing him to one year in prison, along with barring him from running in any elections, including the upcoming parliamentary elections, for five years. The court upheld the ruling issued against him, along with his campaign manager Mohamed Abu El-Diyar and 21 other members of his electoral campaign, over charges of “circulating papers related to the presidential elections without permission from the authorities”, by calling on citizens to sign popular endorsements to support him, before Tantawi later announced his withdrawal from the presidential race because he was unable to complete the legal quorum of required endorsements.

In a related context, the Supreme State Security Prosecution decided on Saturday 26 April to release political activist Ahmed Douma on bail of EGP 10,000, pending investigations in Case No. 2563 of 2025 (Supreme State Security), in which he is accused of spreading false news inside and outside the country.

The prosecution’s decision came after it heard Douma’s statements regarding posts he wrote on his personal page on “Facebook” under the title “A Span and a Fist”, in which he addressed conditions in Egyptian prisons and incidents related to the treatment of prisoners.

On Wednesday 23 April, Douma had been surprised by a summons for questioning, without prior knowledge of the new case, as the prosecution’s notification reached his place of residence in the city of Damanhour late, a day after the date of the questioning session set for 22 April. As a result, the prosecution decided to postpone the session to today, 26 April.

For his part, political activist Ahmed Douma tells Zawia3 that he has faced questioning in two cases over the last five months, in addition to the opening of an investigation in another case related to accusing him of contempt of religion and insulting the Divine Being over his poetry collection “Curly”, which was referred to a committee from Al-Azhar even though he has not been summoned so far. The charges against Douma are “publishing and broadcasting false news at home and abroad that would harm the interests of the country, undermine stability and spread panic among citizens”. He adds that speculating about these cases “is meaningless”, but reality, according to his experience, indicates that the threat of imprisonment is taking more severe and violent forms.

Douma continues: “In one of these summonses, there will be an entry and then an arrest, but we don’t know when or why; this, however, is the pattern we are seeing.” He explains that what he presented in his testimony about a prisoner, in which he was a party present, as part of the series of testimonies “A Span and a Fist” that he recounts on his Facebook page, about the case of a detainee who was tortured to death, is the actual reason behind his questioning in the latest case.

Douma says at the end of his conversation: “It is frightening that recounting what I was subjected to in detention becomes a legal justification for re-arrest or for the continuation of the physical, psychological and financial attrition I am subjected to.”

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Douma has faced investigations before the State Security Prosecution since he received a presidential pardon in 2023; in November 2024, he was questioned in Case No. 5892 of 2024 (Supreme State Security), over tweets in which he raised questions about a German ship carrying explosive materials for Israeli arms manufacturing companies entering the port of Alexandria, and others related to an Israeli warship passing through the Suez Canal. The prosecution decided at the time to release him on bail of EGP 20,000.

Ahmed Douma had received a presidential pardon on 19 August 2023, as part of a list that included a number of prisoners against whom final sentences had been issued, within the framework of presidential decisions pardoning convicts.

Detention of Journalist Khaled Mamdouh and Cartoonist Ashraf Omar Renewed

On Tuesday 15 April, the Counsel Chamber of the Badr Criminal Court decided to renew the pretrial detention of Al-Manassa cartoonist Ashraf Omar for a new 45 days pending Case No. 1968 of 2024 (State Security), as human rights lawyer Khaled Ali told Al-Manassa.

Ashraf Omar is held in pretrial detention on charges of “publishing and broadcasting false news, misusing social media, and joining a group established in violation of the provisions of the law”, as he was arrested from his home on 22 July 2024, after a security force in civilian clothes stormed his residence and took him, handcuffed and blindfolded, to an unknown location, and forcibly disappeared him until he appeared two days later before the State Security Prosecution, which decided at the time to detain him for 15 days, and since that date the cartoonist has remained in pretrial detention

The Cairo Terrorism Criminal Court (First Circuit) also decided to renew the detention of journalist Khaled Mamdouh for 45 days, pending Case No. 1282 of 2024 (Supreme State Security).

Mamdouh faces charges of spreading false news and joining a terrorist group with knowledge of its purposes. Security forces had arrested Khaled Mamdouh from his home in the Mokattam area of Cairo at dawn on 16 July 2024, without showing a judicial warrant or directing declared charges at the time, according to what his family reported.

Calls for the Release of Two Children Detained for a Year

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights called on the Public Prosecutor, Counsellor Mohamed Shawky, to release the two children “M. M.” and “A. M.”, and to investigate the illegal conditions of their detention, which have continued for more than a year inside Dar El-Salam police station.

The two children had been arrested in March 2024, along with four other adults, on charges related to writing slogans in support of Palestine on the Dar El-Salam bridge in Cairo. In Case No. 952 of 2024 (Supreme State Security), the prosecution charged them with joining a terrorist group and spreading false news that would harm security and public order, in addition to using accounts on social networks to publish these slogans.

On 8 March 2024, a security force of ten people arrested the child “M. M.” from his home, where his mobile phone, a laptop, a Palestinian flag and some drawings he had drawn himself were seized. Although his mother was unable to find out where he was, he remained forcibly disappeared for two weeks, which is a violation of the law.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights called for the need to investigate violations related to enforced disappearance and the continued detention of a child despite his suffering from a broken leg, considering that the continued detention of the two children in illegal conditions is unacceptable.

Former Detainees Demand the Release of Those in Solidarity with Palestine

A group of detainees who were released a year ago, pending Case No. 1567 of 2024, demanded the release of all detainees in solidarity with Palestine. This demand comes more than a year and a half after some of them were imprisoned, as they issued an appeal for the release of the remaining detainees, numbering 130 people, including three who were children when they were arrested, on charges related to peaceful solidarity with Palestine.

The group stressed in its statement that the decision to release them, which came after the peaceful women’s protest in front of UN Women last April, made them and their loved ones happy, but there are many other detainees who are still in prison, even though they were exercising their legitimate right to express their opinion and their support for Palestine, whether by writing on social media, hanging banners, drawing graffiti or praying in mosques.

The statement demanded the release of the detainees and a reconsideration of their situation, in light of the current situation Palestine is going through. It stressed that supporting the Palestinian cause is not a crime, and that expressing opinion in general is a right guaranteed under the constitution and the law and cannot be punished with imprisonment. The group concluded by appealing to the Egyptian authorities to release the detainees in solidarity with Palestine and end their suffering and that of their families, stressing that hope still remains of obtaining justice and freedom for all detainees.

2. Human rights defenders and transnational repression

33 Human Rights Organisations Demand the Release of Poet Abdel Rahman Youssef

In a joint letter addressed to the British Foreign Secretary and the European Union’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, 33 human rights organisations called for urgent intervention to end the arbitrary detention of the poet and democracy defender Abdel Rahman Youssef Al-Qaradawi, who was forcibly deported to the United Arab Emirates on 8 January 2025 and has since been forcibly disappeared.

The United Nations had issued a statement on 5 March 2025 in which it called on the Emirati authorities to immediately disclose Al-Qaradawi’s whereabouts and clarify his fate. The UN experts warned that he was being subjected to grave human rights violations, noting that “our worst fears about Mr Al-Qaradawi being subjected to grave human rights violations if he were handed over to the UAE appear to have been realised”.

The Lebanese authorities had arrested Al-Qaradawi on 28 December 2024, based on an extradition request from the UAE, on charges related to spreading false information and inciting chaos over a video in which he criticised Egyptian, Emirati and Saudi policies. Despite the legal challenge his lawyers filed against the extradition request, he was forcibly deported to the UAE on 8 January 2025 aboard a private plane without any fair legal procedures.

The Forced Departure of the Lawyers of Exile

Zawia3 documented, in a report titled: On the Way Back, the Homeland Was Closed: Testimonies on the Forced Wandering of Egyptian Human Rights Lawyers, how human rights lawyers turned from defenders in the halls of justice into defendants in security cases, beginning a journey of forced departure towards an exile that resembles nothing of what they left behind, as part of what could be called “the lawyers of exile”, a group of Egyptian human rights lawyers who left the country under compulsion after they turned from defenders of detainees into wanted persons in security cases, whose number is estimated at “25 human rights lawyers now living outside Egypt”, that is, about 40% of human rights lawyers abroad”.

Lawyers have been subjected to harassment that reached the point of their arrest and their inclusion, alongside their clients, in the same cases in which they were acting for the defence, as happened with human rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer, who was arrested in 2019 while attending the Supreme State Security Prosecution to defend his client, programmer Alaa Abdel Fattah.

El-Baqer was included in the same case as Abdel Fattah, and in December 2021 he was sentenced to four years in prison, then released with a presidential pardon in 2023, but he is still on the terrorism lists and banned from travel, according to a joint human rights report submitted by 12 human rights organisations to the United Nations ahead of the discussion of Egypt’s human rights record on 28 January last.

There is no accurate count of the number of lawyers arrested at present. In 2017, lawyer Ezzat Ghoneim, director of the Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, estimated the number of lawyers held in pretrial detention pending cases and those convicted at 134 lawyers, before he himself was arrested in 2018 and sentenced in 2023 to 15 years’ maximum-security imprisonment in a trial that drew criticism from human rights groups, while the “Free Them” campaign for the defence of lawyers imprisoned since 2013, at its founding conference in 2015, estimated the number of arrested lawyers at about 300 lawyers.

3. Life, protection from torture and detention conditions

Extrajudicial Killing

The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms called for an urgent and transparent investigation into the death of citizen Mahmoud Mohamed Mahmoud Asaad, known as “Mahmoud Mika”, while in detention at El-Khalifa police station in Cairo on 10 April 2025, and for all those involved in the incident to be held accountable.

The Commission expressed its grave concern after the victim’s family revealed traces of beating and severe torture on his body during the procedures of washing it, at a time when the lawyers were prevented from obtaining the forensic medicine report, amid accusations of covering up the details of the death.

Security forces had arrested Mahmoud Mika, 26, who works as a formwork carpenter, on the evening of 6 March 2025, while he was with his mother in front of a shop selling dairy products, without giving a legal reason or showing a judicial warrant, before taking him to El-Khalifa police station, where he was later charged with drug trafficking, even though his lawyer was unable to see the seized evidence, according to the account of the family’s lawyer.

Zawia3 contacted the victim’s family to find out the details of the incident, which began with the arrest of the young man in his twenties on the seventh day of Ramadan and ended with the young man’s family announcing the news of his death on the evening of Saturday 12 April this month.

Speaking to Zawia3, the mother of the young man Mahmoud recounts the details of the moment of his arrest, saying: “It was the seventh day of Ramadan, and Mahmoud, his sister and I went out to buy suhoor from the Imam El-Shafei area, and we were surprised by a police sergeant stopping Mahmoud and asking him to go with him. He took my son in a tuk-tuk without searching him or directing any prior charge at him. Although Mahmoud insisted that he be searched before going with the police sergeant, the latter refused and asked him to go with him quietly.”

The mother continues: “At the same time, a number of young men were being arrested in the same street. A few hours after Mahmoud’s arrest, we learned that he had been transferred to El-Khalifa police station, where we were surprised that a police report had been filed against him on a charge of possession of and trafficking in narcotic substances”, adding: “We tried to bring in food and some necessities for him after his detention, but the police sergeants told us that he had been moved to the disciplinary room without any explanation of the reasons. This went on for several days, and the day before he was killed I tried to see him. After my insistence, one of the officers inside the station agreed to my request, but he soon backed down after a short conversation with another officer and refused to allow me the visit. On the morning of last Saturday, I learned the news of his death after he could not be brought to the prosecution to be questioned.”

To read a detailed report published by Zawia3, titled: Traces of Torture and Suspension by the Hands: Details of the Killing of Mahmoud Asaad in El-Khalifa Police Station

Women Detained, Two Young Men Liquidated in El-Negaila, and Gunfire on Warraq Island

On another front, 14 human rights organisations condemned the extrajudicial killings of two young men in Marsa Matrouh governorate and the arbitrary arrest of dozens of women. The organisations called for urgent, neutral and impartial investigations to be opened and for those responsible to be brought to justice

Zawia3 documented, in a report it published on 11 April this month, the escalation of events in the town of El-Negaila in Marsa Matrouh governorate, following the killing of three police personnel during an attempt to apprehend a person sentenced to 35 years in prison, on 9 April last, as security forces detained about 20 women from among the suspects’ relatives, in a step described as an attempt to pressure the accused to hand themselves over, which provoked widespread resentment among the area’s residents, who considered that detaining women without legal basis constitutes a flagrant violation of basic rights and brings back to mind security practices that time has left behind.

While the Ministry of Interior denied that the women had been detained, eyewitnesses Zawia3 spoke to over the past hours confirmed the incident and recounted the details of what happened; one of the eyewitnesses says that what happened after the killing of the police personnel was shocking to everyone, as security forces stormed residents’ homes at dawn and detained about twenty women from among the relatives of the accused without legal basis, in an attempt to pressure the wanted men to hand themselves over, adding that the detained women were elderly women, mothers and housewives who had nothing to do with the incident, which provoked widespread anger in the village and prompted residents and sheikhs to intervene.

The former head of the Lawyers’ Syndicate and one of the members of the defence team for the women of Matrouh, Mamdouh Darbala, reveals to Zawia3 that a clash occurred between a security force and some of the accused, resulting in the killing of 3 security personnel and the escape of the accused; the next morning the security authorities arrested 23 women, and they were detained in violation of the law in an attempt to force the accused to hand themselves over to the police, and under great pressure from residents and lawyers, the authorities were forced to release about 19 women while four women remained in detention.

In light of the authorities’ refusal to release the women, two young men (17 and 18 years old) from their families were forced to hand themselves over to the police, under the supervision of family elders and sheikhs, with the affirmation that they were innocent and had nothing to do with the killing of the police sergeants, but they handed themselves over as a substitute for the detained women until the accused were apprehended; but after police forces took the two young men, Youssef Eid Fadl El-Sarhani and Farag Rabbash El-Fazzari, to the Salloum road and opened fire on them and liquidated them outside the framework of the law, even though they were innocent and everyone knows that, which ignited a state of anger among the residents, portending an inevitable catastrophe.

Although about two weeks have passed since the killing of the two young men Youssef Eid Fadl El-Sarhani and Farag Rabbash El-Fazzari in the village of El-Negaila in Matrouh governorate, the investigations are still at a standstill despite continuous pressure from the defence team and popular leaders on the investigating authorities to speed up the procedures, which is provoking widespread anger among the victims’ families and the defence team, as well as human rights bodies, amid growing popular and legal calls to escalate legal and popular action to demand justice.

According to information Zawia3 obtained from members of the defence team and sources familiar with the course of the investigations, the National Security officer accused of killing the two young men has not yet appeared before the investigating authorities, while voices representing indirect pressure continue to be directed at the families and the next of kin, who were chosen from among the popular leaders to represent the victims’ families before the security and relevant authorities, to waive their right or accept blood money in return for calm, which everyone refuses; calls also emerged for a general strike of commercial shops from Salloum to Zawiet Abdel Qader, from eight in the morning to eight in the evening in the middle of this week, in a measure aimed at escalating popular pressure to achieve justice.

To read two detailed reports published by Zawia3, titled: Women Detained and Young Men Liquidated: What We Know about the Events of “El-Negaila” in Matrouh

The El-Negaila Incident: The National Security Officer Accused of Killing Two Young Men Has Not Yet Been Questioned

Use of Live Ammunition against the Residents of Warraq Island

In another context, a number of human rights organisations and opposition political parties expressed their deep concern over, and condemnation of, the repeated assaults to which Warraq Island is subjected, which escalated on the evening of Saturday 12 April 2025, only 17 days after the events of 26 March 2025, which saw a similar assault by police forces that resulted in the arrest of 12 of the island’s residents, in addition to four people in solidarity from the Shubra area. The island’s residents also organised a sit-in at the time to demand the release of their relatives.

On 12 April this month, Zawia3 documented the use of live ammunition against the residents of Warraq Island, as Warraq Island in Giza governorate witnessed a new wave of tensions and clashes between residents and Egyptian security forces, against the background of the continuing blockade imposed on the Nile ferry that connects the island with the Shubra El-Kheima area. These clashes come in the context of escalating disputes between the state and the island’s residents, after security forces prevented building materials from entering, which residents considered an additional attempt to tighten the noose on them and push them towards forced departure and selling their properties for the benefit of investment projects.

According to eyewitnesses who spoke to Zawia3 from inside the island, as well as videos broadcast by citizens on social media, security forces used tear gas canisters and birdshot rounds to disperse residents who had gathered in protest against the ban on the entry of building supplies and the impounding of the ferry for the second day in a row. The clashes resulted in the injury of a number of residents (about 50 people according to eyewitnesses) with various wounds, some of which were described as serious, amid a state of mounting anger and resentment among the island’s residents.

Eyewitnesses from among the residents of Warraq Island confirmed that the crisis had flared up since the morning and was very tense, as the events began with a group of young men gathering in a café near a police checkpoint inside the island, waiting for the release of a group of young men imprisoned because of a previous altercation with the police. He explained that the young men were having coffee normally, before one of the officers came in to buy a cup of coffee and exchanged conversation with them, explaining that the conversation between the officer and the young men developed into a verbal altercation, which led to a clash breaking out, as the officer beat one of the young men, explaining that five individuals had also been detained today from inside their homes, in addition to four others who were arrested while walking in the street.

One of the island’s residents pointed out that the situation on the island had seen a major escalation since the morning, explaining that the chaos and clashes were still continuing, confirming that the security forces used live ammunition to disperse the protesters, and he sent us exclusive photos of a young man (16 years old) who was targeted with live ammunition in his feet, which will lead to the amputation of his feet.

This comes within the framework of the Egyptian security forces’ attempts to evacuate the city and forcibly displace its residents under the pretext of developing it. The city’s residents stressed that they do not reject the principle of developing the island, demanding that they be consulted and that their right to return after the development be guaranteed, and not through their forced displacement.

To read a detailed report published by Zawia3, titled: Warraq Island: Zawia3 Documents the Use of Live Ammunition against Residents

New Investigation: Torture Is an Entrenched Practice in Egypt and a Multiple Security and Judicial Responsibility

In a report issued by the Egyptian Front for Human Rights titled “No Retreat from Torture in Egypt: The Difference of Those Responsible and the Methodology and Unity of Torture Tools”, 569 documented testimonies of incidents of torture in the pre-trial stage during the period from 2013 to 2021 were analysed. The report showed that torture in Egypt was not merely isolated individual practices but a systematic and recurring pattern for which multiple security and judicial bodies bear responsibility.

The report stressed that the Egyptian authorities have not taken any serious steps to stop torture, despite the passage of seven years since the recommendations of the United Nations Committee against Torture issued in June 2017, which called for an end to torture and ill-treatment and for those responsible for them to be prosecuted. Rather, the report pointed to the widening gap between Egypt’s constitutional and legal obligations and practical application, as no substantial amendments have been introduced to the laws regulating the combating of torture, while the existing legislation has continued to suffer from major loopholes that allow impunity to continue.

The detailed analysis addressed torture testimonies in 12 prominent cases, and showed that the violations ranged from electric shocks, suspension, the “grill” position, stripping of clothes, beating, burning with fire or caustic substances, threats, sleep deprivation and continuous standing to the firing of gunshots. The report recorded cases in which methods such as electric shocks to the genitals and tying hands and electrical wires to the extremities of the body were used, which led to permanent injuries for some victims.

The report clearly identified the bodies involved, foremost among them the National Security Sector, the civilian police, and General and Military Intelligence, with reference to the involvement of the Supreme State Security Prosecution and the Military Prosecution, whether by ignoring torture complaints or by committing violations inside their premises. The report revealed that the Public Prosecution relied extensively on confessions extracted under torture without opening independent investigations; rather, it ignored most of the victims’ complaints, agreeing only to a limited medical examination in a few cases, which contributed to those responsible escaping accountability.

The report also pointed to the continued operation of the Emergency State Security Courts and exceptional bodies such as the State Security Prosecutions despite the official announcement of the end of the state of emergency in October 2021, which allowed repression and torture to continue without genuine independent judicial oversight. Despite the launch of the National Human Rights Strategy in 2021, it did not lead to a radical solution to the dilemma of torture; rather, the mechanisms of investigation and accountability remained subject to the same security bodies accused of committing these violations.

In light of these findings, the Egyptian Front called for profound legal and procedural reforms, including expanding the definition of the crime of torture in line with international standards, amending the Code of Criminal Procedure to guarantee independent and impartial investigation, holding those responsible for the crimes accountable, providing appropriate compensation to victims and their families in accordance with United Nations standards, and ending the state of impunity entrenched by the current laws and procedures.

A Prisoner’s Suicide Attempt

The “No Statute of Limitations” campaign called for the immediate disclosure of the fate of prisoner Alaa Gamal (29 years old), following his suicide attempt inside the Badr (3) Reform and Rehabilitation Centre, as his family has not received any official or documented information about his health condition so far, according to a statement issued by the campaign.

According to the campaign’s statement, Alaa Gamal, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence, attempted suicide on 15 April this month, after being subjected to a long period of being banned from family visits, and to the prison administration’s recent intransigence over allowing in the visit items his relatives had brought him. The campaign explained that the prison administration punished him by placing him in the disciplinary cell after he threatened suicide, which drove him to attempt to end his life.

The campaign stated that this case is not the first of its kind inside the Badr 3 centre during the month of April; prisoner “Mohamed Hassan Helal” died on 8 April, amid suspicions that he had been tortured. Since prisoners began to be transferred to the Badr 3 centre in June 2022 and until the writing of this newsletter, nearly 12 deaths have been recorded inside it.

The campaign called for an urgent and transparent investigation into these continuing violations, which it described as systematic, inside Badr 3 prison, and for those responsible for them to be held accountable, in a way that ensures these practices are stopped and not repeated.

Rats inside Abdel Khalek Farouk’s Place of Detention

The wife of Dr Abdel Khalek Farouk, the economic expert, submitted a telegram to the Public Prosecutor regarding the presence of large rats inside her husband’s cell in his place of detention, stating in telegram No. 2242001991 that she discovered during her visit to him on Monday 31 March 2025 that the cell in which he is held contains large mountain rats. She explained that she managed to catch one of them and kill it, but despite informing the prison administration, the authorities did not respond.

It is worth noting that Abdel Khalek Farouk had previously complained about the poor conditions in his place of detention during the session considering the renewal of his detention before the State Security Prosecution on 7 January 2025, where he pointed to the difficult conditions of his detention.

Security forces had arrested Farouk from his home on 21 October 2024, and the prosecution ordered his detention pending Case No. 4937 of 2024, in which he faces charges of spreading false news and joining a terrorist group.

For its part, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called on Public Prosecutor Mohamed Shawky and Minister of Interior Major General Mahmoud Tawfik to promptly consider three complaints submitted by the wife of Dr Abdel Khalek Farouk regarding the health requirements of the cell in which he is held.

4. Work, occupational safety and child protection

New Labour Law Passed despite Objections

In mid-April, the Egyptian House of Representatives gave its final approval to the new Labour Law bill, after long years of government promises to issue a law regulating labour relations and protecting the rights of workers in the private sector. The law was passed in a plenary session after a series of discussions in the competent committees, amid official talk of the government’s endeavour to provide a more stable working climate, guarantee workers’ rights and promote investment.

The new bill faces broad criticism from workers’ rights organisations and researchers in social affairs, who considered that the law restricts workers’ rights more than it protects them. Among the most prominent objections: the imposition of tight restrictions on the right to strike, the exclusion of some categories of workers, such as domestic workers, from the umbrella of protection, in addition to the provisions that allow employers to dismiss workers through the mechanism of drug tests without sufficient guarantees to protect the worker’s right to defend himself.

Human rights bodies, meanwhile, expressed their fears that the new law would lead to a further breach of the principle of social justice in labour relations, especially by allowing struggling companies to be released from paying the periodic increment, which was considered a reduction of workers’ economic rights amid rising inflation rates. They also warned that the multiplicity of new councils and bodies stipulated by the law could lead to duplication of responsibilities and a waste of resources instead of improving the working environment.

Labour researcher at the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights Hassan El-Barbary explains to Zawia3 that the new Labour Law bill currently being discussed by parliament came after more than 11 years of repeated government promises to issue it without actual steps. He adds: “Throughout these years, the government would announce from time to time that the law was about to be issued, but without anything materialising on the ground, until the actual procedures began recently.”

El-Barbary adds that the centre and a number of those interested in labour affairs obtained a preliminary copy of the bill, studied it and submitted their comments on it, but a few days before the session approving it they were surprised by the appearance of a new draft different from the original draft, which raised major question marks about the seriousness of the societal dialogue and the extent to which the comments of those concerned were taken into consideration.

The labour researcher points out that the most prominent objections to the bill relate to the restriction of the right to strike, as the bill prohibited strikes during collective bargaining, mediation and arbitration processes, which strips workers of the most important means of peaceful pressure available to them. It also prohibited strikes for workers in vital and strategic establishments, and he asks: “How can an inherent right be stripped from one category and not another under a single law? And if the nature of these establishments requires special regulation, why were they not subjected to a dedicated law or to the Civil Service Law instead of infringing on the constitutional right to strike?”

As for the periodic increment, El-Barbary explains that the bill set it at 3% of the insured wage, equivalent to about 7% of the basic wage, which is a lower rate than what was previously applied. More dangerous, according to him, is that the law opened the door for struggling companies to apply for an exemption from paying workers the annual increment, and he asks: “How can a struggling employer be exempted from his obligations towards workers, while he is not exempted from paying taxes to the state?”

El-Barbary criticises the exclusion of domestic workers from the law, considering that this exclusion contradicts government statements that sometimes acknowledge the importance of regularising these workers’ situation. He says: “If the law covers irregular workers in some of its articles, why does it not cover domestic workers, who live in fragile conditions and lack any legal protection?”, expressing his reservations about the expansion in establishing specialised councils concerned with training and human resources development, pointing to a clear overlap with already existing bodies that perform the same roles, which could lead to conflicting powers and wasted efforts, and drawing attention to the issue of labour supply companies, stressing that the bill granted them the right to collect 2% of the worker’s salary for a period that is agreed upon, in addition to the amounts they obtain from employers, which represents an unjustified drain on workers’ salaries.

Regarding drug testing, El-Barbary warns against applying this mechanism to private sector workers, citing the previous experience with the Civil Service Law and the abuses and arbitrary dismissals that accompanied it. He says: “With this provision, the drug test turns into a weapon in the hands of employers to dismiss workers without clear criteria or real guarantees of their rights, exposing them to the risk of losing their jobs without objective reasons.”

Recommended reading: The New Labour Law: A Step Forward or a Setback for Workers’ Rights?

Minya Accident: A Wave of Human Rights Condemnations of Negligence and Widespread Child Labour

A few days ago, the Western Desert Road near the village of Tuna El-Gebel in Mallawi district, Minya governorate, witnessed a tragic collision that resulted in the deaths of eight children and the injury of 25 others, all of them male and female agricultural workers. The accident occurred when a transport vehicle carrying male and female workers on their way to work on the farms collided, which led to a large number of victims, most of them young people who had gone out in search of a living. The accident brought back to the fore once again the issue of unsafe transport and the harsh working conditions faced by agricultural workers in Egypt, amid an absence of effective oversight and continued disregard for safety standards.

The accident provoked a broad wave of human rights condemnations, as civil society organisations stressed that the tragedy was not merely a passing accident but a direct result of policies marginalising male and female workers, especially in the agricultural sector, in which millions of Egyptians live without any umbrella of protection. The organisations criticised the continuation of child labour in hazardous environments and the absence of government oversight of means of transport, demanding urgent measures to ban child labour and to guarantee the rights of male and female workers to safe means of transport, fair wages and humane working conditions.

In a statement, the New Woman Foundation held responsible an entire system that colludes in marginalising the poor and denying the most basic rights of workers. The foundation stressed that the accident is not an isolated one but a result of the absence of political will to protect male and female workers in the agricultural sector, noting that this sector specifically lacks umbrellas of social insurance and occupational safety. The foundation also condemned the continued use of unsafe means of transport to carry workers, long working hours in harsh conditions, and the absence of protective equipment and training, considering that all these violations are not mere coincidences but an expression of the absence of social justice.

The foundation, which is concerned with women’s and children’s issues, renewed its call for the official recognition of female and male agricultural workers as a category deserving full protection under the Labour Law and the National Occupational Safety Strategy. It also called for activating legislation obliging employers to provide safe means of transport and an effective ban on child labour, along with providing economic and social alternatives that protect poor rural families, stressing that the victims are not merely “truck passengers” but lives that were lost because of the absence of protection and the absence of dignity in the environment of work and life, calling for the rejection of normalisation with pain, and stressing that the martyrs of the daily bread will not be mere passing numbers in news bulletins.

Recommended reading: Workers’ Safety in Egypt: Between the Absence of Oversight and Recurring Fatal Accidents

5. The right to health and treatment

The Right to Health

In a scene that reflected the depth of the health sector crisis in Egypt, 117 Egyptian doctors submitted their resignations from Alexandria University hospitals and the Medical Research Institute during this April, in a way that shed light on the crisis of the continuing brain drain and doctors travelling abroad; the number of doctors registered with the Doctors’ Syndicate is about 220,000, including about 120,000 working outside Egypt, and 2022 alone saw the resignation of 4,000 doctors from the government sector.

For its part, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights considered the inability to keep Egyptian doctors inside the country a decisive issue, and an old, recurring issue that is constantly worsening within a health system that already suffers from a severe shortage in the number of doctors, which portends the danger of Egypt’s health system losing its effectiveness and larger sections of Egyptians being unable to receive appropriate health services, stressing that investigating the roots of this problem requires a comprehensive analysis of the conditions in doctors’ working environment and their circumstances, and noting that a critical review of the various aspects of the health system, from the doctors’ point of view, will shed light on the conditions of the current working environment and reveal the policies needed to retain the white army in Egypt.

In 2021, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights had launched a study offering a comprehensive analysis of the conditions of Egyptian doctors and recommendations for feasible solutions, most notably: conducting a comprehensive analysis of the conditions in doctors’ working environment and their circumstances, which touch the other basic pillars of the health system, such as health financing, governance and leadership, ease of access to medicines, and service delivery, calling for the start of a dialogue among stakeholders in order to find different paths to improve the conditions of Egyptian doctors.

Commenting on the crisis of the drain of medical cadres and the emigration of doctors abroad, Dr Mohamed Hassan Khalil, head of the Committee for the Right to Health, explains to Zawia3 that the number of working doctors registered with the Egyptian Doctors’ Syndicate is about 120,000 doctors, while the number of Egyptian doctors working abroad ranges between 130,000 and 150,000 doctors, most of them concentrated in the Gulf states, Europe, America and Canada, attributing the demand for Egyptian doctors, despite the deterioration of the medical sector in recent years, to the fact that the profession of modern medicine has ancient roots going back about 200 years, when the first modern medical school in Egypt, Africa and the Middle East was founded during the era of Mohamed Ali, and Qasr El-Aini acquired a global reputation in the forties of the last century.

The head of the Committee for the Right to Health stresses that Egypt is one of the countries most exposed to brain drain, because of the repellent wage structure, as the Egyptian doctor’s wage is the lowest in Africa, adding that in the sixties the ratio of doctors in Egypt was one doctor per thousand citizens, and the ratio has currently reached 1.1%, but it remains far below the global average, which the World Health Organization recommends be no less than 3 doctors per thousand citizens, calling on the government to implement a wage structure that attracts emigrant medical cadres and to set a strategic vision for health policy including those working in the medical sector, considering that the health allocations in the general budget for 2025- 2026, which amount to 2.2%, are something insulting to every Egyptian, while the constitution stipulates spending 20% of gross domestic product on health, education and scientific research, and the constitution drafting committee, in 2014, made spending on health no less than 6%.

Coinciding with the celebration of World Health Day on 7 April, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights launched recommendations in which it stressed that the right to health is a fundamental human right and an integral part of the system of economic and social rights, and that achieving this right requires a serious commitment from the relevant bodies to ensure the provision of comprehensive and equitable health services to all citizens, with a focus on the most marginalised and needy groups.

The centre recommended ensuring equitable access to health services, increasing the health sector’s allocations in the general budget, developing the infrastructure of health institutions, strengthening prevention and health awareness programmes, updating health legislation, and focusing on workers’ psychological and mental health, stressing the importance of integrating workers’ psychological and mental health into occupational health and safety standards.

The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights had earlier issued a policy paper titled: “The Worker’s Psychological and Mental Health: The Right Wasted from Occupational Health and Safety Standards”, in which it shed light on the psychological pressures workers are exposed to as a result of working conditions, and called for updating Egyptian legislation to include mental health and for adopting preventive policies that guarantee a psychologically and physically safe working environment.

In another context, on 20 March the Official Gazette published the decision of the Egyptian Cabinet granting the concession to manage, operate and develop Dar El-Salam Oncology Hospital (formerly known as “Harmal”) to the company “Elevate Private Equity”, in partnership with the French national cancer centre “Gustave Roussy International”. Under this decision, the hospital turned into a branch affiliated with the French centre, under the name “Gustave Roussy International – Egypt”, as part of the government’s plan to strengthen the partnership between the public and private sectors to develop health services, in accordance with the new law on granting concessions for public utilities; however, the decision raised great concern among patients about the continuation of free treatment and of treatment services at the state’s expense.

The decision is based on Law No. 87 of 2024 on regulating the granting of public utility concessions for health facilities, a law that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi ratified on 23 June 2024 and that was published in issue 25 bis of the Official Gazette. Its articles provide for regulating the establishment, operation and development of public health facilities through the concession system, while primary health care centres and units, family health centres, as well as blood and plasma collection operations governed by Law No. 8 of 2021, are excluded from the application of its provisions, except for those of these operations considered complementary services. However, since its issuance the law has provoked broad controversy in health and union circles, as critics expressed fears that it would lead to a decline in the state’s social role in providing free health care services, or to a reduction in the government support directed to poor patients, and some of its clauses also raised questions about the fate of workers in hospitals whose management is transferred to private companies.

In a report titled: “ Who Bears Responsibility for the Suffering of Harmal Oncology Centre Patients after Privatisation? “, Zawia3 documented the suffering of cancer patients at Dar El-Salam Oncology Hospital (Harmal), following the official announcement of the contract, because of severe overcrowding, shortages of medicines and the refusal to admit new cases of children with cancer. This comes at a time when experts concerned with the right to health are warning of the consequences of Law No. 87 of 2024 regulating the granting of public utility concessions for the establishment, management, operation and development of health facilities, considering that it will lead to the privatisation of many hospitals and medical centres, will negatively affect cases of treatment at the state’s expense, will reduce citizens’ share of beds in government hospitals, and will increase the financial burdens on them as a result of raising the prices of health care services in those hospitals.

At the same time, Egypt has recently been suffering a major crisis related to the disappearance of dozens of pharmaceutical items used to treat chronic diseases, as a result of the rise in the price of the dollar, exceeding about a thousand items, most notably medicines for high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, the gallbladder, the thyroid gland, the kidneys and stomach disorders, in addition to medicines for Familial Mediterranean Fever and cancer, nasal drops for infants and adults, and medicines for colds and gynaecological diseases. Estimates by the head of the Chamber of Pharmaceutical Industry at the Federation of Egyptian Industries, Gamal El-Leithy, in media statements last February, indicate that the shortage of medicines in the market ranges between 30% and 40%, including 15% of medicines for which no alternatives are available.

With the worsening shortage of medicines and medical supplies, the suffering of patients is increasing, as they have become stuck between rising prices and the absence of effective alternatives. Despite government efforts and optimistic statements about the availability of medicines, reality confirms that thousands of patients, especially those with chronic diseases such as cancer and kidney failure, face daily challenges to obtain the necessary treatment.

To read a detailed report published by Zawia3, titled: Medicine Shortages Multiply the Suffering of Cancer and Kidney Failure Patients

6. Refugee rights and protection from deportation

Refugee Rights

In April this month, Amnesty International called on the Egyptian authorities to halt what it described as all their plans aimed at the forced return of a Syrian asylum seeker at risk of deportation to Syria, and to put an end to their ongoing crackdown on followers of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light (the Ahmadi religion).

The organisation documented at least four cases of arbitrary detention of members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light minority, which occurred between 8 and 14 March 2025, over their peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of religion and belief; four males were detained in their homes in three different governorates, among them Ahmed El-Tinawi, a 28-year-old Syrian asylum seeker who is registered with the UNHCR and faces an imminent risk of deportation to Syria. Three of them were later subjected to enforced disappearance, and their fate and whereabouts are now unknown, while the fourth is still held in solitary confinement, cut off from the outside world, according to Amnesty International.

The organisation said that the latest campaign against members of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light minority broke out when one of its members hung a banner advertising the “The Mahdi Has Appeared” television channel affiliated with the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, alongside a picture of the religious group’s leader, on a pedestrian bridge in Giza governorate in early March. On 8 March, security forces arrested the person who had hung the banner, then released him later that day without charge, according to Imran Ali, the official in charge of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light in Egypt, who resides in the United Kingdom, and another Ahmadi man who was in contact with the person who hung the banner after his release. On 11 March, police officers in civilian clothes arrested Ahmed Mohamed Hassan El-Tinawi and his brother Hussein, who is also an asylum seeker registered with the UNHCR, from their home in the city of 6th of October in Giza governorate, without presenting an arrest warrant, according to a family member. Ahmed was held in solitary confinement at 6th of October First police station, while Hussein’s fate and whereabouts remain unknown. On 15 March, a police officer informally told a lawyer from the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights that Ahmed was accused of joining a terrorist organisation, and on 25 March, Hussein’s family submitted a complaint to the Public Prosecution, seen by Amnesty International and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, enquiring about his whereabouts, and the family has not yet received a response.

Amnesty International added that on 13 March, the authorities transferred Ahmed El-Tinawi to the General Administration of Passports, Immigration and Nationality in the Abbasiya district of Cairo, where officials forced him to sign documents apparently related to his deportation, without allowing him to review them. On 6 April, the police forced Ahmed’s family to buy him a plane ticket to Syria, threatening to deprive him of medicines to treat his heart condition. On 10 March, security forces arrested Omar Mahmoud Abdel Meguid Mohamed Ibrahim, another member of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, after violently raiding his home in Cairo, and his fate and whereabouts remain unknown so far.

The organisation quoted a member of Omar’s family as saying that since the arrest his home has been under constant surveillance by the police, which searched the house again on the same day to arrest Omar’s brother-in-law, Hazem Said Mohamed Abdel Moatamed, who had fled, before he was arrested three days later, on 13 March, in the city of 10th of Ramadan in Sharqia governorate, and forcibly disappeared, according to one of his relatives.

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights revealed, on 10 April this month, that the Egyptian authorities had deported the Syrian refugee legally resident in Egypt, Ahmed El-Tinawi, despite Egypt’s legal commitment to the Refugee Convention, which criminalises the forced deportation of refugees to the countries they sought refuge in order to get away from.

In a related context, the Refugees Platform in Egypt accused the Egyptian authorities of issuing a series of successive decisions and security instructions through the General Administration of Passports, Immigration and Nationality of the Ministry of Interior, in the second half of December 2024 and the first days of January 2025, concerning the status of Syrian men and women residing in Egypt, whether registered or unregistered, or arriving there, explaining that the decisions came informally after the fall of the Assad regime, as none of them was published in the Official Gazette, but some of them were announced through security sources who spoke to media outlets, while others are unannounced but are being applied.

In a research paper issued in April this month, the “Refugees Platform in Egypt” focused on the legal context of Syrians in Egypt in general, reviewing the previous situation and the changes in Egyptian policies towards Syrian refugees since 2012, in addition to the measures it said the Egyptian authorities had recently circulated without official decisions on them, and ending with the new measures following the fall of the Syrian regime, which it believes the political system is carrying out through its executive and legal tools, and clarifying the extent of the constitutionality, legality and humanity of these cases and their conformity with international standards and obligations, as well as the process of profiteering from the Syrian crisis.

The platform said that since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in March 2011, the Egyptian authorities had allowed Syrians to enter Egypt without the need for a prior visa or additional security permits upon or before their arrival (which is the normal legal situation), and obtaining tourist residency was made easy, with permits for periods ranging from one month to three months, which facilitated the presence of Syrians without the need (for many of them) to enter into procedures to seek asylum with the UNHCR. However, in July 2013, the authorities imposed new restrictions on the entry of Syrians. A prior visa and security approval became basic conditions for their entry, but Syrians holding residencies in countries such as the United States, Schengen, Britain and Canada were exempted from the requirement of obtaining security approval to enter Egypt. At this time the process of issuing “security approval” began to rise, with tourism companies obtaining this approval under the umbrella of various Egyptian security bodies.

The platform quoted sources as saying that since 2013 the security coordination process has been carried out through a group of companies, some of them affiliated with the General Intelligence Service and others with National Security at the Ministry of Interior. These companies collect fees of varying value in dollars per person to obtain the security approval that allows people to enter Egypt for the duration of the visa issued, and that does not give the right of residence, which came to be termed within Syrian communities in Egypt the National Security visa or the Intelligence visa, depending on the affiliation of the company completing the coordination process.

The platform stressed that since late 2013 many Syrians have faced great difficulty in reaching Egypt, and those registered with the UNHCR were barred from leaving Egypt before requesting the closure of their files, which deprived many families of their plans for family reunification in Egypt and constituted an obstacle for refugees seeking a safe haven in which to seek asylum, while it formed a major obstacle for male and female students wishing to study in Egypt, forcing them to look for alternative routes even if they were deadly irregular routes, by entering from Sudan on a journey across the desert in which people are exposed to various forms of exploitation and violations; and while the Egyptian authorities do not carry out search and rescue operations, dozens of cases have died on this route. It noted that the lifting of legal protection from Syrian men and women, whether or not they were registered with the UNHCR, has strengthened hate speech and incitement, which many media outlets in Egypt have adopted against them, and has constituted a cover for legal violations; human rights organisations documented operations targeting and harassing Syrian refugees in Egypt, including forced deportation and the refusal of entry to some of them, in addition to expulsion without legal procedures, as five Syrians, including three registered ones, were forcibly returned, according to the UNHCR’s report for 2022. The Refugees Platform also monitored cases of forced deportation of Syrians under claims of the public interest, such as the decision to deport Khaled Riad El-Khatib in February 2021 and Yamen Ibrahim El-Bitar in September 2022, without giving them an opportunity for a legal appeal.

According to the Refugees Platform in Egypt, the authorities stopped the renewal of tourist residencies for Syrians starting from July 2024, and Syrians reported being informed by the security services that they must leave Egypt and return to it again to apply for tourist residency, every six months, a measure applied without an official decision being issued, and their reports of those instructions came from scattered government offices. Syrians are no longer able to obtain a tourist residence permit, as security approval from the National Security Agency has become a basic condition, the platform said, quoting sources as saying that since the beginning of 2024 a review has been under way of the files of Syrians residing in the country in order to issue expulsion decisions against some of them, based on danger to public security, and that the security coordination process is currently carried out only through the companies affiliated with National Security. No tourist residence permit was granted to Syrians during 2024, and all applications were rejected without a clear response or ignored entirely, and if an application is rejected, the applicant is given a seven-day grace period to leave the country. It added that people have been deprived of renewing their residence permits, and students in these families have been deprived of access to education, and community schools for some nationalities of refugees residing in the country were raided and closed, and students and teachers were detained and deported outside the country, across governorates including Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, and the security authorities carried out stops of non-Egyptians, including Syrians, under the name of verifying identities.

The Egyptian government also cancelled the exemption of Syrian children residing on its territory from residence fees, and obliged them to pay a settlement for previous years, without an official announcement or circular from the Immigration and Passports Administration. In August 2024, registration in government schools became limited to holders of the refugee card, on condition that it carries a valid residency for the student and his parents, whereas 90% of Syrians in Egypt do not hold the refugee card, as the UNHCR has registered only 150,000 Syrians according to the reports it has issued, while Egyptian government estimates speak of 1.5 million Syrians inside Egypt. The sudden decision, a few weeks before the start of the school year, confused thousands of Syrian families whose children study in Egypt, and they were forced to resort to private education and suffer its exorbitant costs. In the same month, the authorities issued a decision cancelling the exemptions for Syrians from visa and residency fees, and began collecting the fees according to the new laws, amounting to USD 25. In September, study residency fees in Egypt for Syrians rose by more than 200% without an official announcement, as Syrians who went to renew their residencies were surprised by the increase, after the fees reached EGP 7,000 instead of EGP 2,100. In October, the Administration of Expatriates’ Affairs and Care in Egypt imposed the administrative fees for services provided in Egyptian universities, and for the first time did not exempt Syrians from them; the prices doubled this year and also had to be paid in US dollars, as the research paper explained.

The “Refugees Platform in Egypt” considered this type of measure a form of restricting the right to freedom of movement and residence, which causes higher risks for people on the move and deprivation of access to many rights, foremost among them the right of access to seek asylum, and which explicitly contradicts Egypt’s international obligations, including the principle of non-discrimination stipulated in international conventions, and the principle of non-refoulement, which obliges states not to return refugees to countries where they may be exposed to persecution or danger.

Recommended reading: Protection or Restrictions? Broad Criticism of Egypt’s New Asylum Law

In a step that human rights defenders and observers described as “reformist”, the Egyptian authorities, in cooperation with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, announced raising the daily capacity for submitting asylum permits to about a thousand people per day, after the capacity had not exceeded 600 refugees, following repeated complaints about asylum seekers crowding in front of the UNHCR’s offices, especially Sudanese refugees, who form the largest bloc of arrivals. Although the step was welcomed, it opened the way for a broader discussion about its sufficiency, the speed of its implementation, and the extent of its ability to address the deeper challenges linked to the asylum and residency system in Egypt.

By the end of March 2025, the number of refugees and asylum seekers registered with the UNHCR in Egypt had reached about 942,000 people, representing more than 60 different nationalities; Sudanese nationality tops the list, followed by Syrian, Eritrean, Ethiopian, South Sudanese, Somali, Yemeni and Iraqi nationalities. Most of these refugees live in urban areas such as Greater Cairo and Alexandria, where the majority depend on humanitarian aid because of economic challenges and the difficulty of accessing the formal labour market.

To read a detailed report published by Zawia3, titled: Reforms in Egypt’s Asylum File: A Positive Step, but the Challenges Remain

In a report, Zawia3 documented the suffering of members of the Egyptian community who are still stuck in the Gaza Strip, nearly a year and a half after the genocidal war waged by the Israeli occupation on the Strip. While there are no official or unofficial estimates showing the numbers of Egyptian nationality holders still stuck in the Gaza Strip since the outbreak of the 7 October war, “Zawia3” obtained a recent list containing the names and data of 229 people stuck in the Gaza Strip, including 213 Egyptian citizens holding national ID cards, and 16 others who are Palestinian wives of Egyptian citizens and children of Egyptians who have not yet obtained Egyptian citizenship, among them about 90 women and girls, and at least 9 children, including 4 infants, while our sources reported that the numbers of those stuck who wish to return to Egypt exceed a thousand people. The Egyptian community in Gaza in 2015 was estimated at approximately 40,000 people, according to unofficial statistics.

To read the full report: Amid Rubble, Bombardment and Hunger: Egyptians Stuck in Gaza for a Year and a Half

In another context, the recent battlefield progress of the Sudanese army in the capital, Khartoum, and the subsequent withdrawal of the Rapid Support militias, have pushed a growing number of Sudanese refugees residing in Egypt to take the decision of voluntary return to their country. In a striking scene during Eid al-Fitr, Faisal Street in Cairo saw hundreds of refugees gather in preparation for leaving the country on buses heading to Sudan, passing through the Halfa and Argeen crossings, as part of initiatives led by Sudanese civil society in cooperation with members of the community.

Egypt is currently the largest host country for Sudanese refugees, according to official data issued by the Egyptian government, which indicates the presence of more than 1.2 million Sudanese who have sought international protection on its territory. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Egypt hosts about 546,746 Sudanese refugees officially registered with the UNHCR, while others are still waiting to be registered. Sudanese make up about two-thirds of the refugees registered in Egypt, who number 827,644 refugees from 95 different nationalities.

On 1 April this month, the “Returning to the Country of the Good People” initiative, which supports the return of refugees, launched ten buses to provide a low-cost means of transport for returnees, with free return available for limited-income families and people with special needs, as Mohamed Suleiman, founder of the initiative and a member of the Sudanese community in Egypt, confirms in an interview with “Zawia3”.

To read a detailed report published by Zawia3, titled: The Liberation of Khartoum Pushes Sudanese Refugees in Egypt towards Voluntary Return

7. Women’s rights and protection from violence

Women’s Rights

The New Woman Foundation issued an analytical paper titled “A Feminist Reading of the Draft Unified Law on Combating Violence against Women”, in light of a consultative meeting the foundation had previously organised in April 2024, which brought together a number of female activists and feminist groups.

The paper, which was issued within the scope of the “Legislative Protection to Confront Violence against Women” project, with support from Diakonia, addressed the social and cultural contexts that highlight the necessity of issuing a unified law to combat violence against women, based on an intersectional feminist perspective that takes into account women’s experiences and their different contexts. The paper presents the bill prepared by the task force formed at the invitation of the New Woman Foundation, which includes a number of feminist organisations, a bill that is not limited to the punitive aspect only but offers an integrated legal vision that includes protection, prevention and redress.

The study draws attention to the continued absence of political will on the part of the House of Representatives to adopt the bill, despite repeated efforts and the escalating pace and patterns of violence against women. In light of political and social transformations and the development of feminist discourse, the paper re-reads the bill issued by the “Task Force”, drawing on the recommendations and proposals that came out of the consultative meeting, to identify the opportunities and possible interventions available to feminist organisations in drafting an effective legal proposal from a feminist perspective.

In light of this, the paper offers an advanced legal vision that recognises violence against women as a structural issue and adopts a comprehensive approach requiring comprehensive interventions and guarantees from all official institutions, to ensure the protection of women and achieve gender justice.

Meanwhile, on 19 April this month, the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance concluded the final workshop for drafting the proposed unified law on combating violence against women and girls, in partnership among the task force concerned with preparing this proposal, consisting of the Centre for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance, the Tadwein Center for Gender Studies, the Cairo Foundation for Development and Law, and the Egyptian Women Lawyers Initiative for Women’s Rights, as part of the activities of the “Together against Violence against Women” project.

The societal dialogue and the efforts of the task force institutions on the draft law in the various governorates resulted in many recommendations commensurate with the forms and manifestations of violence, issues and new crimes that women face in the public and private spheres, such as: crimes of digital violence, setting more comprehensive measures to protect female victims and their families, limiting perpetrators’ impunity, and creating tools for reporting, receiving complaints and following up investigations by victims. Through the final workshop, the legal committee came out with the most important features of the executive regulations of the draft proposed law, with the aim of helping those in charge of enforcing this proposal, if it is approved and issued, to interpret its clauses and define the roles, responsibilities and measures that must be taken to protect and rehabilitate victims.

On 12 April this month, the Supreme Constitutional Court, headed by Counsellor Boulos Fahmy Eskandar, ruled that the custodian’s right to retain the custody residence ends when the children reach the mandatory age of custody, based on the text of Article (18 bis third) of Decree-Law No. 25 of 1929, added by Law No. 100 of 1985.

The Constitutional Court considered, in its recently issued ruling, that the children’s continued stay in the custodian’s care after this age, based on judicial permission, does not constitute an extension of the mandatory custody period, but rather a retention carried out voluntarily by the custodian, without entailing a right to reside in the marital home.

For its part, the New Woman Foundation denounced the Constitutional Court’s ruling, considering that it threatens the stability of children and casts the custodian aside, explaining that although the courts had not witnessed a reality greatly different from the ruling issued by the Supreme Constitutional Court on the father’s entitlement to the custody residence after the children in custody exceed the legal custody age, in some cases some circuits used to rule that the right to the custody residence extended beyond the children reaching the legal custody age, as long as custody was extended, the children in custody had chosen the mother and there was no alternative other than this residence.

Article (20) of Law No. 20 of 1929, as amended by Law No. 100 of 1985, stipulates that women’s right of custody ends when the young boy or girl reaches the age of fifteen, and after reaching this age the judge gives the boy or girl the choice of remaining in the custodian’s care without a custody fee, until the boy reaches the age of majority and until the girl marries.

The foundation explained, in a statement it issued, that there are some practical problems in the Supreme Constitutional Court’s ruling, as it has definitively closed the door on courts ruling that residence in the custody home continues to be extended beyond the custody age, for social or humanitarian reasons, or according to the judge’s discretionary view, in addition to the fact that the ruling dealt with only one aspect of the right, namely the father’s right to have his custody residence return to him, without regard for the other party, namely the children in custody and the custodian, whose situation may deteriorate and who may become homeless for lack of a house to live in, or be forced to live with a party they may not wish to live with, leaving their mothers as an alternative to homelessness or the street for lack of shelter, which contradicts the rights of the child and human rights as well, asking: will the court, when determining housing alimony, take this ruling into account given the new dimensions it carries, or will it continue to award the children in custody paltry amounts of alimony and housing that barely cover even one day’s rent?

Meanwhile, the director of the support offices at the New Woman Foundation, lawyer Aya Hamdy, explains to Zawia3 that the judicial ruling issued by the Supreme Constitutional Court on 12 April this month entrenches the existence of legal situations that could sometimes be escaped or overlooked; some judicial circuits used to rule that the custodian and her children could continue to stay in the custody residence, as long as they had chosen to remain in her custody after reaching the age of 15, while other circuits ruled that the marital home be handed over after the end of the custody period, so there was a contradiction in the judicial rulings on this matter, according to the discretionary power of the judge, who might take into account the issue of the custodian and her children having no other shelter, or the mother being the custodian of girls,

considering that what the Constitutional Court ruling brought has become a firm rule from which the judiciary will not deviate or grant exceptions, according to the judge’s assessment if he sees that the presence of the mother and her children in the custody residence is in the interest of the children in custody.

In a report titled: Loss of Virginity as a Condition for Justice? Legal Loopholes Strip the Description of Rape from Those Who Assault Children, Zawia3 monitored a clear legislative deficiency in the Egyptian Penal Code issued in 1937, regarding the definitions of the crimes of rape and indecent assault, in a way that leads to lighter penalties and may allow assailants to escape harsher penalties in cases of sexual assault against children and women. According to the amendments to the Penal Code issued in 2011, the crime of rape is defined specifically as “intercourse with a female without her consent” through complete vaginal sexual contact, while the law classifies all other forms of sexual assault, such as anal penetration, the use of the hand or objects, forcing the victim to perform oral sex, sexual assault against males, or inserting a finger or a foreign object into the vagina even if it leads to the rupture of the hymen, as “indecent assault”. Egyptian law also does not recognise the crime of marital rape.

Article (267) of the Penal Code stipulates punishing the perpetrator of rape with life imprisonment or death if the victim is under 18 years old, or if the perpetrator is one of her relatives, one of those responsible for her upbringing or care, or one of those working for her, or if there are multiple assailants. As for the crime of indecent assault stipulated in Article (268), its penalty ranges from maximum-security imprisonment of three to seven years, with the possibility of raising the penalty to temporary hard labour if the victim is under 16 years old or aggravating circumstances are present, or to life hard labour if both conditions are combined, while Article (269) stipulates the penalty of temporary hard labour or imprisonment, depending on the age and circumstances of the victim, if the assault occurred without direct violence.

In a report titled: “Women in Egypt’s Prisons: Bodies without Rights“, Zawia3 shed light on the suffering and violations women are subjected to inside Egyptian prisons, and documented the testimony of Sanaa Abdallah (a pseudonym to protect her personal identity) about her latest period of detention between 2019 and 2020, in which she says she was sexually assaulted by one of the female jailers during the “admission” period, which led to bleeding that lasted 15 days, accompanied by severe back pain and a feeling of exhaustion, and that, with the cells overcrowded, female prisoners were forced to sleep in a single position on the side of the body, without being allowed any movement or comfortable sleep.

Sanaa, who was arrested four times between 2017 and 2020, explains that she asked to be examined by a gynaecologist after the bleeding continued, but her request was ignored for 10 days, and when she was finally transferred to the prison hospital, the gynaecologist was not present and was replaced by a general practitioner who did not carry out any real medical examination on her and merely prescribed pills to stop the bleeding. The female prisoners told her that the prison’s gynaecologist had previously harassed female criminal prisoners, exploiting their fear of complaining or objecting, assuring her that she had been lucky he was not there that day. She notes that female prisoners are required to use the toilet at set times, that bathing is almost forbidden, and if allowed it is for a few minutes once a month, with a ban on combing hair and sleeping hours restricted to between midnight and six in the morning only, regardless of the prisoner’s health condition.

For her part, human rights lawyer Hala Douma, in statements to Zawia3, explains that the needs of women in prisons are linked to the Prisons Regulation Law No. 396 of 1956, and calls for a genuine application of Articles 19 and 20 of the law concerning prisoners who are mothers and pregnancy, and for amending the internal regulations to recognise sanitary pads as an official basic need, in order to prevent their exploitation as a means of obstruction against female prisoners.

In another context, the National Council for Women and UN Women in Egypt, in partnership with the European Union, launched a new campaign on social media titled “Cheer Out Loud”, as part of the “Ending Violence against Women” programme, with the aim of combating online violence and bullying against female players in various sports. The campaign calls for cheering female players not only on the field and during matches, but also by posting positive comments and taking a positive stand against bullying and online violence, with the aim of promoting a decent and safe online environment.

Four Egyptian sportswomen champions who practise different sports are taking part in the campaign: Amany Khalil, the first Egyptian woman to complete 6 races in a triathlon competition after passing fifty; Nada Hafez, the sabre fencing champion; Shaimaa Samy, a Paralympic badminton champion; and Malak Hamza, the trampoline gymnastics champion; in addition to a number of young female players in various sports.

Recommended reading: The Marginalisation of Women in Sport: A Lesson from the Paris Olympics

8. Environmental rights and accountability

Environmental Rights

In April this month, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights obtained a court ruling awarding compensation of EGP 200,000 to a resident of the Wadi El-Qamar area, for the harm he suffered from the activity of the Alexandria Portland Cement Company (Titan Cement), the fourth compensation ruling the initiative has obtained in favour of its clients from among the residents of Wadi El-Qamar.

The court awarded the compensation after it became certain that the company’s fault had been proven, and that the health damage suffered by the complainant and others came as a result of their use of coal as an alternative fuel to natural gas since 2015, especially since the company allocated a coal-burning unit only ten metres away from the Wadi El-Qamar residential area, in violation of the coal standards and requirements contained in the Environment Law.