Other civil society developments

On 9th January 2022, the litigation process against imprisoned civil society activists was again prolonged after the Administrative Court decided to postpone the hearing of the cases filed by the Foundation for Freedom of Thought and Expression on behalf of Ahmed Doma and Omar Mohamed Ali to challenge the negative decision which prevents them from completing their studies digitally.

Separately, in early February 2022, the National Council for Human Rights launched its first dialogue sessions with civil society organisations on the implementation of the National Human Rights Strategy and President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi's 2022 declaration of civil society. At the end of February 2022, the second round of dialogue with civil society organisations began.

Dr. Magdi Abdel Hamdi, one of the founders of the third generation of civil society in Egypt, expressed his reservations about the state's vision of the role of civil society on Facebook:

"on the occasion of talking about civil society and the project or the national plan for human rights, I think it is time to start a serious discussion about the concept and role of civil society, I see that it is based on the following idea: Civil society must be a partner in the administration in all senses of the word partnership, from making proposals, making plans and executive management to taking responsibility and accountability to the community and the ruling authorities."

Additionally, on 3rd February 2022, the annual report of the Committee for Justice, entitled "Conviction without trial: Lists of Terrorism in Egypt", highlights the most prominent challenges with anti-terrorism laws and the inclusion of lists of terrorist entities and terrorists in Egypt. CFJ stated in its report that “the Egyptian authorities expanded the definition of terrorism and terrorist entities and their financing in their laws. The definition of “terrorist entity” has been extended from legal to actual organisation to include associations, organisations, groups, gangs and cells, up to companies and unions, and then opened the way for designating all potential gatherings in the local and global scale, as well as in the definition of “terrorist financing.” The law included the provision by others of “any other means of support, financing or travel, knowingly, even if it is not directly related to the terrorist act”. The law’s definition of “money” used to finance terrorism has also increased the risks of implementing these texts and legitimised the seizure of individual and public property.”

Expression

Civil society organisations criticised a bill which aims to amend several articles of the law regulating religious preaching and lessons. The proposed amendments seek to expand the scope of the law to include the prohibition of “talking about religious matters on visual, audio or electronic media” except with an official licence from Al-Azhar or the Ministry of Endowments, and increases penalties for violating the law, in some cases amounting to life imprisonment with hard labour. The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) called on the House of Representatives to withdraw the draft amendments and warned:

“the amendments open the door to more persecutions and trials for diverse religious expression and criticism of prevailing religious ideas.”

Incidents against journalists

Separately, authorities continued to use charges of joining a terrorist group, inciting a crime, and spreading false news against journalists:

• On 16th April 2022, journalist Ahmed al-Bahy, who is a local correspondent for website Masrawy, was arrested at his home. According to a press release from the CPJ, al-Bahy was charged with inciting violence. His arrest is related to an incident that occurred the day before while he was reporting, where police officers at the scene of a young man’s killing asked al-Bahy to stop filming and not write or publish anything about the case.
• On 26th April 2022, journalist Hala Fahmy was detained pending investigations on charges of "joining a group founded in violation of the provisions of the law and spreading false news". Two days earlier the journalist had been chased by unknown individuals. Fahmy has continuously spoken out against the government and has led protests calling for labour rights for journalists, which led to her suspension. Similarly, journalist Safaa al-Korbigi, who organised vigils in the Egyptian television building to demand administrative reforms, was detained and had gone missing after her detention. She later appeared at the Supreme State Security Prosecution.
• At the end of March 2022, the Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of journalists Hisham Abdelaziz and Bahaa El-Din Ibrahim for an additional 45 days pending investigation. There are currently four Al Jazeera journalists detained in Egypt without charge, Hisham Abdel Aziz, Bahaa El-Din Ibrahim, Ahmed Al-Najdi and Rabie Al-Sheikh.
• The Public Prosecutor's Office summoned the editor-in-chief of the Derb website of the Popular Alliance Party, and former journalists' syndicate council member Khaled al-Balshi to investigate reports filed by unknown persons which accuse him of spreading false news.

In a positive development on 26th April 2022, the Committee To Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed the release of two journalists from prison, Mohamed Salah and Abdo Fayed, but called on the government to release 23 other journalists who remain behind bars.

“We are pleased that Salah and Fayed are getting some relief after their unjust and prolonged detention, but there must also be justice for the many other journalists being held in Egypt’s jails. The Biden administration and other U.S. officials should continue to hold President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s feet close to the fire if he doesn’t deliver on reforms,” said Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa Program Coordinator.