The Egyptian authorities have embarked on a new wave of arbitrary arrests of dozens of people against the backdrop of calls for anti-government protests amid rising public discontent at soaring prices and ongoing power cuts, Amnesty International said today.
Since the beginning of July, Egyptian security forces have arbitrarily detained 119 individuals, including at least seven women and one child, in at least six governorates, in connection to online calls for a “Dignity Revolution” on 12 July. Detainees posted on their social media accounts calling for protests and for the ousting of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government due to price hikes and the year-long power cuts. The protests eventually did not materialize.
“It is utterly shameful that complaining about worsening economic and living standards means imprisonment in Egypt. Instead of silencing people for expressing their discontent and continuing to use brutal tactics to eradicate any public protests, the government of Egypt must take concrete steps to fulfill people’s social and economic rights,” said Mahmoud Shalaby, Amnesty International’s Egypt Researcher.
“The Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all those arbitrarily detained solely for exercising their right to freedom of expression. They must ensure that people can exercise their right to protest without having to fear retribution.”
Egypt has been witnessing a rise in discontent among people who are struggling to meet their basic needs amid hikes in food and fuel prices and a shortage of medicines across the country.
In January 2024, people in Egypt were hit by a series of price hikes that included telecom fares and metro tickets. Since July 2023, the Egyptian government has implemented cost-saving measures including cutting electricity for two hours every day in all areas of the country, except some governorates with high numbers of tourists. The cuts affect several aspects of life in the country, including access to water which requires pumps to reach higher floors in many buildings. Local media reported several deaths of people who got stuck in elevators during the cuts.
Amnesty International conducted interviews with human rights lawyers representing eight detainees, including lawyers at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Freedoms (EIPR) and the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF). They said the total number of people brought before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) in the criminal cases involving their clients in relation to the protests calls was 119 as of 16 July 2024.
Eight of the detainees, aged from their thirties to their sixties, do not have a history of political activism and come from divergent backgrounds and professions. Seven posted content on Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) under the hashtag “Dignity Revolution” calling for anti-government protests. One posted a video calling the parliament to impeach President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
Security forces detained the eight at their houses and workplaces in Cairo, Giza, Al Gharbia, Beni Souif, Red Sea, Alexandria and Menoufia governorates, before transferring them to police stations or National Security Agency (NSA) facilities. They kept seven of the eight incommunicado for periods ranging between two to five days. NSA agents questioned them while being blindfolded, which amounts to ill-treatment, and without the presence of a lawyer.
Authorities later transferred the detainees to the SSSP which opened investigations against them over charges of ‘joining a terrorist group’, ‘publishing false news’ and ‘misuse of social media.’ The prosecution ordered the pretrial detention of the eight along with 111others who faced similar charges, for 15 days pending investigations. The evidence against the eight individuals detained was screenshots from their social media accounts in addition to their personal mobiles.
SSSP prosecutors asked the detainees about their personal and professional life, the reasons they supported the protests calls, and whether they expected people to take to the streets on 12 July or not.
A detainee in his forties told the prosecutors that he has three children and has been suffering to provide for them despite working long hours in a physically demanding job, which made him support the calls to express his anger.
Another detainee in his thirties who works in a private company told prosecutors that he wrote “Enough Sisi, go away” because he was no longer able to afford life necessities as his salary is never sufficient amid the price hikes.
Background
Amnesty International previously documented how the Egyptian authorities carried out preventive mass arrests of hundreds of people amid protests calls in the lead-up to COP 27 in 2022.
Since 2013, the Egyptian authorities have been severely repressing the rights to freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly and clamping down on critical voices offline and online. Thousands of actual or suspected government critics continue to be arbitrarily detained.
