A coalition of human rights organizations released a joint statement on Friday, urging the Egyptian government to cease its recent targeting and reprisals against human rights lawyers. This coalition, consisting of 28 prominent rights organizations such as Amnesty International and Freedom House, has voiced significant concern over the government’s actions. For more details, refer to the joint statement released by these entities.
The organizations have shown their support for a letter authored by five UN Special Rapporteurs. Published on May 19, 2024, the letter condemns the Egyptian authorities’ prosecution of human rights lawyers Mahmoud Mohamed Abdelmajeed and Mohamed Issa Rajeh under counter-terrorism laws. The coalition contends that these prosecutions and imprisonments, driven by political motives, aim to stifle civil society and diminish civic space in Egypt. They argue that such practices contrast starkly with the government’s public declarations in both national and international arenas, raising questions about its commitment to human rights.
The statement by the coalition reads, “The undersigned human rights organizations call for the immediate release of all lawyers and human rights defenders detained for defending human rights, providing legal aid to victims of human rights violations, or for cooperating with UN mechanisms. The authorities should also drop the charges against all those prosecuted, including the two EFHR lawyers, and quash convictions and sentences of those tried solely for the peaceful exercise of their human rights.” Both Abdelmajeed and Rajeh are affiliated with the Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR). According to the UN Special Rapporteurs’ letter, these lawyers have been accused of joining and funding a terrorist organization simply for providing information about political detainees in Egypt.
Instances of similar actions against human rights lawyers in Egypt have been documented. For instance, Ibrahim Metwally, another human rights lawyer, has been in pretrial detention since his 2017 arrest. Similarly, Ezzat Ghoneim along with 13 others, were detained and prosecuted in 2018 for their human rights work. These 14 individuals were later sentenced last year on terrorism-related charges, with Ghoneim receiving a 15-year imprisonment sentence.
For a full account, please read the original article on JURIST.