Human Rights and Democracy Report 2017 - Egypt

In 2017, the human rights situation in Egypt continued to deteriorate. There were restrictions on civil society and freedom of expression, discrimination against LGBT people, and widespread reports of torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions.

In 2017, the Egyptian authorities continued to clamp down on those who criticised them, further restricting the space for civil society. On 9 February, security forces closed down the Al Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, shortly after the release of their annual report detailing individual cases of torture and enforced disappearances in Egypt. On 24 May, President Sisi ratified an NGO law which, if enforced, will significantly restrict NGOs' ability to register, access funding or operate freely. On 10 September, human rights lawyer Ibrahim Metwally was detained at Cairo airport while travelling to address the UN Working Group on enforced disappearances. He remains in pre-trial detention. The authorities prevented several human rights defenders from travelling and froze their assets.

The authorities further restricted freedom of expression. Egypt remained the world's third-worst jailer of journalists, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. In 2017, the authorities started to block multiple websites. Some had been inciting violence, but the authorities also targeted legitimate news and NGO websites. Shortly after the NGO, Human Rights Watch, issued a report on torture in Egypt, its website was blocked. Another NGO, the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, concluded that 400 websites had been blocked. Seemingly innocuous actions were targeted: the police arrested Egyptian singer Sherine Abdel Wahab after she made a negative comment about the River Nile at a concert.

According to credible reports, torture, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial executions continued throughout 2017. A report by the Al Nadeem Centre documented 1,042 cases of enforced disappearance and 191 incidents of torture. On 20 April, a video emerged of a man in camouflage uniform executing two detainees; Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International alleged Egyptian military involvement. The British Embassy was unable to confirm the veracity of this. In January, the Ministry of the Interior announced that law enforcement agents had killed ten terrorists in an exchange of gunfire during a raid. The men's families claimed that they had already been forcibly disappeared. In September, Human Rights Watch published a report on the widespread use of torture, which they described as an "epidemic".

State discrimination against LGBT people significantly increased in 2017. Following the waving of a rainbow flag at a concert in September, the state cracked down on LGBT people. Credible NGOs reported that at least 76 people were arrested within two months on 'debauchery' charges. Some have since been released. Reports emerged of the torture and mistreatment of these detainees, including forced anal examinations. There were also reports of police entrapment using online applications.

The use of the death penalty increased in 2017, particularly at the end of the year. The death penalty was widely applied following convictions under counter-terrorism laws. Death sentences were routinely passed on civilians in military courts. The authorities do not always publicise executions in Egypt, but on 26 December they made public the fact that 15 people had been executed after being convicted by a military court.

Attacks, mainly claimed by Daesh, against places of worship significantly increased in 2017. Hundreds of Coptic Christians fled North Sinai, where the authorities battled against an insurgency, after Daesh executed Coptic Christians and issued a further threat. In April, two terrorist attacks on churches killed over 40 people. In May, terrorists opened fire on a bus carrying Coptic Christians in Minya, killing 30 people. President Sisi announced a state of emergency which was subsequently extended. In November, terrorists attacked Al Rawda Mosque in north Sinai, killing over 300 people. President Sisi has regularly called for peaceful co-existence between religious communities, which the UK Government welcomes.

President Sisi declared 2017 to be the "Year of the Egyptian Woman". According to the 2017 census, 31% of women over the age of 10 are illiterate, compared to 21% of men.

During 2017, the UK Government consistently raised the deteriorating human rights situation with the Egyptian authorities. The then Foreign Secretary, Boris Johnson, raised human rights concerns with President Sisi during his visit to Cairo in February. In the same month, the then Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Tobias Ellwood, issued a statement expressing concern about the closure of the Al Nadeem Centre. In June, the then Foreign Secretary issued a statement of concern about the NGO law, arrests of political activists and the blocking of news websites. The Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt, raised restrictions on civil society with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Interior Minister Magdy Abdel Ghaffar during his visit to Cairo in August. In November, we issued a joint statement of concern with Canada, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands regarding the ongoing detention of Ibrahim Metwally. We have consistently raised our concerns over human rights in Egypt at the UN Human Rights Council.

In 2018, we will continue to raise our human rights concerns with the Egyptian authorities in public and in private, including at the HRC. Our priorities will include civil society, freedom of expression, political detainees, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture. We will continue to support programmes and projects designed to improve the human rights situation in Egypt. President Sisi has made education a key priority for his presidency; in 2018, we will build on our education programme work, ensuring that it is gender sensitive, and look to identify targeted programmes to enhance girls' education.