Egypt: Release protesters and activists detained in solidarity with Palestine

Egyptian authorities must immediately and unconditionally release all persons arbitrarily detained solely for their independent activities in solidarity with Palestine or criticism of the Egyptian government’s closure of the Rafah border crossing, and investigate complaints of sexual assault and other abuses in police custody against some detainees, Amnesty International he said today.

Over the past seven months, Amnesty International and Egyptian human rights organizations have documented the arrests of more than 123 people who expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza by peacefully protesting, posting comments online, hanging signs or writing slogans on walls. At least 95 people are in pre-trial detention under investigation into false allegations of involvement in terrorism, spreading false news or illegal assembly.

In April, a group of freed women protesters filed a complaint with the police about sexual violence, but prosecutors have not yet considered the complaints.

“Egyptian authorities continue to show zero tolerance for peaceful protests or independent activism that is not officially authorized, even if it is to show solidarity with the Palestinians, as government officials have themselves expressed. They reacted particularly strongly to any criticism of government policies during the armed conflict in Gaza, making it clear that not all expressions of solidarity with the Palestinians are accepted unambiguously,” said Sara Hashash, deputy regional director for the Middle East and North Africa at Amnesty International.

“The authorities must immediately release all those arbitrarily detained in connection with the suppression of pro-Palestinian solidarity. These are people who are simply exercising their right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly. “The authorities must also launch independent and impartial investigations into reports of sexual violence by women in detention and hold those responsible accountable.”

Amnesty International spoke to three female protesters, including two briefly detained, human rights defenders, researchers and lawyers, who participated in interrogations conducted by the Supreme State Security Prosecutor’s Office (SSSP).

According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Freedoms (EIPR) and the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), two local human rights groups based in Cairo, between October 2023 and May 2024, authorities arbitrarily arrested at least 123 people for expressing solidarity with Palestine since the outbreak of the armed conflict in Gaza. Both ECRF and EIPR legally represented some of these detainees.

Amnesty International previously documented the arbitrary arrest of several dozen people, including children, in October 2023 during Palestine solidarity protests in the provinces of Cairo, Giza, Alexandria and Dakahlia, where protesters gathered outside officially designated areas or chanted anti-government slogans. Those arrested in Cairo were beaten by men in civilian clothes with batons and sticks. Many of them were victims of enforced disappearances and were detained in Central Security Forces camps or at NSA headquarters for up to seven days. According to ECRF and EIPR, at least 53 people from this group, including two children, remain in custody pending the conclusion of an investigation into allegations related to terrorism, participation in illegal gatherings harmful to national security and public order, and vandalism. .

Arbitrary detention due to social media content

On May 8 and 9, security forces detained students Mazen Daraz and Ziad Basiouny, accusing them of “joining a terrorist group” and “publishing false news” in connection with their participation in a student group supporting Palestine (Students for Palestine), according to Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR).

The student group posted statements on Instagram and Facebook calling on the Egyptian Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education to boycott products supporting the Israeli occupation, calling on the government to provide facilities for Palestinian students in Egypt, and condemning the ground offensive in Rafah. They were held incommunicado for four to five days before being brought before the SSSP on May 13. At the time of writing, both are in pretrial detention.

During interrogation, Basiouny told SSSP prosecutors that after his arrest, security forces escorted him to an unknown NSA facility, where NSA agents held him blindfolded and handcuffed for four days, violating the absolute prohibition against ill-treatment, and also interrogated him six times, according to the EFHR. SSSP prosecutors did not open an investigation into Basiouny’s complaints.

Arbitrary detention for hanging signs or writing on walls

Some of the arrests came after criticism of Egypt’s role in keeping the Rafah border crossing closed. On April 28, security forces arbitrarily arrested six people from their homes in Alexandria, days after they displayed a banner in the street reading “Lift the siege of Palestine, release prisoners and open the Rafah crossing” and posted a photo of it on Facebook, according to EFHR. Authorities held the six incommunicado in unknown locations before bringing them before the SSSP on April 30, where they were interrogated on charges of joining a terrorist group, unlawful assembly and spreading fake news. SSSP prosecutors ordered their detention for 15 days pending the conclusion of the investigation, and at the time of writing they all remain in custody.

On March 8, security forces arbitrarily arrested six people, including one child, from their homes in Dar El-Salam, Cairo after they wrote slogans of solidarity with Palestine on a bridge along with the slogan “Sisi go,” according to EFHR. According to EFHR, four of the six detainees were only brought before the SSSP on March 18 and spent approximately nine days in solitary confinement in custody. At least two of the six told SSSP prosecutors that NSA agents at the Dar El-Salam police station punched them in the face, beat them by hand and kicked them. The SSSP initiated an investigation against the six on charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading fake news and misusing social media, and ordered them to be detained for 15 days pending investigation.

Arbitrary arrests of peaceful protesters and complaints of sexual violence

On April 23, a group of women’s rights activists took the risk of organizing a peaceful protest in solidarity with women in Palestine and Sudan and decided to organize it in front of the UN Women office in Cairo. About 20 women, including human rights defenders, journalists and lawyers, had gathered when, minutes later, plainclothes police officers forcibly dispersed the protest, including brutally pushing several women, beating at least two on several body parts and dragging at least one on Earth. They detained approximately 19 women protesters and at least two men passing by.

Human rights lawyer Mahinour El-Masry and activist May El-Mahdy, who were arrested, told Amnesty International that police took protesters in unmarked vans and taxis to several nearby police stations, including the Maadi police station. Protesters were not allowed to communicate with their families or seek a lawyer, and when a human rights defender inquired at the Maadi police station about the women’s whereabouts, the police denied that any women were being held there. On the same day, police transferred the women to various police stations in Cairo and to the Tora Central Security Forces Camp, an unofficial detention center, where they held them incommunicado for several hours.

The next day, the authorities brought all the detainees before prosecutors from the Supreme State Security Prosecutor’s Office (SSSP), who initiated an investigation against them and interrogated them on charges of joining an illegal group and participating in an illegal assembly. They were all released on bail the same day.

During the detention, the National Security Agency (NSA) interrogated several detainees in the absence of a lawyer. El-Mahdy told Amnesty International that NSA agents interrogated her for about two hours, asking what communication platform was used to organize the protest, her reasons for being interested in women’s issues and why they chose to protest in front of the UN Women’s office.

On May 23, a group of released women announced in a statement that they had filed a complaint with the Attorney General, alleging that some of the arrested women were victims of “sexual assault” during strip searches and “harassment” while incarcerated. One of the women who filed a complaint told Amnesty International that the released protesters filed complaints of sexual violence against police officers at the Helwan police station, where some of the women protesters were detained. According to El-Masry, the prosecutor forwarded the complaint to the SSSP, which, as of this writing, has not initiated an investigation into the reports. In 2019, Amnesty International found that the SSSP was complicit in police abuses by systematically ignoring and failing to investigate complaints of abuse made by the accused.