The study includes an analytical section and two annexes. The analysis reviews statutes regulating church construction, significant court rulings of relevance, and their impact on the legal status of existing churches and various official licenses. The study then looks at the types and frequency of sectarian attacks linked with the exercise of the right of worship, offering a quantitative analysis of the 74 sectarian attacks seen in Egypt from January 25, 2011 to August 2016. It describes the flashpoints of tension, the profile of attacks and their relationship to political parties or governing forces, and whether patterns changed in tandem with changes in regime.
Press Releases & News
Lawyers at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) submitted a petition to the public prosecutor on November 15, 2017 (no. 13274/2017/public prosecutor petitions) seeking an inspection of the death row ward of the al-Abaadiya Prison, after the families of three people detained in the ward, sentenced to death for involvement in the shooting at the Abu al-Matamir police station, complained about the prison administration’s treatment of their family members and what they described as the ‘inhumane’ conditions of their confinement for more than three months.
The report shows that Ministe of Electricity Decree 312/2017 increased bills by 27 percent on average for the current fiscal year of 2017–18, following last year’s 33-percent increase. The hikes ranged from 15.4 percent for the first bracket (the lowest electricity usage bracket) to 43.3 percent for the seventh bracket (the highest). This shows some improvement on last year, when the biggest hikes fell on the brackets using the least electricity, but the third and fourth brackets, where most low- and middle-income users fall, did absorb major increases this year of 22.4 percent and 27.9 percent respectively.
The report, issued by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, aims to monitor the measures imposed by the loan program and their impact on the economy, both positive and negative. It also identifies the measures the government failed to carry out and attempts to offer alternatives that are less onerous for the public, especially low-income groups.
EIPR stresses the important role judicial institutions could play in punishing the wrongful use of force by police and law enforcement officers. Such actions are vital to stop the rampant cases of death in custody due to beatings and torture. This is especially true given the lack of effective oversight over these facilities by either independent state bodies or the judicial bodies tasked with inspecting them under Article 55 of the constitution and laws regulating the judiciary, prisons, and criminal procedure.
Following the Arab Spring, the Swiss Authorities blocked 700 million Swiss francs held by Mubarak’s clan. Despite the opening of criminal investigations in Switzerland and Egypt, it appears that the confiscation of this money is increasingly unlikely. One quarter of the money frozen on Swiss bank accounts was already released in December 2016.
The undersigned organizations condemn the use of the Aqrab facility as a place to hold and abuse its inmates, as the prison is known to be a site of collective punishment. Although it was established as a prison for dangerous offenders, numerous people detained in connection with political cases are held in the prison, and it is notorious for its systematic violation of prisoners’ rights and inhumane conditions.
The signatory organizations warn that the most recent amendments to the criminal procedures code that were ratified on April 27, 2017 will expedite court procedures related to the administration of the death penalty. Before the amendments were made, it was possible for the Court of Cassation to annul a verdict by a criminal court and order a retrial in front of a different court.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls for the immediate release of Ola Qardawi and her husband Hossam Khalaf and the disclosure of the charges their arrest was premised on.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) condemns the ongoing crackdown targeting LGBTQI individuals, or those perceived to be, that began on September 22 after some audience members at a concert in Cairo raised the rainbow flag, known to symbolize sexual diversity and acceptance of all genders. Since the campaign began at least 57 individuals have been arrested in Cairo and a number of other governorates (the number now stands at 54).
Following the escalating violent attempts to suppress and divide civil society organizations, restrict their resources, and increase security measures to silence advocates for human rights and freedom of speech and expression in Egypt, the Egyptian state and media have exceeded all expectations in spreading fear, discrimination and encouraging hate speech inciting Egyptian citizens against each other.
Human Rights Organizations Urge UN Human Rights Council Member States to Reject Amendments to the Draft Resolution Renewing the Mandate of The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances ///////// Organizaciones de
The undersigned 48 civil society organisations, coming from all regions, urge your delegation to support the adoption of the resolution on cooperation with the United Nations, its representatives and mechanisms in the field of human rights as tabled. We urge you to resist efforts to undermine and weaken this resolution.
The two thus renew their call for the Egyptian parliament to amend the law in order to guarantee women’s access to safe abortion in cases where pregnancy constitutes a threat to the woman’s life or health, or if the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has criticized the authorities’ handling of the case of Coptic students who were forcibly displaced from al-Arish in North Sinai last February.
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, ten organizations are urging Egyptian authorities to drop the preventative detention order against Hanan Badr el-Din, a human rights defender and co-founder of the “Association of
At the seventh anniversary of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) calls on the Egyptian government to sign and ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (the international convention on enforced disappearances), to open an investigation into complaints of family members of the disappeared, to prevent enforced disappearances, and to combat impunity for the crime of enforced disappearance.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) condemns the verdict issued on Monday 7 August in case no. 8473/2013, before Minya Criminal Court, commonly known as the “Storming Matai Police Station” case, in which 12 defendants were sentenced to death and 119 others were sentenced to life in prison, 110 of which are currently in detention, although not all were present in court.
For many years, the residents practiced many forms of peaceful protests against the factory. They wrote petitions, filed complaints, held negotiations with factory officials, talked about their cause in the media, used social media, produced documentary films, and even conducted researches and proposed alternatives.
The signatories condemn all violations of the rights of the defense, and the defendants' right to a fair trial, as stipulated in article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The forced disappearance of the defendants contravenes article 40 of Egypt’s Penal Code, which stipulates that, “No one shall be arrested or imprisoned except by an order of the competent authorities, and shall be treated in a manner that protects human dignity and may not be harmed physically or morally.”
