We write to you in your capacity as members of the Consultative Group of the Human Rights Council in relation to the appointment of Special Procedure mandate holders at the 38th, 39th and 40th sessions.
Press Releases & News
The 28th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day, May 3 each year, marks the first anniversary of the Egyptian authorities’ massive campaign to block press and media websites, which reached 98 blocked sites, according to the latest survey by the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE).
The EIPR found that from September 28, 2016, when the church construction law was issued, to April 2018, state institutions have shuttered 14 existing churches that were hosting religious services prior to the closure orders. Four of these churches were closed this year, with Copts denied access to them and prayer services in them prohibited.
A year after the displacement, the security situation remains unstable and Christians are not afforded a minimum level of protection. The displaced families are therefore unable to return to Arish, and in some cases people who decided to return were targeted and killed by masked men.
The undersigned organizations strongly condemn Cairo University intransigence in renewing the 2018-2019 sabbatical of the assistant professor at Faculty of Arts at Cairo University, Kholoud Saber and ceasing the payment of her due salary since October 2017. The signatories demand from Cairo University the halt of such unlawful procedures, especially since they are induced by state security interventions in academic institutions and work.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights is deeply concerned about the judgment issued yesterday by the Atfih Misdemeanor Court in the Giza governorate in case no.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights released a report today titled “The Trap: Punishing Sexual Difference in Egypt.” The report documents and analyses the increasingly frequent incidents, over the last four years, in which police have specifically targeted persons whose sexual orientation or gender identity does not conform to socially-sanctioned norms, specifically gay people or men who have sex with men, or those who are perceived as such, as well as transgender people.
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.
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.
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.
EIPR released today a report entitled "A Death Foretold" that addresses incidents of killing and forced displacement of Al-Arish Copts.
To mark International Women’s Day, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights is publishing scenes from the lives of trans women as part of a series titled “They’re Women Too.” The stories’ aim is to spotlight the hardship experienced by trans women in Egypt.
The persistent legal harassment—the closure of the Nadeem Center will not be the last incident—will not deter Egyptian rights organizations from steadfastly exposing the current regime’s abuses and its violations of citizens’ fundamental human rights. We will continue to conduct research, monitor, and raise awareness in service of human rights principles and in defense of those victimized by draconian laws designed to forcefully shutdown the public sphere and all outlets for peaceful expression of opinion.
Parliament began to debate the bill and approved 40 of its 89 articles yesterday in record time. It is scheduled to resume debate on the remaining articles on November 15. We also condemn parliament’s treatment of civil society as an enemy to be defeated through secret plots and laws.
The EIPR found substantial discrepancies between the Arabic definition of female circumcision and the definition in all other languages on the WHO website.The Arabic definition lacks an important sentence affirming that there is no medical basis for the practice.
The undersigned organizations welcome the most recent amendments to the Penal Code to include a precise definition of the crime of female genital cutting (FGC) and extend the the statute of limitation to ten years. The organizations nevertheless stress that enforcement mechanisms remain lacking and that the amended provisions still allows doctors and medical institutions to evade punishment.
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights and the global alliance Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ) are again calling on the Egyptian legislator to amend legal provisions on abortion 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.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights affirmed today that it intended to continue defending rights and liberties and fighting to change public policies and security practices inimical to economic, social, civil, and political human rights, despite the continued state assault on all forms of civil association and initiative in Egypt over the last three years.
