Egypt's Counter-Terrorism Measures: Tools for Human Rights Abuses
Egypt is a fascinating country and the most populous in the Arab World, with around 102 million people. However, this enormous population has suffered from human rights abuses by the Egyptian government, led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. Abdel Fattah al-Sisi came to power in a 2013 military coup following a short experiment by the Egyptian people with democracy after the Arab Spring. The lack of freedom in Egypt since then was noted in Freedom House’s 2022 report, which gave Egypt a score of just 18/100, with political rights coming at 6/40 and civil liberties at 12/60. This lack of freedom has been detrimental for political activists throughout Egypt.
Notable cases of Egyptian authorities attacking activists include the court cases of Alaa Abdel Fattah and Mohamed al-Baqer, who were sentenced around 4-5 years in prison due to “spreading false news and undermining state security.” The Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights stated that Mohamed al-Baqer was a human rights lawyer, and Alaa Abdel Fattah was a pro-democracy activist who was prominent during Egypt’s Arab Spring. According to UN experts, their arrests, along with other social activists, lawyers, journalists, and human rights defenders, have come about through Egypt’s counter-terrorism measures. Examples of these counter-terrorism measures include the placing of Alaa Abdel Fattah and Mohamed al-Baqer on their terrorist watchlist.
Egypt’s Anti-Terrorism Law and Terrorism Circuit Courts, which according to the UN, use broad and vague definitions of terrorism, target human rights activists and limit freedoms such as the freedom of expression, assembly, and association. These counter-terrorism laws have been a part of Sisi’s rule since 2015, when he decreed Law 94 on confronting terrorism. This law has broad definitions regarding authorities’ power to arrest people, such as it stating that authorities can “take any appropriate measures to preserve security and public order” under Article 53 of the counter-terrorism law. Another factor contributing to counter-terrorism measures being used against activists and political dissidents includes Sisi’s state of emergency in April 2017. This state of emergency was declared after a terrorist attack against the Christian community in Egypt, and was in place until October 2021. This action by Sisi is from the state of emergency law of 1958, which allows authorities to detain suspects, monitor private communications, ban gatherings, and more, with impunity. The state of emergency law also established the emergency courts and gives Sisi, the president, the power to fill these emergency courts with judges appointed by him, reduce and annul sentences, and prevent cases from being appealed to higher courts. Although the state of emergency ended in October of 2021, the emergency courts are still in use against those who have already had their court case referred to them.
According to a government official, the number of political prisoners is around 60,000, which makes up around half of Egypt’s 120,000 prison population, with about 4,500 prisoners going without trial in one six-month period. Meanwhile, the Egypt Prison Atlas has a database of around 2,578 of these prisoners being women and children. Prisons themselves are rife with human rights abuses such as beatings, solitary confinement, lack of water and food, and torture. Despite this, Sisi tried to receive international goodwill by holding an amnesty committee and releasing some notable prisoners. Around 660 political prisoners have been released since April of this year. These prisoners have been released due to the upcoming COP 27 meeting this year in Sharm el-Sheikh, but it hasn’t made a dent in the 60,000 political activists still in prison, including Mohamed al-Baqer and Alaa Adel Fattah.
The future for Egypt will not be bright if it continues with its politically charged imprisonments of thousands of people, even women and children. These imprisonments will create a society of fear and a lack of creativity as the Egyptian people are scared to talk freely due to the possibility of upsetting the Egyptian authorities and being a danger to state security under their counter-terrorism laws. It will also weaken government capacity and the private sector as many workers in these areas have been arrested with an example including the arrest of the head of the Egyptian Court of Accounts in 2015 for noting irregularities in the state budget. However, despite all of this, the likelihood of Sisi restructuring or eliminating these counter-terrorism laws under international pressure is on the wane. The main reason is that Egypt is becoming a major energy supplier in the Mediterranean region during a time when Europe desperately needs it due to their sanctioning of Russia for their invasion of Ukraine. An example of this includes a Memorandum of Understanding between Egypt, Israel, and the European Union, where Israeli gas will be exported to Egypt, which will then be liquified into liquified natural gas (LNG), which will then be exported to Europe. Meanwhile, the United States has suspended $130 million in security aid from Egypt for the second consecutive year over its human rights abuses. This does not dramatically change the annual $1.3 billion in military financing that Egypt receives from the United States. This hesitancy to further punish Egypt is due to the country being a key regional ally since the reign of Anwar Sadat and the signing of the Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. Therefore, it looks like these counter-terrorism laws will continue for the concievable future unless there is more international pressure on the Sisi regime to change theses measures.