Egypt: repression under the Sisi regime

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Photo credit: Ashraf Shazly | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017 when twin church bombings claimed by an Islamic State group affiliate killed dozens of people.
  • It considerably extends police powers of arrest and surveillance and can impose restrictions on freedom of movement.
  • Several bloggers known for being critical of the government or their satirical drawings have been arrested or detained.

Cairo

The army's ouster of Egypt's first democratically elected civilian president, Mohamed Morsi, in July 2013, led to a growing clampdown on the opposition under Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's regime.

Here is a snapshot.

On August 14, 2013 security forces move in on two pro-Morsi protest camps where thousands of Islamists have for six weeks been demanding the reinstatement of the ousted ex-leader, who hails from the Muslim Brotherhood.

At least 817 people die in what Human Rights Watch calls "one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recent history" in Egypt.

According to Amnesty International, in seven months at least 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, are killed in the crackdown on protests.

Egypt's judicial system has come under criticism by NGOs and the United Nations, who point to mass trials of dissidents, the increase in death sentences and an abusive use of provisional detentions.

The Brotherhood is declared illegal in late 2013 and thousands of Islamists are arrested and sentenced in arbitrary trials. Morsi dies mid-trial in June 2019.

The controversial revision of the constitution, voted in April 2019, aimed at extending Sisi's grip on power, also allows him to increase his control of the judiciary.

In the weeks after demonstrations by hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country are crushed on September 20, some 4,000 people are arrested, including lawyers, journalists and academics. Hundreds are then released.

Egypt has around 60,000 political prisoners, including Islamists and secular opponents, according to rights organisations, who also criticise overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions in prisons.

NGOs regularly denounce violations of freedom of the press and expression in Egypt.

In 2018, Sisi promulgates a law regulating the press and media, which allows for the close surveillance of the accounts of users of the most popular social media.

Several bloggers known for being critical of the government or their satirical drawings have been arrested or detained. The authorities accuse them of belonging to banned groups and publishing fake news.

Egypt is in 166th place out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders 2020 press freedom ranking, dropping three places compared with 2019.

Egypt has been under a state of emergency since April 2017 when twin church bombings claimed by an Islamic State group affiliate killed dozens of people.

It considerably extends police powers of arrest and surveillance and can impose restrictions on freedom of movement.

In May Sisi ratifies amendments to the emergency law to extend his powers, a measure taken at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Human Rights Watch warns they are a "cover for new repressive powers".

The amendments allow the president to close schools, suspend public sector work, ban public and private gatherings and quarantine inbound travellers.

In June Amnesty International calls on Egypt to stop a campaign of "harassment and intimidation" against health care workers who have criticised the government's response to the pandemic.