This year, Egypt was ranked 166th out of 180 countries in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index (RSF, 2021b). This comes as no surprise given the country’s consistent status as one of the world’s top jailers of journalists. Indeed, in 2020, Egypt had the third highest number of jailed journalists globally, with at least 27 journalists in prison (CPJ, 2020).Yet, this represents a mere snapshot of the country’s increased repression, not just of the media, but freedom of expression as a whole, as human rights defenders, activists, protestors and critics of the Sisi regime continue to be persistently targeted.
Terrorism Charges and Indefinite Pretrial Detention
This month, Al Jazeera producer, Rabie El-Sheikh, was arrested after being accused of “spreading false news” (Al Jazeera, 2021). This comes just days after a leaked audio recording where he invited Egyptian columnist, Abdel Nasser Salama, to speak in a live interview about the Ethiopian Dam Crisis. Salama had been a vocal critic of Sisi and his handling of the Ethiopian Dam and was also arrested last month under allegations of “financing terrorism” alongside other accusations, including spreading false news (Ibid, 2021). Such charges have become a quasi “cliché” amongst opposition figures, journalists and activists arrested in Egypt over the last few years (Dawoud and Alterman, 2021; para 4).
Yet, terrorism allegations are inherently the most threatening, as indicated by journalist and former leader of the Constitution Party of Egypt, Khaled Dawoud, who was recently freed after 19 months of imprisonment. Dawoud revealed that the current “trick that the regime has been resorting to […] was amending the pre-trial detention law so that if you’re charged with terrorism, the prosecutors can keep you in prison for up to two years” (Dawoud and Alterman, 2021; para 5).
Indeed, terrorism charges are often used as a tactic to extend the sentences of journalists (CPJ, 2020). This is confirmed by, inter alia, Amnesty International who have affirmed the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP)[1] alongside the recently implemented counter-terrorism legislation have been increasingly misused as a tool of repression to detain individuals for acts which should not be criminalised (Amnesty n.d.). In practice, the SSSP has essentially allowed Sisi to replicate the long-term administrative detention practices seen under the Mubarak era, which were deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Constitutional Court in 2013 (Amnesty, 2019).
Terrorism Legislation Explained
In 2013, interim President, Adly Mansour, amended Article 143 of the Egyptian Criminal Procedure Code (CCP) which set a limit on pretrial detention of up to 2 years in certain criminal cases. The amendment removed the limit on pre-trial detention and essentially allowed the Court of Cassation and the Court of Referral to extend the amount of time someone can be held on remand indefinitely (Thabet, 2020; ICJ, 2016).
Moreover, according to the leading Egyptian human rights organisation, Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), this has been applied selectively and Criminal circuits have differed in their recognition of the ceiling on pretrial detention (EIPR, 2016). Whilst the limit has still been recognised in the case against specific politicians and former president Mubarak, in most cases judges have disregarded it and detained defendants beyond the legal limits defined in Article 380 of the CCP (Ibid, 2016). For instance, in the case of, amongst many others, photo-journalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid and journalist Hisham Gaafar (Equal Rights Trust, 2018). This has been noted by the UN who have reiterated Egypt’s “chronic problem” regarding arbitrary detention (OHCHR, 2018; para 6).
A Historic Environment of Media Censorship
Media censorship has been a characteristic of most Egyptian Presidencies. However, under el-Sisi and particularly since 2016 there has been a notable intensification (Amnesty, 2020b). New restrictive legislation including, but not limited to, the Media Regulation Law have also been passed which ultimately allow Egyptian authorities to further censor journalism (HRW, 2019b).
Online, censorship has also greatly increased, as numerous independent news outlets and NGO websites like Human Rights Watch became blocked in the country (Hassib and Shires, 2021). Furthermore, a project undertaken by the NGO, Reporters without Borders, estimated that roughly half of Egypt’s most popular media outlets are now controlled by the state, via official agencies or intelligence bodies (RSF, 2021a). These have been actively detrimental to the freedom and independence of the media, and the existence of civic space (HRW, 2021) and ultimately any hopes of democracy.
The Pandemic’s Role in Facilitating Authoritarian Measures
This crackdown has also been facilitated by the global pandemic which has presented an opportunity to rapidly pass emergency legislation and expand state power, further enabling the suppression of civil liberties and established freedoms. During the pandemic, el-Sisi extended the state of emergency by 3 months for the seventeenth time since April 2017[2]. Moreover, he approved certain additional amendments to the state of emergency which grant him and security agencies further powers to ban specific forms of assembly, such as protests (Al Jazeera, 2020). This has been implemented under the guise of containing the spread of Covid-19 but has been used as a means to justify further undermining judicial independence and supressing fundamental freedoms (HRW, 2019; Al Jazeera 2020).
The expansion of state power amid the pandemic has been a phenomenon witnessed globally. Whilst such an international emergency requires direct measures to protect public health, many governments have exploited the crisis to seize power over matters unrelated to the pandemic (Gebrekidan, 2020). In the UK for example, there have been criticisms that controversial Bills, condemned by human rights experts, have been rushed through Parliament, including the recent Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill (PCSC), the Nationality and Borders Bill and the Covert Human Intelligence Sources (Criminal Conduct) Act 2021 (CHIS).
The Global Threat to Press Freedom
This crackdown on press freedom is also not unique to Egypt, and today represents a particularly dangerous time to be a journalist across the world, as they face an increasingly hostile political climate. Last year, the number of journalists imprisoned due to their work hit record highs amid attempts to supress coverage of Covid-19 or political unrest (CPJ, 2020).
Additionally, NSO Group’s military grade spyware, Pegasus, which has recently been linked to the targeting of thousands of journalists and activists around the world has been described by Amnesty as the current “weapon of choice for repressive governments to silence journalists, attack activists and crush dissent” (Amnesty, 2021, para 3). In a recent leak, 50,000 phone numbers of potential surveillance targets were released which included prominent journalists, activists and even heads of state. Amongst the list, was family of vocal journalist and Saudi dissident Jamal Kashoggi, who was targeted just months before his murder and dismemberment in a Saudi consulate in Turkey. At least ten governments are currently believed to be NSO clients, including, inter alia, Azerbaijan, Hungary, Bahrain, Mexico, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, and India (Kirchgaessner et al, 2021).
The lack of global leadership promoting or reinforcing democratic values, particularly from the United States and under the Trump Administration, has also been viewed as a factor which has served to perpetuate this press freedom crisis (CPJ, 2020). Indeed, Sisi has clearly capitalised on Trump’s “fake news” rhetoric to justify his actions.
Nevertheless, since then, alongside other Western countries, the US has recently urged Egypt to stop the prosecution of activists, journalists and critics under the counter-terrorism laws which allow for extended pre-trial detention (Al Jazeera, 2021). In March, 31 states signed a joint statement calling on the government to lift curbs on freedom of expression and assembly and improve its human rights record (Ibid, 2021).
Conclusion & Recommendations
Ultimately, Egypt is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and therefore has a legal responsibility to ensure, inter alia, the right to freedom of expression. The Egyptian authorities must take urgent action to comply with their international obligations. This initially includes immediately releasing those currently being arbitrarily detained, implementing measures to ensure judges are impartial and competent, and protecting those in custody from torture and abuse. Article 143 of the CCP must also be amended further to limit the maximum time spent in pre-trial detention.
Additionally, EuroMed Rights, the non-profit network of human rights organisations, has advised EU and UN member states support requests by UN treaty bodies and special procedures in carrying out official missions to Egypt. This includes ensuring no reprisals such as harassment, intimidation or arbitrary arrest take place for cooperating with UN human rights mechanisms (Thabet, 2020).
References
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[1] The SSSP is “a branch of the public prosecution that is responsible for investigating and prosecuting a wide range of crimes that are considered as endangering national security.” (Thabet, 2020; 23)
[2] El-Sisi first declared a state of emergency after twin bomb attacks killed 45 people in northern Egypt in April 2017. The legislation was initially passed to grant wider powers for counterterrorism measures and to tackle drug trafficking.
By Catherine Greenacre,The European Institute for International Law and International Relations.
