Egypt still struggles to improve human rights
Activists, opposition politicians and journalists have been the targets of an escalating crackdown on human rights in Egypt.
On Jan. 27, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published its World Report 2016. In a news release headlined “Egypt: Security Operations Inflame Rights Crisis,” HRW summarized the "mounting torture and disappearances" during President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s rule, more than two years after the army removed former President Mohammed Morsi.
HRW is one of many groups documenting human rights violations under Sisi's regime. Other groups include the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), Amnesty International and the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR), to name just a few.
In its annual report released in February, ANHRI said that while 2015 saw a decline in the number of protests compared with 2014, this was due to broadened enforcement of the Anti-Protest Law, as well as the detention and persecution of large numbers of protesters.
In an interview with Al-Monitor, ANHRI director Gamal Eid said, “The current situation of human rights in Egypt is worse than it was during the tenures of former presidents Hosni Mubarak and Anwar Sadat. This can be [shown] by the number of journalists in prison, which stands at 60, according to the report’s estimation.”
