On Tuesday 29 April, the Egyptian Parliament adopted a new code of criminal procedures, a law that is meant to constitute the backbone of justice, equality before the law, and guarantees for defendant and detainee rights. In recent months, the code has been sternly criticized by human rights organizations, the Lawyers’ Syndicate, the Journalists’ Syndicate, the Judges’ Club, and UN human rights mechanisms. Nonetheless, the Egyptian authorities’ determination to move forward with it comes as no surprise.
The new code devastates basic foundations of the rule of law and human rights guarantees, providing institutional cover for the extralegal practices and policies that have been instituted over the past decade. As our organizations have previously warned, these policies and practices are neither technical in nature, nor a necessary evil to face security threats; they are part and parcel of the authoritarian philosophy of governance embraced by President Abdelfattah al-Sisi. Further institutionalization of Egypt’s human rights crisis using the new code remains consistent with the authorities’ track record.
At no point have the Egyptian authorities signaled genuine willingness to address this crisis, the worst in decades. Our organizations have signaled from the start that previous initiatives such as the National Human Rights Strategy and the National Dialogue are hollow endeavors that have merely sought to provide smokescreens neutralizing criticism of Egypt’s human rights record. Our organizations also warned over a year ago that a third term for President Sisi – secured through an unfair and uncompetitive process denying Egyptians their rights to political participation – preempts any potential for reforming or alleviating the nation’s festering human rights crisis. For those who doubted these assessments, including Egypt’s international partners, the Parliament’s adoption of the new code of criminal procedures should leave no room for uncertainty regarding the authorities’ intent.
Our organizations reiterate our rejection of the new code of criminal procedures, together with the arsenal of draconian legislation adopted over the previous decade, including on counterterrorism, which provide more legal cover for the authoritarian status quo while violating rights guarantees provided in Egypt’s Constitution and many of the international conventions and treaties it has ratified. Crucially, we underscore that short of a fundamental change in the Egyptian authorities’ outlook, human rights reform will remain elusive.
The signatory organizations:
- Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS)
- El Nadeem Center
- Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF)
- The Egyptian Human Rights Forum
- Law and Democracy Support Foundation
- Ankh Foundation
- Egyptian Front for Human Rights
- EgyptWide for Human Rights