Based on documented information submitted by the Egyptian Front for Human Rights concerning 12 individuals (out of 15) who were subjected to case recycling, prolonged arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, terrorism-related designation, and the absence of fair trial guarantees, a group of United Nations experts issued a communication to the Egyptian government on 15 September 2025 (AL EGY 5/2025). In their letter, the experts expressed grave concern and strong condemnation of the serious violations committed against 15 Egyptian citizens, including political figures and journalists, in the context of the widespread and unlawful use of counter-terrorism legislation, particularly the Counter-Terrorism Law No. 94 of 2015 and the Law on Terrorist Entities and Terrorists No. 8 of 2015.
The communication was signed by eight UN Special Procedure mandates, including:
the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism;
the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention;
the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances;
the Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression;
the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association;
the Special Rapporteur on the right to health;
the Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers;
and the Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
The UN experts’ letter lists the names of the individuals concerned, including:
Faisal Ahmed Mohamed Radwan, Al-Taher Mohamed Abdelaziz Massoud, Ibrahim Yehia Ibrahim, Mostafa Awny Suleiman, Mahmoud Salah Abu al-Fadl, Aser Zahr al-Din Abdelwarith, Mostafa Gamal al-Sayed, Mohamed Osama Abu al-Ata, Abdel-Fattah Bastawi al-Sayed, as well as political figures: Essam el-Haddad and Gehad el-Haddad, Anas El-Beltagy, the son of a prominent Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed el-Beltagy, and journalists: Hisham Jaafar, Hossam Othman, and Tawfiq Ghanem.
In this extensive communication, the UN experts affirmed that the information they reviewed demonstrates a systematic and recurring pattern of grave violations committed by Egyptian authorities, most prominently:
- Arbitrary Detention
- Arresting individuals without a judicial warrant or proper notification of the reasons for arrest.
- Continuing to detain individuals despite court-ordered release or acquittal, as in the case of Aser Zahr al-Din Abdelwarith.
- Using pretrial detention as a form of punishment, routinely exceeding the legal maximum of two years.
- Enforced Disappearance
- Holding detainees for weeks or months in National Security premises without official acknowledgment.
- Denying access to families or lawyers.
- Fabricating arrest dates to conceal periods of enforced disappearance.
- Torture and Ill-Treatment
- Subjecting detainees to beatings, electric shocks, and suspension.
- Prolonged solitary confinement, as in the cases of Anas el-Beltagy and Jihad el-Haddad, lasting for years.
- Inhumane detention conditions marked by lack of food, ventilation, hygiene, and medical care.
- Denial of Medical Care
- Preventing detainees with severe health conditions—including heart disease and kidney failure—from receiving necessary treatment.
- Ignoring critical medical cases involving chronic illness and continuous bleeding.
- Case Recycling (Re-accusation after Release)
- Recharging detainees with identical or similar accusations immediately after a release order or acquittal.
- Using this tactic to keep individuals detained for years without genuine judicial process or new evidence.
- Violations of Fair Trial Guarantees
- Interrogating detainees without the presence of a lawyer.
- Relying on confessions extracted under torture.
- Referring civilians to terrorism chambers that lack independence and impartiality.
- Unlawful Designation on Terrorism Lists
- Designating journalists on terrorism lists without any legal basis, including Hesham Jaafar, Tawfiq Ghanem, and Hossam Othman, who were placed on the terrorism list in Case No. 620/2018, which includes more than 1,550 people.
In November 2024, 716 individuals were removed from this list, yet the three journalists remained listed. - Maintaining individuals on terrorism lists despite acquittal or even after death, as in the case of journalist Hossam Othman.
- Families suffering from frozen assets and loss of financial rights and pensions.
The UN experts called on the Egyptian government to provide clear legal justification for these repeated arrests, to investigate allegations of enforced disappearance and torture, to ensure adequate medical care, and to stop using counter-terrorism laws as a tool to punish peaceful expression. They also emphasized the urgent need to end the practice of case recycling and to review terrorism listings in line with international human rights standards.
The experts stressed that the persistence of these violations reflects a deep structural crisis within Egypt’s criminal justice system and a systematic misuse of security and counter-terrorism legislation to silence peaceful political opposition, journalists, and human rights defenders.