[vc_row][vc_column][vc_video link=”https://youtu.be/7kseuuaARZQ”][vc_column_text]The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) is one of the only human rights organisations still operating in a country increasingly hostile to dissent and in which countless civil society organisations have been forced to close. The commission coordinates campaigns for those who have been tortured or disappeared, as well as highlighting numerous incidences of human rights abuses.
“Our main goal to achieve in the future, which is stated in our mission, is to empower individuals to acquire their rights, promote a culture of democracy in the Egyptian society, and expand human rights to every home in Egypt,” ECRF told Index. “But in the end of the day we decide to carry out with our work regardless of the challenges because if everyone is silenced this would be the ultimate gain to the current regime, and the ultimate victory to Egypt’s state of fear.”
Between August 2016 and August 2017, the ECRF documented 378 cases of enforced disappearance many of whom were students. The cases of the disappeared are not reported in the heavily censored local media, and the commission’s website and social media sites are some of the few places their plight can be publicised, reported and mapped.
The highly restrictive and repressive environment Egypt has made it increasingly difficult for the organisation to do its work.
Their website was blocked in September in government measures designed to close the organisation down, but the ECRF managed to create a parallel website to maintain their presence and engagement with the public. Twice last year ECRF’s headquarters was raided by security forces with two staff members being arrested. As a result, the staff need help dealing with the risks of being arrested, as well as dealing with the interrogation process and knowing how to protect information.
Over the past 12 months the ECRF has been fighting censorship and defending human rights in two ways. The first is through the criminal justice programme which tackles issues of torture and enforced disappearances in Egypt. It has been particularly focused on the arrest of activists who took part in demonstrations against Egypt’s agreement to cede two uninhabited islands in the Red Sea to Saudi Arabia.
Secondly, ECRF has worked on challenging censorship imposed on student associations in universities. Recently the commission launched an online platform to bring students and practitioners online to discuss a student charter related to freedom of association in universities. The platform was heavily criticised by the ministry of higher education in Cairo, which led to further condemnation of it in official media outlets.
As a direct result of the work ECRF has carried out over the past year, there has been an increased awareness of enforced disappearances, media censorship, the scale of torture, and violations of freedom of association and expression in media and universities.
“ECRF is honored to be shortlisted alongside three peer organizations/campaigns also facing severe human rights challenges in their own countries,” said ECRF. “The international recognition of ECRF’s efforts in campaigning for fundamental freedoms emboldens its members and staff in their resilience to strive for human rights and democracy in Egypt. Regardless of the winner, progress towards equal rights in Russia means progress in Egypt and progress in Kenya means progress in Iran and vice-versa.”
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To: His Excellency Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
Re: Call for action to condemn the Egyptian authorities’ crackdown on freedom of expression
Mr High Commissioner,
We, the undersigned organisations, are writing to express our great concern about the current human rights situation in Egypt.
Four years ago today, Egypt’s anti-protest law was signed, restricting the right to free assembly to such an extent that the mere planning of a demonstration has been criminalised.
This law remains one element of a repressive legislative arsenal denying Egyptian citizens their rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association, and peaceful assembly, under the pretext of maintaining stability and countering terrorism.
The Media and Press Law of 26 December 2016 constitutes an unprecedented attack on press freedom, the NGO Law has made it impossible for civil society to operate safely, while the Anti-Terrorism Law has been used to impose travel bans and asset freezes on journalists, human rights defenders and other peaceful activists.
These laws act as powerful tools in the hands of the security forces, which carry out the most severe violations of human rights on a daily basis, and in a climate of impunity: summary executions, abductions followed by secret detentions and enforced disappearances, torture, rape, arbitrary arrests, unfair trials before civilian and military courts leading to heavy prison sentences, including the death penalty.
The authorities have been resorting to these severe violations in a systematic fashion in order to instil fear within society and to silence any form of dissent by discouraging individuals from speaking out. Those targeted include students, professors, trade unionists, journalists, lawyers, human rights defenders, political opponents and other peaceful activists.
In addition to these attacks against the liberty and physical integrity of its citizens, the Egyptian authorities have imposed widespread online censorship and surveillance. Since May 2017, more than 400 websites – including those of news outlets and human rights organisations – have been blocked in an attempt to suppress reports which contradict the state narrative on the human rights situation in the country.
We believe this repressive apparatus, established under the pretext of ensuring stability, is not only counter-productive, but its very existence permits abuses that go against the human rights principles enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the latter of which Egypt has been party to since 1982.
Mr High Commissioner, as we near the 70th anniversary of the UDHR, the Egyptian authorities must be reminded of their commitment to ensure “freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want”. Such freedoms have been qualified as the “highest aspiration of the common people” by the UDHR. The Egyptian people are no exception, and they deserve your strongest support and attention.
Mr High Commissioner, your mandate gives you the authority to engage in a dialogue with all governments to secure respect for all human rights. We believe your support is crucial to ensure that the people of Egypt enjoy “the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family” proclaimed 70 years ago.
Given the extreme gravity of these human rights abuses, we urge you to publicly and strongly condemn these violations of the rights to freedom of opinion, expression, association and peaceful assembly, as well as the attacks on the liberty and integrity of Egyptian citizens. We kindly request that you call upon the authorities to put an end to these violations and establish the necessary prevention and accountability mechanisms to avoid their repetition.
The undersigned organisations:
Adalah Center for Rights & Freedoms
Alkarama Foundation
ARTICLE 19
Committee for Justice
Egyptian Coordination of Rights and Freedoms
El Nadim Center against Torture and Violence
EuroMed Rights
Front Line Defenders
Index on Censorship
PEN International
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]On Wednesday 24 May 2017, Egypt banned at least 21 websites, including the main website of Qatar-based Al Jazeera television, The Huffington Post and prominent local independent news site Mada Masr.
Mada Masr, as well as 20 other websites, were blocked by the Egyptian authorities for “supporting terrorism and extremism and spreading lies,” according to the state-run news agency Mena. Two Egyptian security sources have also indicated to Reuters that the outlets were blocked for either having ties with the Muslim Brotherhood, or for being funded by Qatar.
Mada Masr, an independent media founded in 2013, is one of the few independent voices left in Egypt, producing critical and engaged journalism. After the block, Mada Masr continues to publish content via its social media channels.
The act of blocking these 21 websites violates international standards in this area. Egypt has signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and must follow the guidance of the Human Rights Committee, the only official body charged with interpreting the treaty. Its General Comment 34 emphasises that restrictions on speech online must be strictly necessary and proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose. We firmly believe that none of these conditions have been fulfilled, particularly given the block’s extrajudicial character.
As members of civil society working for the free flow of information and digital access and freedom, we strongly condemn blocking access to these 21 websites by the country’s authorities. Such action is an act of censorship and infringement on the freedom of expression and information. Independent media must not pay the price of current political disputes between countries in the region—such as that between Egypt and Qatar.
The signatories of this statement are committed to the fundamental principles of freedom of expression and access to knowledge and information. We, the undersigned, call on the Egyptian authorities to uphold the freedom of the press and reinstate access to all 21 blocked news websites.
Signatories:
Access Now
SKeyes Center for Media and Cultural Freedom
Bahrain Watch
CFI – Agence française de coopération médias
Collaboration for ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa
Committee to Protect Journalists
Cooperativa Sulá Batsú RL
Derechos Digitales
The Egyptian Center for Public Policy Studies
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Free Press Unlimited
Global Forum for Media Development
Index on Censorship
Internet Sans Frontières
League of African Cyber-Activists and Bloggers
Maharat Foundation
MARCH Lebanon
OpenNetAfrica
Social Media Exchange
The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy
7iber
Paradigm Initiative[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_basic_grid post_type=”post” max_items=”4″ element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1496241442672-1f637b67-02f2-0″ taxonomies=”147, 64, 1721″][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Mada Masr is an Egyptian online news site formed just before the military coup in July 2013 by 24 friends and journalists. Published in both English and Arabic, the site aims to offer an alternative to newspapers censored by state-owned printing and distribution facilities and media owned by industrial conglomerates. Wanting to represent in practice what Egypt was trying to achieve, Mada aims to be entirely democratic and is owned and run by its original founders and the journalists who write for it.
Editor-in-chief, Lina Attalah is well-known Egyptian media figure and former editor of Egypt Independent, which was shut down in April 2013 by the management of Al-Masry Media Corporation. When the editorial team tried to release a final edition explaining why, it was also pulled just before going to print.Attalah published it anyway,with the promisethat “In keeping with our practice of critical journalism, we use our final issue to reflect on the political and economic challenges facing Egyptian media, including in our own institution.” Many of the founders of Mada Masr are former employees of Egypt Independent.
Since its formation, Mada Masr has seen Egypt go throughthe popular uprising against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, the military’s overthrow of Morsi and the subsequent violent crackdown on Muslim Brotherhood protesters, and the spread of terrorist violence in the country. Mada’s reporters work in a country with 186 laws restricting freedom of the press and expression.
In November 2015, Mada journalist Hossam Bahgat was summoned by Egypt’s military intelligencedetained for two days, after he wrote a story about the prosecution of about two dozen military officers for allegedly plotting a coup. The arrest was condemned globally, and Bahgat was eventually released, after which Mada published hisstatement describing the detention.
With many investors are politically aligned with the military regime, and those that weren’t facing huge pressure, funding has been a problem for Mada Masr. Valuing its independence above all else, Mada has come up with some innovative fundraising ideas, including, apop-up marketplace launched in April which sells designer clothes and urban crafts.
One of Mada’s new editorial initiatives is to create networks of citizen journalists to bring in more local reporting — and readers — throughout Egypt’s governorates.
“We have established a cooperative media organisation independently, at a time when media are controlled and only made possible through either the state or wealthy businessmen,” said Lina Attalah. “We are experiencing some deal of fear while doing our jobs every day.”
But Mada Masr has not allowed this to guide them towards self-censorship, she says. “With our minds and hearts grappling with being progressive and practical, we build our institution with an ambition to respond to that which we critique in our coverage.”
“I want us, down the line, many, many years to come, to be a reference of what happened.”
