UN human rights experts have called on Egypt to lift ongoing restrictions on human rights defenders who have been released from detention, in line with international human rights standards. 

The special rapporteurs warned that many face travel bans, frozen assets, and continued inclusion on the country’s terrorism watchlist, preventing them from resuming normal life despite serving their sentences or receiving presidential pardons. They highlighted the cases of Gasser Abdel Razek, Karim Ennarah, and Mohamed Bashir, members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) who were arrested in November 2020. Although they have appealed freezes on their assets, the right to which is guaranteed under Egyptian law, they have been unsuccessful. They further mentioned human rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer, who was detained on multiple charges and remains on Egypt’s terrorism watchlist following his five year incarceration, despite receiving a presidential pardon in 2023. The same is true of Samir Abdel-Hai, who was arrested in early 2021 but pardoned in summer 2022. Since then, he has nonetheless faced a travel ban and been officially cited as a “threat to national security.”

The experts criticized the Egyptian authorities, stating that “[t]hese human rights defenders were criminalized under vague counterterrorism laws… They should not continue to face restrictions.” Egypt could be in violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which prohibits arbitrary detention in article 9, and the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, which prohibits it in article 6.

The experts’ concerns come amid broader allegations of systemic human rights violations in Egypt. Significant human rights issues reported in recent years include torture, arbitrary arrest and detention, and restrictions on freedom of expression (such as the prosecution of journalists and widespread censorship).