Association

Whereas there has been spotlight on the restrictive civic space in Egypt during the last UPR cycle with several countries calling Egypt to “ensure that human rights defenders and civil society organizations  carry out their functions in complete safety and freedom”, implementation of the Law No. 140 of 2019 on associations continue and restrict civil society organizations. In November 2025, a report based on interviews conducted by Amnesty International was published documenting the impact of Law No. 149 of 2019 on associations. Several  NGOs working in human rights, social development, and media sectors, described concrete difficulties related to registration, access to funding, and state monitoring, and called for legislative reforms aimed at lifting restrictions on the registration of associations, facilitating access to resources, and reducing bureaucratic and security interference, in order to ensure the genuine exercise of freedom of association in Egypt.

Expression

During the year 2025, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) documented at least a dozen cases of “punishment by proxy” in Egypt, in which authorities targeted the relatives of exiled journalists, activists, and human rights defenders through raids, arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, interrogation, travel bans, and other forms of harassment, highlighting a persistent strategy of transnational repression. These practices reflect a wider pattern of repression.
In parallel, trials involving approximately 6,000 individuals referred by the Supreme State Security Prosecution began in early May 2025, accused of ‘terrorism’, following an eight-month period of referrals. Access for civil society organizations and media to observe the proceedings has not been permitted. Hearings initially scheduled for June and July were repeatedly postponed or cancelled, reportedly due to the inability to transfer defendants from detention facilities, and many cases were rescheduled for later months.

Since July 2025, online content creators have increasingly been targeted by Egyptian authorities. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 29 individuals, including women and minors, were prosecuted within a single month. Most cases involve charges related to “violating public morals” or “undermining family values”, applied to social media content such as videos of belly dancing, tattoo art, and other forms of personal expression. For example, 16-year-old Nour Tufaha was sentenced to two years in prison by a juvenile court for appearing in dance videos, judged as “promoting debauchery,” while tattoo artist Fadi Tattoo was prosecuted for sharing videos of tattooing women, deemed to contradict “social traditions.” Authorities justify these prosecutions under Article 25 of Law No. 175 of 2018 on Cybercrime, with penalties ranging from six months to three years in prison.

Separately, a significant judicial development concerned the case of Egyptian‑British activist Alaa Abd el‑Fattah. Abd el-Fattah, a leading voice of the 2011 Arab Spring movement, was granted a presidential pardon by President Abdel Fattah el‑Sisi on 22 September 2025, ending years of incarceration and sparking international attention. In 2014, Alaa Abd el‑Fattah was sentenced to 15 years in prison. He was released in 2019, only to be detained again and handed a five‑year sentence on charges of spreading “false information.” While the Cairo Criminal Court later cleared him of terrorism-related accusations, he was initially barred from traveling to the United Kingdom to receive the 2025 Courage Under Fire Award. The travel restriction was eventually lifted, allowing him to attend the ceremony and return freely. By contrast, only months later, pretrial detention continued to be routinely renewed in other cases. In December 2025, the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights reported that pretrial detention was extended for two detainees for an additional 45 days as investigations continue. One of the cases concerns Sherif Ali Mohamed, arrested in 2022 after expressing grievances related to unemployment. He remains in custody despite ongoing health complications, including severe facial nerve pain. The second case involves Mohab, who was detained over alleged online monitoring and social media-related activity. He continues to be held while being required to pursue his university studies from detention.

These ongoing detentions occurred alongside a broader escalation of harsh judicial measures, as Egyptian courts handed down death sentences to 52 individuals across 31 cases in December. Furthermore, the legal files of 55 other defendants were submitted to the Mufti for review in 26 additional cases.

Another concerning practice in December 2025 involved the targeting of individuals for their support of Palestine. Amid these developments, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights condemned the decision to send 64 individuals to trial over their support for Palestine, highlighting the lack of legal grounds and absence of thorough investigation. Among the cases is that of Ahmed Bahgat Ezzat, who has been forcibly disappeared for nearly 19 months and is considered a “fugitive” by the Egyptian authorities, despite complaints lodged with the United Nations.

Peaceful Assembly 

In June 2025, the Egyptian Front for Human Rights documented the arrest of dozens of international activists participating in the Global March for Gaza.
Following these arrests, between 10 and 16 July 2025, Amnesty International documented the arbitrary detention of three Egyptian nationals and five foreign nationals in connection with their participation in, or preparation for, the Gaza March. Several individuals were subsequently placed in 15-day pretrial detention. In addition, the organization reported allegations of torture and other forms of ill-treatment during detention in some cases: physical abuse by the National Security Agency, including electric shocks and beatings. Moreover, Egyptian security forces also detained 200 pro-Palestinian activist upon arrival at the Cairo airport and deported them back to their countries after being questioned. According to a lawyer from the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), those arrested were investigated by the Supreme State Security Prosecution on charges including “joining a terrorist group,” “financing a terrorist group,” and “spreading false news.”