The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) welcomes the new report issued by the UN Committee against Torture, which criticized the new Criminal Procedures Code, the continued violations under the Emergency and Anti-Terrorism laws, deteriorating prison conditions and the continued expansion of the use of the death penalty. The report also criticized what it called “the systematic overuse of prolonged pretrial detention in politically sensitive cases, and the selective application of presidential pardons and conditional releases, primarily benefiting those convicted of non-political offenses”.

Released on 16 May, the report came in response to the follow-up report submitted by the Egyptian government last October regarding three issues on which the committee requested additional information at the conclusion of its review of the Egyptian government's implementation of the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, which the Egyptian government ratified in 1986, making it part of its domestic legislation.

The UN committee said it was “concerned that the draft Criminal Procedures Code, which was recently approved by the House of Representatives and is pending presidential approval, reportedly contains provisions that would allow remote hearings without sufficient safeguards and would further expand powers conferred to public prosecutors regarding police custody and pretrial detention, including broad discretion to deny lawyers access to case files and investigation records if deemed in the interest of the investigation”.

EIPR said that the UN committee's criticism comes as part of a series of successive condemnations of the flawed Criminal Procedures Code, following a statement issued last week by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in which the UN rights agency called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to “consider carefully” the flawed law before ratifying it.

Seven Special Rapporteurs of the UN Human Rights Council sent a communication to the Egyptian government last November warning that the new draft law would undermine the rights of all citizens dealing with the criminal justice system, whether defendants, victims, witnesses or lawyers.

With regard to counter-terrorism and the state of emergency, the UN Committee said it “remains concerned about the sweeping powers granted to the President of the Republic under the Emergency Act, including the authority to appoint judges, halt investigations, order retrials, and confirm, modify, annul or suspend verdicts issued by the Emergency State Security Courts, which reportedly continue to exercise jurisdiction over cases referred to them during the period of emergency” which ended in October 2021. The Committee further said it was concerned about “allegations that defendants prosecuted before these courts remain subjected to exceptional judicial proceedings lacking due process and fair trial guarantees”.

The Committee also said it was “concerned about the broad powers granted to the security forces to detain suspects indefinitely with barely any judicial oversight...Moreover, it is concerned about reports that, although the Emergency Act has not been applied since the state of emergency was lifted, other laws, in particular the Counter-Terrorism Act No. 94 of 2015 and the Terrorist Entities Act No. 8 of 2015, continue to provide the government with extensive powers similar to those granted under the Emergency Act.”

As for detention conditions, the UN Committee said it “remains concerned about reports of persistent overcrowding and poor material conditions of detention in places of deprivation of liberty, and the insufficient use of alternatives to detention”.

Regarding the death penalty, the Committee said it “remains deeply concerned about reports that the State party did not take any substantive steps to amend its domestic laws, in particular the Penal Code, Counter-Terrorism Act No. 94 of 2015, Drugs Control Act No. 82 of 1960, High Treason Act No. 247 of 1956, Military Provisions Act No 25 of 1966, Civil Aviation Act No. 28 of 1981, System, Security and Discipline Aboard Ships Act 167 of 1960, Organ Transplant Act No. 142 of 2017 and other relevant laws that may entail the imposition of the death penalty”.

In 2023, EIPR submitted, together with a coalition of international and Egyptian NGOs, a detailed parallel report to the UN Committee against Torture, titled “Torture in Egypt: A Crime Against Humanity.” The report concluded that the Egyptian authorities’ use of torture is so widespread and systematic as to amount to a crime against humanity under customary international law.