CIVIL LIBERTIES

1. 1. Restricting citizens’ public participation and limiting political deci- sion-making to a narrow, trusted circle that is not subject to oversight or accountability remained key features of the government’s approach. Con- stitutional guarantees for freedom of expression, information, peaceful assembly, and political participation¹ are systematically violated, using leg- islation, incarceration and the denial of basic due process rights, resulting over the past decade in the decimation of the civic space.

   2. The erosion of civil liberties started early in the rule of President Sisi with the adoption of the Protest Law², which restricted the right to peaceful assembly and imposed prison sentences for participation in unauthorized gatherings. This was followed by a new Terrorism Law³ in 2015, which effectively criminalized peaceful activism and freedom of expression. The Media Regulation Law of 2018 authorized the blocking of news websites and introduced new licensing requirements and a slew of penalties to tar- get independent journalism.⁴ A Cybercrimes Law followed the same year, introducing “national security” and “Egyptian family values” as grounds for further censorship and punishment.⁵ Over 600 websites remain blocked arbitrarily without even following this draconian law. Opinion writers and online content creators are routinely imprisoned despite a constitutional ban on custodial penalties for publishing offenses.

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