Egypt

After 30 years of oppressive rule, President Mubarak stepped down as leader of Egypt on 11 February 2011.

Inspired by the fall of President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia in January, opposition activists organised a day of protests across Egypt on 25 January.

For 18 days, millions of Egyptians took to the streets, occupied squares, and ultimately overthrew a ruler who for decades had seemed unassailable.

But the bravery of the protestors cost them dear - at least 840 people were killed and 6,467 others were injured while thousands more were detained and many of them tortured.

After nearly three weeks of sustained and courageous protest, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF) took control, with the promise that they would hand power to an elected civilian government.

One year on, and the SCAF has been responsible for a catalogue of abuses including the violent suppression of protests, resulting in at least 84 deaths last year. Torture in detention has continued and more civilians have been tried before military courts in one year than during 30 years of Mubarak's rule. Women have been subjected to humiliated treatment in an apparent attempt to deter them from protesting. 

In December 2011 the offices of a number of NGOs were raided by security forces in a move that seems to be aimed at silencing critics of the authorities. We fear that 2012 could see more of the same as military forces continue to restrict the right of Egyptians to protest and freely express their views. 

Read about Egypt in our 2011 Annual Report

End human rights abuses in Egypt

Last year Egyptians went to the polls for the first time since protests across the country brought the fall of Mubarak.

But the interim authority, the Supreme Council of Armed Forces (SCAF), has continued the tradition of repressive rule which the January 25 demonstrators fought so hard to get rid of.

In recent months this has included the brutal suppression of peaceful protestors, killing 40 people in one week alone. 

• Call for an immediate end to human rights abuses by the Egyptian military
• Read Broken Promises: Egypt's Military Leaders Erode Human Rights (pdf)

A Year of Rebellion

Our report, A Year of Rebellion, charts the incredible change that swept across the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, brought by popular protest. But it also notes the disappointment at the pace of reform from new governments, particularly in Egypt where the violent repression of protest continues despite regime change. It is time for governments to wake up to the scale of reform being demanded of them, and to commit to real change.

• Find out more and read the report
• Read our Q&A on the issues raised

Egypt's historic elections With Egypt's historic elections due to continue until March, we are calling on all candidates to sign a 'manifesto' to show that they are serious about meaningful human rights reform. We are also asking that the Egyptian authorities take concrete steps to ensure that women are central in shaping the future of the country. Find out more - read the full statement  Read our Ten Steps for Human Rights (PDF) Read the briefing Women Demand Equality (PDF)

Forced evictions in Egypt

The Egyptian authorities are failing to meet the demands for social justice and human dignity championed during the '25 January Revolution'. Driven by a lack of affordable housing, over 12 million people live in Egypt's unplanned and unsafe slums. Slum-dwellers are often forcibly evicted from their homes with many left homeless.

Read our report, We Are Not Dirt (pdf)

After the fall

As President Mubarak stepped down, both houses of parliament were dissolved, the constitution was suspended and it was declared that the military would rule Egypt for six months when elections could be held. 

In March 2011, a large majority of Egyptians voted 'yes' in a hastily called referendum on proposed constitutional amendments. The key changes are:

• Reducing presidential terms from six years to four years
• Limiting each president to two terms maximum
• Obliging the president to choose a deputy within 30 days of election
• Installing new criteria for presidential candidate, including a rule that they must be over 40 years old, and cannot be married to a non-Egyptian.
  

We have welcomed proposals for change in Egypt but, with the committee formed to amend the constitution comprised only of men, we remain concerned that people's organisations, including women's groups, are being excluded from the reform process.

One year on

With elections due to continue until March 2012, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) remain in power. As 2011 drew to a close, mass protests were being held against their rule as people grew frustrated at the slow process of reform.

Despite promising to end the state of emergency, the SCAF has retained and extended the Emergency Law. The abusive SSI has been disbanded, but its methods - which saw people arbitrarily arrested and detained, tortured, and held without trial or tried unfairly before military courts - live on.

Freedom of expression, association and assembly were also promised, but the harsh reality is that that criticism of the new authorities is not tolerated, activists are being targeted and NGOs are being threatened with intrusive criminal investigations. Peaceful demonstrators continue to be forcibly and violently dispersed.

Where next?

All Egyptians must be able to participate meaningfully in shaping their future. For real human rights reforms to take place, the Egyptian authorities must:

• End any state of emergency and stop arbitrary detentions, torture and unfair trials
• Uphold freedom of expression, assembly, association and information
• End torture and other ill-treatment
• Ensure the right to an adequate standard of living, including housing and upholding the right to work as well as other economic, social and cultural rights
• Protect women's rights
• Eliminate discrimination
• End violations against migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers
• Abolish the death penalty
• Cooperate with UN mechanisms

Download our Agenda for Change for a full list of recommendations to the Egyptian government (pdf)

Women's rights

Women were at the forefront of the protests and demands for change during the heady days of the revolution, but since then there has been little improvement in their status and situation. 

They continue to be discriminated against in both law and practice, and nothing has been done to ensure their ability to participate in decision-making during the reform process. 

Find out more about women's rights in Egypt

Futher information and reports

• Broken promises: Egypt's military rulers erode human rights (Nov 2011)
• Watch Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui talk about how justice is failing victims in Suez
• Egypt rises: killings, detentions and torture in the '25 January Revolution'
• Time for Justice: Egypt's Corrosive System of Detention
• Watch videos from our In Solidarity In Defiance demonstration on 12 February 2011
• Amnesty International report 2011: State of human rights in the Middle East and North Africa, Jan-March 2011

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