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One year since the arrest of Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi: a year of complicity, enforced disappearance, and diplomatic failure

28 December 2025
Today, 28 December 2025, marks one year since the arrest of Egyptian–Turkish poet and opposition figure Abdulrahman Yusuf al-Qaradawi in Lebanon. This  incident constitutes a serious violation of Lebanese law and of Lebanon’s international obligations and reveals a dangerous pattern of transnational repression, in which political complicity enables the transfer of dissidents to states where…

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On Human Rights Day 2025: Civic Space in the Middle East and North Africa under Systematic and Sustained Pressure

On Human Rights Day 2025: Civic Space in the Middle East and North Africa under Systematic and Sustained Pressure

10 December 2025
Beirut – 10 December 2025 On Human Rights Day 2025, the region faces a reality in which freedom of expression, peaceful protest, community organising, and work in digital spaces are subjected to escalating security and legal pressure in most Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries. Since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human…

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Egypt | Rights Groups Condemn the Arbitrary Referral of Exiled Academic Taqadum Al-Khatib to Trial and Call for an End to Tra

Egypt | Rights Groups Condemn the Arbitrary Referral of Exiled Academic Taqadum Al-Khatib to Trial and Call for an End to Transnational Repression

27 October 2025
The undersigned organizations express their condemnation of the continued persecution and harassment of Egyptian researcher and academic Dr. Taqadum Al-Khatib, who has been living in exile in Germany, following a new arbitrary in absentia decision by the Egyptian authorities to refer him, along with 168 others, to criminal trial in Case No. 29/2025 […]

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Egypt’s Diplomatic Missions Weaponized as Transnational Repression Tool

Egypt’s Diplomatic Missions Weaponized as Transnational Repression Tool

9 September 2025
We strongly condemn the unprecedented weaponization of Egyptian diplomatic missions as tools of transnational repression against peaceful protesters abroad. A recently leaked recording of Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty shows him instructing embassy staff to “grab them [protestors], tie them up, drag them inside, and make their lives hell”, a shocking directive that fundamentally undermines the…

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Egypt | Ongoing Harassment of Lina Attalah and Escalating Crackdown on Mada Masr and Independent Journalism in Egypt

Egypt | Ongoing Harassment of Lina Attalah and Escalating Crackdown on Mada Masr and Independent Journalism in Egypt

11 August 2025
The undersigned organizations condemn the ongoing judicial and security harassment of Mada Masr, one of the last operating independent media platforms in Egypt. The latest incident involved the summoning of Editor-in-Chief Lina Attalah for interrogation before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) on Monday, 4 August 2025, in Case No. 6182 of 2025 (SSSP). This…

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200 Days of Abdulrahman Yusuf’s Enforced Disappearance: Reveal His Whereabouts. Ensure His Safety. Release Him Now.

200 Days of Abdulrahman Yusuf’s Enforced Disappearance: Reveal His Whereabouts. Ensure His Safety. Release Him Now.

5 August 2025
The undersigned organizations are extremely concerned over the continued enforced disappearance of Turkish-Egyptian poet and political dissident Abdulrahman Yusuf Al-Qaradawi for more than 200 days. Abdulrahman Yusuf was arrested in Lebanon on 28 December 2024 and forcibly extradited to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 8 January 2025, in flagrant violation of due process guarantees…

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Egypt | Rights Groups Call on Egyptian Authorities to Immediately Release Dr. Salah Soltan and All Wrongfully Detained Prison

Egypt | Rights Groups Call on Egyptian Authorities to Immediately Release Dr. Salah Soltan and All Wrongfully Detained Prisoners Sentenced in Case No. 1766 of 2022

10 July 2025
We, the undersigned organizations, are deeply alarmed by the news that Egyptian academic and U.S. lawful permanent resident Dr. Salah Soltan is enduring a potentially life-threatening medical crisis and is at increased risk of sudden death while detained in Egypt’s Badr 1 prison without sufficient medical care. We urge the Egyptian authorities to immediately and…

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Egypt | Rights organizations call on Egypt to end transnational repression against exiled journalist Basma Mostafa

24 June 2025
We, the undersigned organizations, call on the Egyptian government to immediately end its campaign of transnational repression targeting exiled Egyptian journalists. We specifically urge the government to respond to the UN report detailing the harassment and surveillance of Egyptian investigative journalist Basma Mostafa, currently residing in Germany. We further urge German authorities to ensure her…

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Egypt | In absentia verdict against politician Hisham Kassem reinforces growing pattern of transnational repression targeting

Egypt | In absentia verdict against politician Hisham Kassem reinforces growing pattern of transnational repression targeting exiled dissidents

21 May 2025
The undersigned organizations unequivocally condemn the verdict issued in absentia on 14 May 2025 by the Cairo Economic Misdemeanor Court, sentencing prominent publisher and political dissident Hisham Kassem to six months in prison with labor and ordering him to pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds. The sentence stems from charges of defamation, slander, and…

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