Even the most authoritarian regimes care about their international reputation on human rights. This week, it was Egypt’s turn to be examined by the United Nations Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in Geneva.
The UPR Working Group is made up of the 47 UN member states of the Human Rights Council, although all 193 UN states can join in if they want.
It’s no secret that Egypt’s human rights record has been abysmal since its last UPR in 2019, and for many years before. With local and other international human rights organizations we have for decades documented torture, killings, unfair trials and other human rights violations committed by Washington’s long-term military ally.
The horrific truth is widely known. Yet at the UPR hearing in Geneva, the Egyptian authorities went to great lengths to try to lipstick the pig, clearly sensitive about their international reputation.
Mohamed Lotfy is the co-founder and executive director of the Cairo-based Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF). In November 2024, as part of the preparation process for the UPR, he represented a coalition of 13 Egyptian human right organizations in outlining at the UN in Geneva Egypt’s record on enforced disappearances, torture and arbitrary detention. “Those grave violations persist because they are state policy,” he said. “They are perpetrated in a systematic and widespread manner.”
He also noted that since 2019, instead of fixing problems identified in the last UPR, the Egyptian government embarked on various PR efforts “to whitewash its human rights record and circumvent recommendations made by peer States at the last UPR,” including announcing a National Strategy for Human Rights, calling for a “national dialogue” and re-instating a Presidential Pardons Committee.
But these measures failed to stop the use of enforced disappearances and torture, or the mass use of arbitrary detention against peaceful dissenters. The local NGOs estimated that for every 10 political prisoners released, roughly 25 new ones were arrested, including protesters, journalists, and human rights defenders [HRDs]. “In the lead up to and during COP27, hosted by Egypt, over 1200 Egyptians were arrested on accusation of mobilizing for protests on 11 November 2022, and most remained in custody beyond one year and half,” said Lotfy.
Other NGOs also offered evidence to the UN UPR process, adding to the litany of documented horrors perpetrated by the Cairo government.
One question is why a government more than ready to arrest, disappear and torture people on such a massive scale over so many years bothers what the rest of the world thinks about it. Cairo sent Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty to defend it at the UPR session, part of a much larger government delegation to advocate for Egypt’s record at related side events.
His job wasn’t made easier by his colleagues elsewhere in the government. As parts of the foreign ministry were busy preparing to put on a brave face and make the best of things in Geneva, Cairo’s security forces embarked on a severe crackdown on dissidents in the days before the UPR, including opening a criminal investigation against prominent HRD Hossam Bahgat.
Publisher Hisham Kassem also learned in January about a criminal investigation against him, initiated last year. And Nada Mogheeth, spouse of detained cartoonist Ashraf Omar, was arrested after she gave an interview to journalist Ahmed Serag, himself arrested the day before for the same interview. And Mohamed Allam (known on TikTok as Rivaldo) was also arrested over videos criticizing President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
But still the Egyptian officials sent to Geneva tried hard. Minister Badr Abdelatty addressed the UN and spoke of the country’s “achievements since 2019 in contributing to the overall climate for human rights,” saying the delegation was in Geneva to “comprehensively showcase the country’s diligent efforts …on advancing human rights.”
Sherif Azer, Director of Programmes at ECRF, was in Geneva for the UPR. “The size of the [Egyptian government] delegation, and interventions from different governmental bodies show that the regime cares a lot about their international image,” he told me. “They have two strategies; first they praise achievements, second they deny violations. Mainly they don’t want the human rights issue coming up whenever they are negotiating a new loan or fund from Western governments or EU.”
Egyptian rights activist Jeje Mohamed suggests the general world shift away from respecting human rights means Cairo’s motivation in defending its record at the UPR is rooted in economic interests. “It’s about appearing ‘stable’ and projecting a better image for economic investments and loans,” she said.
Lotfy told me the Cairo government is acting “Out of pride. The regime doesn’t want to be criticized by any country (which it sees as a victory to political opponents). So it represses them, and still wants everybody to say they are human rights champions.”
Keep an eye out for the morning of Monday November 10 this year, when it will be the turn of the United States to face the UPR, and have its human rights record over the last five years put under public scrutiny by other UN States. How the new U.S. administration responds to international criticism will be interesting to see. We will be watching.