Introduction 

The annual report of freedom of opinion and expression in Egypt monitors five main pillars while clarifying the path of democracy in each of them, in addition to the landmark incidents that took place during the year 2019 and have affected freedoms in general.  The report begins with monitoring the referendum on the constitutional amendments held in early 2019, outlining the most important amended articles and the major events that occurred concurrently with the referendum process. The report tackles the changes that occurred in the Egyptian legislation regarding freedom of opinion and expression. It also gives a detailed view of the situation of the press in Egypt; in terms of the violations committed against journalists, the raid of media institutions and the blocking of websites, besides giving a closer look at the legislative status of the media in Egypt and its related incidents that occurred in 2019. The report is divided into several sections monitoring, with details and dates, all the incidents pertaining to the situation of the press and media in the country.

The report then monitors the major incidents that took place throughout 2019, most prominently “September 20 Protests”, and concludes with listing a number of state security cases that are related to freedom of speech along with the military trials of civilians that were convened during the year. On the whole, the report reveals how the situation of freedoms in Egypt has considerably deteriorated and how the regime is moving towards a very dark tunnel particularly with regard to freedom of opinion and expression.

First: Legislative and legal developments 

The constitutional amendments

– On 14 February 2019, the Parliament approved in principle, by a majority of 80%, a proposal to amend the Constitution.

– On 14 April 2019, the Parliament approved 25 proposals for the constitutional amendments, including adding, replacing or omitting certain articles.

– The most important constitutional amendments include: the extension of the presidential term to six years, the formation of the so-called “Council of Senators” granting it consultative powers, the re-creation of the post of “vice president”, and the increase of the representation of women and minorities in parliament and local councils.

The amendments also entail other articles which would expand the President’s power by giving him the authority to appoint: the heads of judicial bodies, head judges, the Public Prosecutor, the chief justice for the Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC), and the head of SCC’s Commissioners’ Authority and its members. The constitutional amendments also provide for the establishment of a supreme council for the judicial bodies and organizations headed by the President of the Republic.

No voice is louder than “Yes”

Since the first of January 2019 until the adoption of the constitutional amendments in April, opponents had faced a fierce crackdown for voicing their objection to the amendments; as they were banned from appearing on media and from holding any activities calling for rejecting the referendum:

• On 23 February, the authorities arrested four members of the Dostour Party; Gamal Fadel, Ahmed al-Rassam, Ramadan Abu Zeid and Helal Samir, along with dissident and former Shura Council member Mohamed Mohieldin, after announcing their rejection of the constitutional amendments.
• Some opponents, such as actors Khaled Abul Naga and Amr Waked, faced legal cases accusing them of “spreading false news, high treason, and insulting and inciting against the Egyptian state”. The two had their membership at the Egyptian Actors’ Syndicate revoked, after they met with members of the US Congress to discuss the human rights situation and the future of democracy in Egypt. Other opponents, including prominent dissident Hamdeen Sabahi and writer Alaa Al-Aswany, faced smear campaigns after voicing their objection to the constitutional amendments.
• On 28 March, the “Civil Democratic Movement” was banned from organizing a rally in front of the Egyptian parliament to protest against constitutional amendments.

Amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Law

• Amendments were made to the Anti-Terrorism Law No. 94 of 2015 twice; the first time in February 2019 and the second in May 2019. The amended law provides for the confiscation of assets, real estate (property), money, weapons, ammunition, tools, documents, or any other auxiliary means, besides the penalty established for whoever commits a crime or offense classified as ‘terrorism’.
• The amendments also stipulated that the Public Prosecution may temporarily close any place that was used or prepared for use by a terrorist or terrorist group.
•  According to this law, the lessor (anyone will lease a property to another person) could face one-year imprisonment and pay a fine of EGP 5,000-EGP 10,000, if he didn’t provide the police with copies of the rental contract and the tenant’s ID within 72 hours of signing the contract or residing in the property (whichever is sooner), and as for the foreign tenant, the lessor should provide a copy of the foreign renter’s passport.

The draft law regulating the civil society (NGO draft Law)

• It was passed on 14 July 2019 igniting the ire of independent civil society organizations rejecting its circumvention of the provisions of Article (75) of the Egyptian Constitution, which stipulates that civil society associations can be established upon notification only. But this draft law has transformed the notification process into a de facto licensing process; by making the acquisition of a legal personality conditional on the lack of objection from the administrative entity and conditional upon a letter from that entity to banks, allowing associations to open accounts (Article 11).
• The proposed bill also follows the current law in suspending the notification process for civic associations in border regions, instead requiring them to obtain a prior permit with governor approval (Article 15).
• The NGOs draft law enables the curtailment of civic activity by requiring prior approval of all foreign funding and international grants. The state can therefore cripple any association by denying funding approval, and the bill does not require the state to provide reasons for its rejection of funding (Article 28).
• The draft bill classifies associations’ funds as public money (Article 24, last paragraph), subject to the oversight of the Central Auditing Authority.

Third: Violations against freedom of expression 

The situation of the press and media

All news websites, newspapers and TV satellite channels are under government control and most of the independent websites, despite its scarcity, have been blocked. This clearly gives a manifestation of the situation of journalism, media, and freedom of expression in the country. The year 2019 has witnessed a clear deterioration of the situation of journalists and the press in Egypt, owing to the enactment of notorious legislation that makes journalists vulnerable to several violations, including:

Legalized muzzling of the press

• Enactment of a sanctions list of the Law Regulating the Press and Media

In March 2019, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) issued a list of sanctions/ regulations (1) which has been met with fierce backlash by civil society organizations, journalists, and members of the Journalists Syndicate’s board along with many others who are concerned with press freedom; given its unjust penalties and the use of loose and vaguely-worded phrases. For example, Article (17) thereof states that: “Whoever uses or permits the use of phrases or words that call for or incite violence, hatred, discrimination, sectarianism, racism, or harm state institutions or the general interests of the state, will be punished by; either a suspension of the publication or the program, or by blocking of the website or portal, temporarily or permanently, or by a fine of no less than 250,000 Egyptian pounds and no more than 500,000 Egyptian pounds.”

Critics of the sanctions list also noted that it circumvents the powers granted to the journalists and media workers’ syndicates, as shown in articles 7 and 8, in addition to article 16 which flagrantly encroaches on the powers of the judiciary as it provides for the investigation of crimes that are only handled by judicial bodies.

Violations against the press and journalists

The number of imprisoned journalists in 2019

As monitored by the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), the number of jailed journalists, who work in the field of journalism, has amounted to 39 (2), in addition to 17 new imprisoned cases recorded only in 2019.

The number of blocked/closed websites in 2019

The number of websites that have been blocked so far has reached over 500, with a remarkable increase in the list during 2019, as follows:

• In February 2019, the Egyptian authorities blocked 37,000 websites in an apparent bid to stamp out the “Batel” (Void) opposition campaign that was gathering signatures against the constitutional amendments, according to network data from NetBlocks internet observatory.
• In May 2019, Al-Tahrir newspaper website was blocked, which affected its budget leaving it at high- risk of insolvency. The newspaper’s management announced they attempted to resolve the issue with the government, but they haven’t received any response up to the present. Consequently, the management resorted to cut the salaries of the newspaper’s employees, a matter that created a dispute within the institution prompting many employees to stage a sit-in to protest the reduction of their salary.
• In September 2019, following the September 20 anti-government demonstrations, the Arabic versions of BBC Arabic and Al-Hurra websites were blocked. The authorities also blocked Cloudflare, a service that protects users from cyberattacks including the ban.
• Network data from NetBlocks internet observatory showed disruption to some of Facebook content servers. The network date also indicated that approximately 40% of Twitter users are experiencing difficulty connecting at any given time, which is consistent with social media users’ complaints regarding Facebook Messenger.
• Later on, ARIJ, a website specialized in investigative journalism that covers the Arab region, was blocked. “7iber” website was also blocked after it published a news story covering the arrest of two Jordanian young men, who appeared to have links with the September 20 protests in Egypt.
• The Egyptian authorities also tried to block access to Wire messaging app and Facebook Messenger, in addition to their repeated attempts to block Facebook and Twitter, which sometimes led to the blocking of the two websites in a specific geographical area. The Egyptian authorities’ practices also included “throttling” slowing down access to social networking websites and instant messaging applications, most notably Wicker and Signal.

Raids on media institutions and suspension of publication

• Confiscation of newspapers

On 21 March, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation (SCMR) issued a decision, pursuant to the sanctions list regulating the press and media, to block the website of al-Mashhad newspaper for six months and ordered the newspaper to pay a fine of EGP 50,000. The SCMR based its decision on allegations that al-Mashhad defamed an actress through publication of pornographic images, which the newspaper totally denied and asked the council for clarification. The newspaper’s editor-in- chief also said that SCMR seemed that it had checked a website other than al-Mashhad.

On 30 May, Al Ahali newspaper, issued by El Tagamou’ party, was banned from publication for the third week; after the newspaper published an investigative report about the number of convicts who were released upon presidential pardons. Consequently, El Tagamou’ party issued a statement condemning the ban calling it a kind of “censorship that violates the constitution and freedom of publication.” (3)

• The raid on Mada Masr’s headquarters

On 24 November, Mada Masr (blocked) website issued a statement detailing the raid on its headquarters, saying that security forces stormed its office, held the staff for hours inside the premises and detained three senior journalists, before releasing them several hours later. (4)

The following day, the Public Prosecution said in a statement (5) that the security raid occurred under a judicial direction and a search warrant from the Supreme State Security Prosecution, after receiving an investigations file by National Security Services, which reported that Muslim Brotherhood established Mada’s website for “circulating false news and rumors to disturb the public security.”

• Suspension of TV channels and media workers

– On 4 February 2019, Khaled Lutfi, the owner of the “Tanmia” publishing house, was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of “revealing military secrets and spreading rumors” after distributing “The Angel” book, which was banned from publishing in Egypt. The movie which is based on the book and carries the same name was also banned because it portrays Ashraf Marwan, the son-in-law of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser, claiming that he was a spy for Israeli intelligence agency.

– On 25 May, Egypt’s Media Syndicate decided to suspend TV host Basma Wahba, presenter of “Sheik al-Hara” program, for airing two episodes that stirred controversy. The Syndicate had announced her suspension before the Supreme Media Council decided on the complaints issued against her, on the grounds that “Wahba” is not a union member and therefore does not have the right to appear on the airwaves as a host.

– On 4 August, Al-Mehwar Satellite Channel announced the termination of its contact with the president of Zamalek sporting club to broadcast “Zamalek Today” program, which was scheduled to be aired until January 2020. The channel said in a statement that it wanted to end the contract because of the damage it incurred as a result of broadcasting the program, adding that the program had been ordered to be suspended twice before. The Supreme Council for Media Regulation had previously ordered the program to pay a fine of EGP 50,000 because of what the council called violation of media standards.

– On 28 August, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation also banned TV presenter Riham Saeed from appearing on media for a year over comments deemed “offensive” to overweight women in Egypt, which prompted Al-Hayah TV Network to suspend her talk show “Sabaya”.

– On 4 December, TeN TV channel announced that it would stop broadcasting by the end of December 2019 due to financial reasons and lack of advertisements on its screens.

– Increasing prices of national newspapers

Egypt’s National Press Authority (NPA) announced in a statement a one-pound-increase in the price of daily and weekly newspapers in order to “make up for the losses press institutions incur”. It’s worth mentioning that Egypt’s print newspapers in general witnessed great losses due to lack of demand compared to the popularity of digital media.

Third: Cases with the most impact on freedom of expression

The year of 2019 witnessed a clear deterioration in the situation of human rights defenders; as it witnessed 56 jail verdicts and pretrial detention decisions against human rights defenders (HRDs) and advocates of freedom of opinion and expression in particular. It also saw manifold violations against human rights activists and defenders, such as: travel bans, financial confiscations and seizure of funds, and physical assaults in addition to defamation, public death threats, pretrial arrests and forced disappearance, among many other violations monitored by ANHRI in a separate report on the situation of HRDs in 2019, which it described as “more than difficult” (6).

September 20 Protests

The year of 2019 witnessed scattered protests organized by all political forces in Egypt in what is known in the media as “September 20 protests”, before the security forces dispersed them arresting thousands of citizens in connection to the protests. In the evening of 20 September 2019, many political activists simultaneously staged 25 protest events all over 19 governorates, most prominently: Cairo, Alexandria, Suez, Damietta, Gharbyia, Daqahlyia, Aswan, and Qena.  These nationwide and non-politicized protests were characterized by their extraordinary size and geographical reach, as they were participated by different groups of political leaders with different affiliations, in response to a specific call from actor Mohamed Ali.

In hit-and-run confrontations, protesters continued to clash with the security forces from 8 pm until about midnight, when violence was intensified by the security that heavily fired tear gas canisters at protesters, and arrested many of them in a large-scale arrest campaigns all over Egypt’s provinces and governorates, which led to the detention of more than 4,000 people, many at random from the surrounding streets.

The repercussions of the September 20 Protests

• On September 20 and 21 until the afternoon of September 22, human rights organizations continued to receive around the clock reports on a huge number of people being kidnapped from the streets and homes, as security forces had dramatically escalated mass arrests of citizens. Then, in the afternoon of September 22, the first batch of “September detainees” appeared in the prosecution headquarters, pending case No. 1338 of 2019. The number of those arrested amounted to approximately 3,000 people (7), as we estimated having contacted their families. However, an official statement from the Office of the Public Prosecutor stated that “only 1,000 people” had been interrogated in relation to their participation in the protests. Many of the detainees held pending the aforementioned case had started to be released over time.
• However, after several weeks, lawyers were surprised to find that a number of their clients had been added to another case, No. 1413 of 2019 State Security, and until this moment, many defendants are being recycled in new cases without a clear mechanism.
• All of the defendants who had been held in the case known in the media as “September grip” were subjected to several violations, starting from their detention in illegal places- including Central Security camps- to the physical assault, beatings and torture many of them endured, especially the defendants of Suez governorate, not to mention the denial of visitation, especially those who were detained at Port Said Prison.
• The Egyptian government had launched a nationwide crackdown amid a large-scale arrest campaign against the Egyptian opposition, including human rights defenders, politicians, journalists and lawyers.

Fourth: Victims  

Opinion-related cases before the State Security Prosecution  

• The number of cases that have been considered before the State Security Prosecution during 2019 amounts to 1,800, with more than dozens of defendants in each case, while one of these cases include about 3,000 defendants. The charges leveled against defendants in most of these cases include: “spreading false news, misusing social media, joining a terrorist group”.
• The number of journalists who have been added to the list of imprisoned journalists during 2019 is 17, in addition to 32 human rights defenders added to the prisoners’ list, all of whom are being detained pending state security cases.
• Among the most prominent detainees during the year are: human rights defenders Alaa Abdel-Fattah, lawyer Mohamed Al-Baqir, journalists Khaled Dawoud and Israa Abdel-Fattah, academic Dr. Hassan Nafaa, and publisher Khaled Loutfi who was sentenced to five years in prison upon a military ruling.

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Footnotes 

1. A news report on ‘Al-Watan’ website, entitled “Supreme Media Council issues a list of sanctions for its institutions”- published on March 18, 2019- Last accessed date: December 2019- https://www.elwatannews.com/news/details/4072499?fbclid=IwAR3n37CX8M3SXru9w13Xier6eXzzlt64eNRABIuLOr129gcizu3idGSk0rA Reviewed December 2019

 

1. The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), A list of the imprisoned journalists and media workers in Egypt- Last accessed date: December 2019- https://www.anhri.info/?post_type=journalist

 

1. Al-Ahaly newspaper- “Who stands behind the repeated confiscation of Al- Ahaly newspaper?”- Published on June 5, 2019- Last accessed date: December 2019-

 

http://altagamoa.org/2019/06/05/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%8A%D9%82% D9% 81-% D9% 88% D8% B1% D8% A7% D8% A1-% D8% AA% D9% 83% D8% B1% D8% A7% D8% B1-% D9% 85% D8% B5 % D8% A7% D8% AF% D8% B1% D8% A9-% D8% AC% D8% B1% D9% 8A% D8% AF% D8% A9-% D8% A7% D9% 84% D8% A3 % D9% 87% D8% A7% D9% 84% D9% 8A /

http://altagamoa.org/2019/06/05/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%8A%D9%82%D9%81-%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8 % A1-% D8% AA% D9% 83% D8% B1% D8% A7% D8% B1-% D9% 85% D8% B5% D8% A7% D8% AF% D8% B1% D8% A9-% D8% AC% D8% B1% D9% 8A% D8% AF% D8% A9-% D8% A7% D9% 84% D8% A3% D9% 87% D8% A7% D9% 84% D9% 8A / DAM As of December 2019.

 

1. “Mada Masr” website, a news report entitled “Hours after the raid on Mada Masr, the security forces release Shadi Zalat, Lina Atallah, Muhammad Hamama, and Rana Mamdouh”- Published on November 24, 2019- Last accessed date: December 2019- Https://mada22.appspot.com/madamasr.com/ar/2019/ 11/24 / news / u /% d8% a8% d8% b9% d8% af-% d8% b3% d8% a7% d8% b9% d8% a7% d8% aa-% d9% 85% d9% 86 -% d8% a7% d9% 82% d8% aa% d8% ad% d8% a7% d9% 85-% d9% 85% d8% af% d9% 89-% d9% 85% d8% b5% d8% b1-% d8% a3% d8% ac% d9% 87% d8% b2% d8% a9-% d8% a7% d9% 84% d8% a3 / accessed December 2019

 

1. “Al-Masry Al-Youm website”- A news report entitled “Public Prosecutor on the raid of Mada Masr: National Security investigations prove its affiliation with the MB”- published on November 25, 2019- Last accessed date: December 2019- https://www.almasryalyoum.com/news/details/1446574 Visited December 2019.

 

1. ANHRI’s website- A report entitled “More than difficult”- Published on December 10, 2019- Last accessed date: December 2019- https://www.anhri.info/?p=12971

 

1.   We could not confirm the number because the State Security Prosecution doesn’t allow lawyers to have access to case’s papers

 

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