Egyptian authorities have systematically sentenced individuals to death and carried out executions in violation of their obligations under international law, according to a joint report submitted to the United Nations Human Rights Council’s 4th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of Egypt by Reprieve, the Middle East Democracy Center, The Advocates For Human Rights and The World Coalition On The Death Penalty. Despite having accepted recommendations from a previous UPR process to bring their use of capital punishment in line with international standards, Egypt’s use of the death penalty has repeatedly fallen short of their commitments. 

The report submitted to the 48th Session of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review documents death sentences issued and executions carried out by the Egyptian government since November 2019. While the documentation is as extensive as possible, because Egypt has failed to make publicly available any disaggregated data on the death penalty — in violation of multiple UN guidelines and calls for transparency— the full extent of Egypt’s death row population and rate of executions is not known.

Key recommendations include:

  1. Moratorium and Transparency: Establish an official moratorium on the death penalty and make detailed information about the death row population public.
  2. Fair Trials and Due Process: End the use of mass trials, review all current death sentences, and ensure all death sentences comply with fair trial guarantees under international law, including commuting or overturning sentences from unfair trials.
  3. Legislative Reforms: Review and amend legislation, including the Penal Code, Counterterrorism Law, Military Judiciary Law, and Anti-Narcotics Law, to align with international human rights obligations, particularly abolishing the death penalty for non-lethal offenses.
  4. Protection of Children: Cease the use of the death penalty against children, amend relevant laws to protect minors from capital punishment, and ensure children receive special protections in the judicial process.
  5. Address Torture and Ill-Treatment: End torture and ill-treatment practices, investigate allegations, provide victims with redress, and overturn any death sentences resulting from torture-tainted trials.
  6. International Protocols: Ratify the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR to abolish the death penalty and the Optional Protocol to the CAT, ensuring compliance with international obligations.

Read the full report here.