Section one: Egyptian political parties

1. Nation’s Future Party

The party did not have political activities related to citizens, except for some charitable activities such as

• Honoring memorizers of the Holy Qur’an, Ramadan contests, cleaning the streets, honoring some workers in Shubra on Labour Day, distributing vegetables to poor citizens, literacy classes, and remedial classes for students.
• On May 6^th, the party launched a capacity building training forum for the leaders and cadres of the Nation’s Future Party, with a session titled “Nation’s Future Party: Ideas and Principles,” in which many political figures participated, many of whom belong to the National Democratic Party, against which the Egyptians revolted in January 2011.

2. Al-Dostour party

• On May 1^st, the Supreme Committee of the Party announced its participation in the national dialogue. This occurred in light of the guarantees offered since the beginning of the invitation, and commitment to the decision of the civil movement to demand the release of party members Ahmed Fathi Ismail, Ayman Muhammad Abdel Moneim, and all those detained pending opinion and expression cases.
• The party has also announced its participation in establishing the Free Movement with the Conservative and Reform and Development parties and public figures, with the party continuing to exist under the umbrella of the civil movement.
• On May 7^th, Party followed with distress the reported news of the arrest of relatives and supporters of the former parliament member and potential presidential candidate, Mr. Ahmed Tantawi, and interrogated them for long hours. The party strongly condemned those practices and procedures that could not be viewed in isolation from the approaching presidential elections to be held in the first half of 2024.
• In the national dialogue sessions in which the party participated throughout the month, its most important demands were:

• The priority of amending the electoral law, by applying the proportional list.
• Launching the Anti-Discrimination Commission.
• Inclusion of both Ministries of Tourism and Aviation, and the separation and the Ministry of Antiquities.
• The party presented 10 proposals to advance the tourism industry, including the establishment of new airline companies.
• Reducing dependence on bread as a staple food and restoring rice.
• Paying attention to the formation of a family prosecution in every partial court, and not in every full court; Because the partial prosecutor in any governorate – especially the rural regions – is preoccupied with investigating incidents of violence, reports of beatings, reports of theft, reports of drugs, and other cases, while family cases for him are le crucial.
• The party representatives demanded direct support for the parties to obtain financial funding from the state after them obtaining the confidence of the voters in the parliamentary and local elections, and indirect support is the right for political parties to exploit the state-owned audio-visual media, and the right to use conference halls, clubs and youth centers

3. The Egyptian Social Democratic Party

• On May 1^st, member of the parliament Samira El-Gazzar submitted a request for a briefing regarding the examinations of Egyptian students studying in Sudanese universities.
• Faried Zahran, president of the party, also welcomed the release of a number of prisoners: an important step and we are waiting for more in order to participate in the dialogue that we are all keen on.
• On May 8^th, Faried Zahran, announced during the opening session of the national dialogue his vision; “I am in favour of the path of building a political life, a political space. Also I am for a situation that allows Egypt to move from one state to another, towards a modern civil democratic state with mechanisms to manage differences and to appeal to the votes of the voters.”
• On May 11^th, the party’s parliamentary body lead by its president, member of the parliament Ehab Mansour, announced; “We’re drowning because of the government, in crises and disasters for the people and the government only knows the citizen’s pocket.”
• On May 18^th, a meeting was held between Faried Zahran, and some other parties and personalities, the most important of which was Hossam Badrawi, Secretary General of the National Democratic Party, which was dissolved after the January revolution, to discuss coordination and cooperation in a number of issues.
• On the same day, member of the parliament Maha Abdel Nasser submitted a briefing request on the decision to demolish the tomb of the Nile Poet; “I demand the immediate cessation of any decision regarding the demolition of Hafez Ibrahim’s tomb or any tomb that represents a heritage, of civilization or cultural value for any reason.”
• On May 19^th, member of the parliament Samira El-Gazzar submitted a briefing request regarding the leaking of the preparatory certificate exams in Cairo; “I demand an investigation, and taking all measures, and implementing the law decisively.”

4. Alwafd party

• On May 3^rd, Dr. Abdel Sanad Yamama, president of the party asked; “Where is the local administration law? Ten years have passed, the local administration is still the same, and the committees must be changed. I also reject the quota for women because they are equal to men, and reject the quota for women in parliaments, although some do not agree with me and oppose me on that matter.”
• The president of the party also criticized the approach to rights, freedoms, and constitutional issues in the national dialogue, and announced in a strange statement his criticism of the large number of parties; “We have partisan chaos, and it is not right for there to be more than 100 parties in Egypt.”
• On May 9^th, the president of the party announced his intention to present a candidate in the presidential elections when the door for candidacy opens.
• On May 10^th, the president of the party, inaugurated the Al-Wafd portal in its new form after development.
• On May 20^th, the party launched the “We Help Each Other” initiative to offer food supplies at reduced prices to the Port Said delegation.

Section Two: Professional and labor unions in Egypt

 

1. Professional unions

1. Journalists Syndicate

• On April 25, a delegation from the Council of the Journalists Syndicate, headed by the Syndicate president, met with the management of “Al-Bawaba News” newspaper, to discuss the financial and professional conditions of the newspaper’s journalists.
• On April 26, the Administrative Judiciary Court decided to adjourn the licensing lawsuit and compensation for the “Mada Masr” website for damages, due to the Council’s failure to notify it of the refusal of the website licensing application, for the May 24 session.
• On April 27, the Cairo Labor Court Total ruled that the journalist, Asmaa Hamed, was entitled to financial compensation for her arbitrary dismissal from Dar Al-Hilal Press without legal justification.
• On April 29, after more than 3 years, the block was lifted on Darb news website, published by the Socialist Popular Alliance Party, lead by journalist Khaled Al-Balshi, before he apologizing for that position after winning the position of president of the Journalists Syndicate.
• On April 30, the State Security Prosecution decided to release Raouf Abbas Obaid, a journalist at Rosa ElYoussef newspaper, pending case No. 670 of 2022, Supreme State Security.
• On May 2, the South Cairo Court, the Labor Department, ruled in Case No. 4000 of 2022 filed by journalist Amr Ali against Ahl Masr newspaper that the journalist return to his work in the newspaper. The same court also ruled in the interlocutory request filed by Ahl Masr newspaper to dismiss the journalist from the newspaper by rejecting the request.
• On May 2, the Journalists Syndicate announced its participation in the planned national dialogue to discuss several proposals. The most was issuing and amending laws regulating the press and media, banning imprisonment in publishing cases, restrictions on the work of journalists, releasing precautionary detainees, and improving economic conditions and wages in light of the state of inflation for workers in the profession.
• On the World Press Freedom Day, the Journalists Syndicate renewed its demands for the release of imprisoned journalists, the release of prisoners of opinion who were not involved in violence or incitement to it, and the lifting of the censorship on blocked websites.
• On May 3, a security forces arrested journalist Hassan Mahmoud Rajab Al-Qabbani from his home and took him to an unknown location. On the same day, the President of the Journalists Syndicate, Khaled Al-Balshi, announced the return of journalist to his home.
• On May 10, Cairo Criminal Court, held in the Correction and Rehabilitation Center of Badr City, decided to renew the detention of two journalists from Al-Jazeera; Bahaa El-Din Ibrahim and Rabeh El-Sheikh, for 45 days pending Case No. 1365 of 2018 Supreme State Security. The court also decided to renew the detention of journalist at Shababeek news website, Medhat Ramadan, for 45 days pending Case No. 680 of 2020, Supreme State Security.
• On May 12, the Official Gazette published a new decision of the Cairo Criminal Court re-listing 1,526 people on the lists of terrorism for a period of 5 years starting from the date of issuance of the decision. The list included journalist Hisham Gaafar and Mustafa Saqr, the owner of the “Al-Borsa” and “Daily News Egypt” newspapers, and the journalist Adel Sabri, editor-in-chief of “Masr Al-Arabiya” website,
• On May 16, Cairo Criminal Court, the Terrorism Chamber, convened in Badr Prison Complex, and ruled to renew the detention of photojournalist Hamdi Mukhtar “Al-Zaeem” for 45 days pending case No. 955 of 2020 State Security.
• On May 18, the Journalists Syndicate set the days of May 21 and 22 to hold an organizational course for Sudanese journalists on risk management, occupational safety rules in covering wars, movement skills on the burning fronts inside vital cities, rules of engagement, and methods of dealing with bombing.

On the other hand, the Journalists Syndicate condemned the storming of a number of government officials, Israeli parliamentarians and groups of settlers to the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque that morning.

• On May 24, the Administrative Judicial Court ruled to reject the lawsuit filed by Mada Media Company against the decision of the Supreme Media Council to reject to license its website.

2. The Lawyers Syndicate:

• On April 26, a limited number of lawyers organized a vigil at the General Syndicate headquarters, to protest against the Egyptian Tax Authority’s insistence on implementing the electronic bill system, refusing to pass that law.
• On May 7, the Cairo Criminal Court, the Terrorism Chamber, decided to renew the detention of lawyer Ahmed Nazeer Al-Helou for 45 days pending case No. 1940 of 2022, State Security.
• On May 17, the Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit Terror-2, held in Badr Prison Complex, ruled to renew the detention of young lawyer, Youssef Mohamed Mansour, for 45 days pending case 330 of 2022, State Security.
• On May 20, the president of Lawyers Syndicate issued a decision and a warning not to collect any amounts from lawyers in cases of first-time registration or modification of registration (general schedule – preliminary – appeal – cassation) except after reviewing all the required documents, and signing the documents submitting his responsibility for their validity.

3. Doctors Syndicate

• On April 27, the Doctors Syndicate issued a statement addressing both the parliament and the Senate to stop proposals presented by members of Parliament. In the statement, the proposals were described as hostile to doctors and adding to the suffering and abuse against them, despite the Syndicate request several times to issue a medical liability law and a deterrent law for assaulting medical teams during and because of their work. .
• On April 29, the Administrative Court ruled in the case filed by the president of Doctors Syndicate with 106 doctors, against the Minister of Social Solidarity and the President of the Social Insurance Authority No. 50483 of the year 73 BC. The ruling was not to stop the procedures for disbursing early pension to doctors after the age of fifty without any special conditions from the Social Insurance Authority, and obligated the authority to pay the monthly pensions.
• The Treasurer of the Doctors Syndicate called on the Health Committee in the parliament to submit a report on the health system and its problems to the members to find solutions and proposals instead of conflicting statements about an increase in the number of doctors. The treasurer also called for their export abroad, and requested for both taking necessary measures to stop the proposals, which he described as “hostile to doctors”, and directives to speed up issuance of the Medical Liability Law and the infringements of medical teams during their work.
• On May 2, the Federation of Medical Professions decided to increase the pension of “pharmacists, doctors, dentists, and veterinarians” to L.E. 1,350 instead of L.E. 1,000, as of July 1, 2023.
• On May 7, the Secretary General of the Council announced that the recent approach of attacks on doctors posed a great threat to the security of medical staff, including those in Mahalla, Qena, Giza, and others.
• On May 12, Doctors Syndicate called for an ordinary general assembly to discuss and approve the syndicate budgets for previous years, and to discuss the reports of the activities of the Syndicate Council in various fields and committees. The call was also for discussing the Medical Liability Law and the delay in its issuance, as well as the repeated attacks on health facilities and their workers, how to limit such attacks, through applying and toughening the penalties. The Syndicate decided to postpone the meeting of the general assembly to May 26, due to the lack of a legal quorum.
• On May 1, the Supreme State Security Prosecution ruled to renew the detention of Dr. Hani Suleiman for 15 days pending case No. 508 of 2023 State Security on charges of (spreading false news – joining a terrorist group).

On May 16, the State Security Prosecution ruled to renew the detention of Dr. Suleiman for another 15 days, in connection with the aforementioned case.

• On May 18, the Cairo Criminal Court, the circuit-2 terrorism, Badr Prison Complex ruled to renew the detention of Dr. Mustafa Hassan Kamel for 45 days pending case No. 1430 of 2018 State Security.

4. The Engineers Syndicate

• On May 1, the Administrative Court ruled to stay the contested decision in the lawsuit filed by the members of the Council of the Engineers Syndicate against the President of the Syndicate and others. This was because the respondent (President of the Syndicate) had violated the provisions of the Law of the Engineers Syndicate by including issues that are not on the agenda of the General Assembly.
• On May 2, the Syndicate announced its participation in the National Dialogue. It also stressed that among the priorities of the Syndicate was to amend the Syndicate Law, reform the engineering education system, and raise its level of quality.
• On May 13, 338 engineers submitted a request to convene an extraordinary assembly to cast confidence in the seat of the President of the Syndicate and the members of the council.
• On May 18, the Cairo Criminal Court, Circuit-2 Terrorism, Badr Prison Complex, ruled to renew the detention of two engineers, Mohamed Abdel-Hafiz Abdel-Haq and Mohamed Naguib Suleiman Al-Sharqawi, for 45 days pending case 1007 of 2022 State Security.
• On May 20, the State Security Prosecution decided to release both engineers Ahmed Ali Mostafa and Moasad Abdel-Aleem pending case No. 2094 of 2022 State Security.

5. Musical Professions Syndicate

• On April 26, the General Syndicate announced the ending of singer Hani Shaker crisis, after he was subjected to a fraud by a Bahraini concert contractor, in cooperation with the Bahraini Ministry of Tourism.
• On May 7, the Administrative Judicial Court ruled to reserve the lawsuit filed by mahraganat singers against the Syndicate No. 14037 of 76 Judicial Year, for judgment on August 27^th. The court also demanded that the decision issued by the Syndicate to prevent mahraganat singers from singing in Egypt, especially singers Hamo Beka and Hassan Shakoush, be annulled.
• On May 17, the Syndicate president in Gharbia filed a complaint against musician Mounir Al-Wasimi, registered under No. 271 of 2023, for publishing and circulating information about the Syndicate on social media, justifying that no person, regardless of his position, has the right to publish, according to his complaint.
• On May 25, the Syndicate clarified that the reason for stopping the singer “Wegz” from singing is his refusal to pay the annual subscription and sign the Syndicate’s approval.

6. Acting Professions Syndicate

• On May 3, the General Syndicate announced the refusal of the retired actress, Hala Sheeha, to return to acting, after her announcing her return to acting. The refusal was due to her statements insulting the acting profession.
• On May 12, the members of the General Assembly of the Syndicate of attended a symposium organized by the General Syndicate in cooperation with the Egyptian Tax Authority, in order to find out the methods and mechanisms of working within the electronic bill system.
• On May 18, the Board of Directors of the Syndicate decided to unify the working hours to be 12 hours per day, in order to organize the work in accordance with the regulations and laws of the Syndicate.

7. Social Workers Syndicate

On May 20, the president of the Social Workers Syndicate, during his participation in the national dialogue, appealed to the state to issue a law to regulate practicing the profession. It is not correct to practice a profession without a license as social workers deal with family problems and communication problems for people of determination, children and people with special needs.

8. Syndicate of Fine Artists

• On May 22, the Syndicate of Fine Artists issued a statement that graphic designer Ghada Waly is not a member of the Syndicate, after she raised controversy over plagiarizing the work of a Russian artist and attributing them to herself.
• On May 25, the General Syndicate called for granting it judicial control, and applying it. The Syndicate justified its request by its desire to regulate artistic work and impose professional ethics, in order for it to intervene in such crises and make amendments to the law. Every practicing artist must be a member of the Syndicate,. The Syndicate also stated regarding Ghada Wali crisis that the circumstances and details are not known to the syndicate.

9. Nurses Syndicate

• On May 11, the president of the Syndicate stated that the nursing staff does not hesitate to play its role in the health system to the fullest, pointing out that the nursing staff performs about 70% of the medical services provided in health facilities, praising their prominent role over the past 3 years in confronting the Corona virus.
• On May 15, the Syndicate celebrated the International Nursing Day, in the presence of the Minister of Health, the representative of the World Health Organization in Egypt, and a number of health and labour union leaders. The Syndicate has recently expressed interest in the role of nurses demanding an increase in their fees, especially the incentives related to shifts allowances as part of the financial compensation.

10. Tourist Guides Syndicate

• On May 14, the Tourist Guides Syndicate in Luxor issued an indicative list of the fees for two days of work for the tour guides, according to the nature of the tourist’s trip program, whether it is a full or half day, a quick trip, one-day trips, or river trips that take several days.
• On May 16, the Syndicate in Red Sea warned travel agencies against relying on those not registered in the Syndicate, while organizing internal tours for groups inside the city of Hurghada. The Syndicate affirmed that practicing the profession should be limited only to those who have obtained a license from the Ministry of Tourism and are registered in the Tourist Guides Syndicate.

11. Syndicate of Holy Quran Memorizers

On May 20, the syndicate expressed its gratitude for the President of the Republic’s decision to raise the financial support for the syndicate from one million pounds to two million.

12. Physical Therapists Syndicate

On May 18, the president of the Physical Therapists Syndicate stressed the need for all parties to cooperate in order to eliminate the intruders and impose the most severe criminal penalties, up to life sentences, in order to deter those people and impose state guardianship and mercilessness on them because they are outlaws.

13. Veterinarians Syndicate

• On May 3, the president of the Veterinarians Syndicate, Dr. Khaled Selim, decided to increase the pensions by 35%, which is the highest increase in the history of the syndicate.
• On May 12, the Official Gazette published a new Cairo Criminal Court decision re-listing 1,526 people, including Dr. Ahmed Shawky Abdel Sattar Amasha, the president of the Syndicate, on the terrorism lists for a period of 5 years, starting from the date of the decision’s issuance.

14. Pharmacists Syndicate

• On May 2, the General Syndicate of Pharmacists met with a committee from the Tax Authority to regarding the electronic bill system, application mechanisms, and the requirement for implementation.
• On May 24, the South Cairo Criminal Court ruled in the case of detention and torture to death of pharmacist, Walaa Zayed, from Helwan, by his wife and her brothers, to 15 years in prison.

15. Teachers Syndicate

• On May 3, the syndicate announced the start of disbursing the pension payment for May to members and heirs through automatic teller machines.
• The Syndicate also clarified the need to amend the Syndicate laws that do not keep up with the current time describing them as issued in the 1960s and 1970s.

2. Labour Unions

1. The General Syndicate of the Public Transport Authority

• On April 30, the State Security Prosecution decided to renew the detention of worker Muhammad Hashem for 15 days, pending case 184 of 2023, Supreme State Security.

On May 5, the detention of worker Mohamed Hashem was extended again for 15 days.

On May 14, the State Security Prosecution decided to renew the detention of the worker, Muhammad Hashim, for a new 15 days pending the aforementioned case.

2. The General Union of Workers of the Food Industries

• On May 2, the management of “Greenland” company decided to dismiss 13 workers on the grounds of their strike. This came after their strike on April 3 to demand rewards and benefits that have gradually eroded over the past few years.

The workers’ strike came in parallel to the strike of the workers of the “Best Cheese” company, which is affiliated with the member of the Parliament, businessman, Muhammad Halawa, owner of the company that owns “Lactalis-Halawa Group” for the two aforementioned companies. The company administration responded after those strikes by submitting a complaint to the Public Prosecution against 82 workers, accusing them of instigating the strike and causing large losses by stopping work.

3. The General Union of Workers in Construction, Wood and Building Materials

• On May 12, a large number of Orascom workers in New Alamein went on strike, protesting the decision of the company management to transfer them from their private residence to another residence that the workers considered inappropriate, and objecting to the low daily wage, considering it disproportionate to the high cost of living and prices.

4. The General Syndicate of Chemical Workers

On May 17, the workers of the Holding Company for Chemical Industries “Pachin” organized a protest in front of the company headquarters demanding to know their fate after selling the company to the UAE Dyes Company, and to obtain their previous dues in the company and the cost of living allowance.

5. The General Union of Petroleum Workers

On May 18, New Cairo Court, Circuit 13, ruled in favor of worker, Mahmoud Hassan Atallah, by compensating him for the notice period and the balance of his leave, in addition to the profits due to him for the year 2019, as a result of his arbitrary dismissal from the “Petro jet” company in Case No. 174 of 2020 workers. New Cairo.

Section 3: Human Rights Organizations and Defenders

1. Human Rights Organizations most important activities and publications

2. The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR)

• On May 14, 2023, NCHR (Civil and Political Rights Committee), with the participation of the European Union, held a workshop on “Priority Legislative Packages on the Egyptian State’s Agenda in Light of the National Strategy for Human Rights”.
• On May 15, Moushira Khattab, President NCHR, held a meeting with Ambassador Delphine Bourion, in charge of human rights in France, as part of her visit to Egypt.

2. Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)

• On May 1, 2023, AFTE released its annual report for 2022 on the state of freedom of expression in Egypt, entitled “Violations Overshadow Promises of Reform.”
• On May 2, AFTE announced that it had submitted all its papers to the Ministry of Social Solidarity, with the aim of establishing a civil society organization.
• On May 13, 2023, AFTE issued a statement denouncing the security forces arrest of the student leader Moath Al-Sharqawi and the failure to bring him before any judicial body.
• On May 15, 2023, AFTE issued its first quarterly report during the year 2023 (January – March) on the state of freedom of expression in Egypt.

3. Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)

• On May 2, 2023, EIPR issued an infographic to monitor death sentences issued by various courts during March 2023.
• On May 11, EIPR condemned in a statement the “Abu Zaabal Prison 2 refusal to provide medical care to Sherif El-Rouby, and demanded that he be quickly referred to a doctor and provided with the necessary medication, after his health condition severely deteriorated.
• On May 14, 2023, EIPR announced its participation in the sessions dedicated to discussing the issue of “anti-discrimination” in the Human Rights Committee, which is one of the committees of the political pillar of the national dialogue.
• On the same date, EIPR published a statement calling for a presidential pardon for the little girl known as Mocca Hegazi, following the rejection of her appeal against the two-year prison sentence on the accusation of immoral acts.

4. Regional Center for Rights and Liberties

• On May 24, 2023, the Regional Center for Rights and Liberties issued a research paper entitled (Publication Penalties in the Proposed Meteorological Law… A New Restriction on Freedom of Expression in Egypt).

5. Egyptian Front for Human Rights (EFHR)

• On May 17, EFHR published a model comparing between the release and detention renewal decisions issued by the terrorism departments in cases of the Supreme State Security Prosecution in August 2022 – May 2023, which witnessed holding 93 sessions in which three citizens were released, compared to 20,440 decisions to renew detention. .
• On May 21, EFHR published a report monitoring the arrest of citizens due to their criticism of high prices and deteriorating economic conditions, titled “The Egyptian authorities continue to silence the voices of citizens who criticize the deteriorating economic conditions on social media by imprisoning them in state security cases.”
• On May 22, EFHR launched a new initiative called the “National Security Headquarters Observatory”.

6. Al-Haq Association for Freedom of Opinion, Expression and Human Rights

• On May 8, Al-Haq Foundation launched the electronic agenda service to collect general issues related to public affairs, and indicated that it was a continuation of the initiatives and efforts of other institutions.

7. Technology and Law Community – Masaar

• On May 1, Massar released a research paper titled Amendments to the Telecommunications Regulatory Law: New Restrictions on the Use and Operation of Telecom Equipment.
• On May 9, Massar issued a data protection guide for companies in light of Law No. 151 of 2020 regarding the protection of personal data.
• On May 15, Massar released a paper titled Deep Fake: A New Weapon Targeting Women.
• On May 22, 2023, Massar issued a research paper entitled Artificial Intelligence: Balancing Innovation and Human Rights.

8. The Egyptian Centre for Human Rights Education

On April 30, 2023, the Center published a statement addressing the developments of the case of temporary contract teachers, known as the “36,000 teachers” case, appealing to the parliament to invite their representatives to attend hearings and oblige the government to take corrective measures by re-contracting them with lawful contracts.

9. Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR)

• On May 3, ECESR issued a statement calling for improving the conditions of workers in the profession, policies against arbitrary dismissal, and more freedom of journalistic work.
• On May 21, ECESR filed an appeal before the Supreme Administrative Court regarding access fees and mechanized services at the Mansoura Court of First Instance.

10. Center For Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA)

• On May 18, CEWLA announced launching a blogging campaign on May 20, to blog about the necessity of presenting a draft “More Just Family Law” prepared by CEWLA for community dialogue.
• On May 24, CEWLA held an awareness-raising seminar for 28 women about the Egyptian constitution and discriminatory laws as part of the activities of the “Anti-Discrimination against Women for Gender Justice” project.
• On May 25, CEWLA published a statement renewing its call for issuing a unified anti-violence law to reduce the never-ending series of crimes of violence against women.

11. New Woman Foundation

On May 23, New Woman Foundation organized a gender-based violence and discrimination workshop in Qena, within the framework of launching the first activities and events of the project to strengthen the role of unions and civil associations in activating the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development from a gender perspective.

12. Group Human Rights Activities

• On May 3, a number of Egyptian and international human rights organizations issued a joint statement calling for the release of the former Islamic Sharia professor Salah Sultan due to his deteriorating health condition in light of the deliberate medical negligence towards him by the authorities responsible for Badr 1 prison.
• On May 5, a number of human rights organizations issued a joint statement condemning the arrest of 8 relatives and supporters of potential presidential candidate and former member of the parliament Ahmed Tantawi.
• On May 8, a number of organizations issued a joint statement denouncing the decision of Circuit-13 of Cairo Criminal Court to include 81 Egyptian citizens on the lists of terrorist entities. The group included human rights defenders such as Mosaad Al-Barbari, director of their Right Campaign, Eman Muhammad Gad Al-Haq, researcher at the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights, and Shorouk Amgad, human rights defender at Committee for Justice, considering that a new campaign to terrorize the political and human rights community.
• On May 14, a number of organizations issued a statement of solidarity with Dr. Manar Tantawi, the wife of former prisoner of opinion Hisham Gaafar, against the management of the Higher Technological Institute in the Tenth of Ramadan abusing her. The statement also demanded the immediate cessation of the repeated abuses against her and implementing the ruling issued in her favor of her entitlement to obtain Professorship degree.
• On May 18, a number of organizations issued joint statements calling on the Public Prosecutor to carry out his legal duty and open an immediate investigation into the crime of enforced disappearance against the former student leader Moath Al-Sharqawi, a week after his arrest and taking him to an unknown destination.

2. Violations against human rights defenders:

1. Detention renewal:

• On May 7, Circuit-1 Terrorism at Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of human rights lawyer Ahmed Nazeer Al-Helou for 45 days in Case No. 1940 of 2022 Supreme State Security on charges of joining a terrorist group, publishing and broadcasting false news and statements, and committing a financing crime.
• On May 9, Circuit-1 Terrorism at Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of activist Sherif El-Rouby for 45 days in Case No. 1634 of 2022 Supreme State Security on charges of joining a terrorist group and publishing and broadcasting false news and statements.
• On May 16, 2022, Circuit-2 Terrorism at Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of human rights lawyer Youssef Mansour for 45 days in Case No. 330 of 2022 State Security.
• On the same date, Circuit-2 Terrorism at Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of activist Nermin Hussein for 45 days in Case No. 65 of 2021 Supreme State Security.
• On May 22, Circuit-1 Terrorism at Cairo Criminal Court renewed the detention of journalist Tawfiq Ghanem and human rights lawyer Mr. Khalaf for 45 days pending investigations into Case No. 238 of 2021 Supreme State Security.
• On May 24, Mansoura Criminal Court renewed the detention of activist Mohamed Adel for 45 days, pending investigations in Case No. 4118 of 2018 Sherbin Administrative, on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news.

2. Trials:

• On May 6, Agga Misdemeanor Court postponed the trial of activist Mohamed Adel, on charges of publishing false news and statements, to the hearing on June 24.
• On May 9, Mansoura Misdemeanor Court postponed the trial of researcher Patrick George on charges of publishing and broadcasting false news and statements to the hearing on July 17.
• On May 11, Nasr City Misdemeanor Court adjourned the trial of Eng. Yahia Hussein Abdel-Hadi on charges of publishing false news and statements to pronounce the verdict for the hearing on July 13.

3. Victories:

• On April 26, ECESR obtained a ruling from the Circuit-11 at the Court of Administrative Judiciary, in favour of the 43 affected occupants of the fruit and vegetable market on Al-Bouhi Street in Imbaba. The ruling was for their entitlement to establish alternative stores instead of the removed ones and to an amount of L.E. 2000 per month for each plaintiff, until the establishment of the alternative store.

 

A monthly report that includes the most important activities and news of civil society with its main components; “parties, unions, and human rights organizations” in Egypt.