The 113-page report comprises three chapters that review the situation of human rights in Egypt and recommends a number of reforms. It also includes a record of NCHR activities and cooperation with international and regional institutions and civil society organisations to address complaints and alleged human rights violations.
In a press conference on Sunday, NCHR President Mahmoud Karem affirmed that the council had complete independence in carrying out its duties and that no interference from any entity in the state had occurred in the preparation of the report.
“The new annual report provides a comprehensive assessment of civil, political, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights in line with Egypt’s constitutional provisions and its international obligations,” Karem said.
“The report opens up wider spaces for discussion and dialogue about the best ways to enhance the human rights system in Egypt,” he added.
In general, the report highlighted what it described as “progress made in the files of legislation, presidential pardon, and economic rights,” while noting at the same time “existing challenges in the areas of public freedoms and criminal justice.”
The report also clearly sought to paint a “balanced” picture of the Egyptian human rights situation during the year under review, by praising the issuance of new reform-minded legislation including the Criminal Procedures Law and the Regulation of Asylum and Work.
However, it did not deny that a number of files required reforms and intervention to improve the situation of human rights in Egypt.
The report indicated that during the period it covered, the NCHR received 190 complaints from citizens alleging that they were subjected to torture and ill-treatment. “The vast majority of these complaints — 179 — came from the families of inmates in rehabilitation centres (prisons),” the report said, adding that the council also received 11 complaints alleging ill-treatment and torture that occurred inside police stations and central prisons of citizens during their dealings with law enforcement officers or those detained in connection with cases in these stations.
The report cites the case of the death of a young man, Mahmoud Mika, inside the Khalifa police station last March, and the conflicting accounts at the time about his death after his family accused the station’s officers of torturing him and subjecting him to medical neglect. The Interior Ministry denied the matter, confirming that the cause of death was Mika’s entering into “psychological agitation” and subsequent health complications that led to his death. The council said it has demanded a transparent investigation into the circumstances that led to Mika’s death.
The report said the council believes that the discrepancy between the claims raised by families and the conclusion of an investigation by concerned authorities on torture cases necessitates strengthening the guarantees of independent and transparent investigation. “This would solidify trust in the final results and ensure the protection of the rights of all parties,” the report said.
The council reiterated its continued emphasis on the need to amend the articles criminalising torture and ill-treatment in the Egyptian Penal Code to ensure their conformity with the definition in the UN Convention against Torture.
The report proposed amending Article 126 of the Penal Code to ensure the definition of torture aligns with Article 1 of the UN Convention and to broaden its scope to include anyone who attempts to commit torture, or who is complicit in or participates in torture, as stipulated in Article 14 of the convention.
Regarding the right to personal liberties and security, the report confirmed a decrease in reported cases or complaints involving allegations of unlawful detention during the period under review. It also noted a decline in the rate of arrests of political activists for exercising their freedom of opinion and expression or political rights.
Furthermore, the report said, the same period saw the release of several public figures who had been serving prison sentences. The report confirmed that, with regard to allegations of enforced disappearance, the council dealt with 25 cases in this respect during the period it covers, most of which were reported in the period from July 2024 to June 2025, in addition to receiving responses to a number of cases reported during previous periods.
The report said the council had received responses from the Interior Ministry and the General Prosecution regarding the fate of 14 of the reported cases of enforced disappearance, as it was found that nine of these cases were inmates of rehabilitation centres or detention facilities pending cases before the General Prosecution and the judiciary, four cases that had not been previously arrested or charged, and one case that had been released.
According to the report, the period covered by the council witnessed cases of detention and pre-trial detention of a number of activists and journalists on various charges, perhaps the most prominent of whom is political cartoonist Ashraf Omar, who was detained in July 2024 on charges of joining a terrorist group and spreading false news. Omar is still in pretrial detention.
Also in political terms, the report affirmed that despite constitutional frameworks supporting freedom of opinion, expression, and the media in Egypt, there are clear challenges to exercising these rights. Perhaps the most prominent of these is the absence of legislation regulating the right to access and disseminate information. “This is a law that the council, the journalistic community, and human rights organisations have been calling for during the last 12 months,” the report said, indicating that “this law which is absent from the Egyptian legislative system, is a cornerstone for realising the right to freedoms of opinion and expression.”
The report indicated that the council understands the circumstances Egypt faced during the war on terror, and also understands the necessity of imposing restrictions on some aspects of freedom of expression. However, the report said, now that a climate of security and stability has been recovered and established, there is an urgent need for a fundamental review of the body of laws and legislation that restricts civil and political rights and freedoms in Egypt in general, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression in particular.
The report recommended updating Egypt’s National Human Rights Strategy and extending its implementation period until 2030, while adhering to a comprehensive participatory approach in the procedures for reviewing and updating the strategy, and being open to the recommendations submitted by the NCHR, and by international treaty mechanisms, the Universal Periodic Review mechanism, special rapporteurs, and mandate holders in the United Nations human rights protection system.
It also recommended expediting the establishment of the Anti-Discrimination Commission and activating the relevant constitutional provision by enacting a law regulating its establishment and operation, drawing on international best practices and experiences in similar bodies. The report’s recommendations also call for improving the responsiveness of relevant authorities and law enforcement agencies — particularly the Interior Ministry — to complaints and reports submitted by the NCHR regarding allegations of human rights violations.
The report called for expediting the review of the framework for crimes punishable by death, limiting it to the most serious offences.
In terms of social and economic rights, the report affirmed that the Egyptian constitution adopted in 2014 guarantees a wide range of economic, social, and cultural rights, and places specific obligations on the state to fulfil these rights.
Over the past 10 years, the report said, the Egyptian government has implemented a large number of development projects, programmes, and initiatives closely related to economic and social rights, in addition to pumping huge investments to achieve food security through the reclamation and cultivation of large areas of desert land.
The report notes that as a result of wars and regional conflicts that rocked the Middle East region in recent years, Egypt had been severely affected by receiving increasing numbers of refugees, asylum-seekers, and displaced persons fleeing wars and tragic situations in neighbouring countries. “The government estimates the number of refugees and asylum-seekers on Egyptian land as about 10 million, and they certainly place pressure on the services provided to Egyptians,” the report said.
The report deplores that international conflicts and civil wars have negatively affected economic conditions in Egypt. “These conflicts left an adverse impact on the country’s main sources of foreign currency, especially those coming from the Suez Canal whose revenues decreased as a result of attacks on ships in the Red Sea, and on supply chains of goods that the country depends on while importing from abroad — two developments which led to higher inflation, a decline in the purchasing power of citizens and difficult living conditions,” the report said.
The report also noted that the debt burden still poses a fundamental challenge to the state’s budget and public finances, the vast majority of which is devoted to servicing debt interest rate payments. “This is another negative development which limits the state’s ability to spend on social protection programmes and improve the everyday lives of citizens,” the report added.
* A version of this article appears in print in the 18 December, 2025 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly
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