Increased Risk of Wrongful Detention for Foreigners Working in Egypt
The incidence of high-profile detentions of foreign journalists and researchers in Egypt rose sharply in 2016, drawing extensive international criticism. Coupled with a new law restricting the activities of foreign NGOs, there appears to be growing government mistrust of foreign commentary on domestic affairs and an attendant increase in the risk of wrongful detention to foreign journalists and NGO workers in the year ahead.
FOREIGN JOURNALISTS
The wrongful detention of journalists and government critics was a familiar feature of Egypt’s 30 years of emergency rule under former president Hosni Mubarak. Following Egypt’s reversion to military rule in 2013, the practice appears to be reemerging as a prevalent threat to Egyptian journalists. Egypt ranked 159 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Sans Frontières 2016 Press Freedom Index while Egyptian security forces were accused by rights organisations of involvement in over 1,800 cases of forced disappearance and over 100 incidents of extra-judicial deaths in 2015. Foreign journalists have historically not been targeted and have faced far fewer threats that their local counterparts; however, as the Egyptian government continues to clamp down on dissent, targeting patterns are changing.
The wrongful detention of journalists and government critics was a familiar feature of Egypt’s 30 years of emergency rule under former president Hosni Mubarak.
In February 2016, the discovery of the body with evidence of torture of Giulio Regeni, an Italian researcher who disappeared from Cairo a month earlier, raised widespread concerns over the alleged involvement of the Egyptian security forces. While state security officials have repeatedly denied responsibility for his death, they have also resisted cooperating with Italian investigators. It is now being reported that several low-ranking officers may be dismissed over the incident, making state involvement appear even more likely.
Regeni’s death followed the September 2016 release of two journalists working for the Qatar-based Al Jazeera (AJ) network, after almost two years in prison on charges of reporting false news. AJ is funded by the Qatari government, a known supporter of the Muslim Brotherhood, and is hence treated with particular suspicion by the Egyptian government. Foreign journalists who criticise the current government are often linked to AJ by the Egyptian government or indeed, to the Muslim Brotherhood itself, regardless of their actual affiliations. For example, the trial of the two AJ journalists also included 18 other defendants on trial for similar charges, all of whom the government claimed worked for AJ. According to AJ, however, only eight of the detainees were employed by their network. Moreover, in December 2016, another AJ producer was detained while on vacation in Egypt to visit his family, and remains in police custody without charge.
Other incidents point to an increased willingness on the part of state officials to overlook state-sanctioned protections of foreigners reporting in Egypt. In May 2016, for example, French journalist, Rémy Pigaglio, was detained at Cairo airport for over 30 hours and then deported to France without explanation, despite having lived in Cairo for two years and possessing the necessary residency and accreditation permits stipulated by the government. It was suggested by security sources that Pigaglio had “taken actions that harmed Egypt and threatened its security.” However, charges were never formally laid.
NGO WORKERS
NGOs have also been targeted by the Egyptian government. On 29 November 2016, Egypt’s parliament approved a law placing all NGOs operating in Egypt under the supervision of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the newly created National Department for Regulating the Activities of Foreign NGOs. The department’s mandate covers the interaction between local and foreign NGOs, and requires local institutions to inform the government of any requests to receive funding, from either foreign or local donors.
While international observers have claimed that the law’s primary impact is likely to result in a reduction in the amount of NGO work conducted in Egypt, multiple foreign workers are contractually obliged to complete the projects to which they have been assigned. NGO workers may therefore be imprisoned for periods of up to five years for violating the law by performing routine work, such as applying to international foundations for funding, or conducting field surveys. This significantly increases the exposure of NGOs to political harassment and by extension to wrongful detention. While it does not necessarily apply to journalists directly, these developments contribute to the overall environment of growing hostility towards foreign commentators and observers working in Egypt.