The UN condemns Egypt’s prison system

Kinshasa, August 26^th, 2025 (CPA). – The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has condemned on Tuesday the Egypt’s practice of keeping political prisoners and civil society activists in detention by fabricating new charges on the eve of their release, international media have reported. « This appears to be used to circumvent individuals’ rights to liberty, regular proceedings and equality before the law. The Egyptian government must immediately stop this practice of rotation and release all those who have been subjected to it, » has declared Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.  He has stressed that the new alleged offences, often under anti-terrorism laws, were generally unfounded and similar to the charges for which the detainees had already been convicted. « Most of the persons targeted by the “rotation” should not have been detained or imprisoned in the first place; the charges against them are often related to the legitimate exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, » he has added.  ‘This practice has become a tool by which the Egyptian government represses those perceived as critical or opposed to its policies,’ according to Volker Türk. Furthermore, he has cited the case of poet Galal El-Behairy, who has been arbitrarily detained after serving a prison sentence in July 2021 for writing songs and poems criticising the government.  Since then, the poet has faced similar charges in two different cases under the anti-terrorism law and the Penal Code. The latest charges have been brought last week, when Galal El-Behairy has been questioned by Egypt’s State Security Prosecution and his detention has been extended for at least an additional 15 days. The UN rights office has warned that the practice appears to be ‘widely used in cases of politically motivated charges,’ but has indicated that the lack of transparency has made it difficult to assess the full extent of the problem.