On Saturday, April 22, the Egyptian government designated 82 individuals including activists, politicians, and journalists on its new terrorism ‘watchlist’. According to reports, all those included are currently living in exile, having left the country after President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi came to power through a military coup in 2013 by ousting the President Mohammad Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. Morsi had come to power after the historic protests that overthrew longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.
Since coming to power, the el-Sisi regime has unleashed a crackdown on human rights and civil liberties in the country, and curbed any form of opposition or dissent. Thousands of people have been arrested on politically motivated charges and sentenced to long prison terms after sham trials. Several human rights groups have also been barred from operating to prevent them from documenting and exposing the rights violations and human rights abuses taking place under his regime. The freedom of the press has also been curtailed, with many domestic and international news organizations being banned in the country.
33 journalists have now been added to the government’s new terror list, including Ayman Nour, former presidential candidate and head of the Turkey-based Al-Sharq television news channel. Among others included are some who work for news outlets based out of Turkey and Qatar. The government has targeted outlets from these countries as they continue to publish news critical of the el-Sisi regime. Several members and leaders of the now banned Muslim Brotherhood have also fled and taken refuge in these two countries.
Human rights groups continue to express concern over the steadily deteriorating human rights situation in Egypt and have repeatedly appealed to the el-Sisi government to put an end to its campaign of persecution and repression targeting political and civil society dissidents.
