Quarterly Report on the State of Freedom of Expression in Egypt Third Quarter (July-September 2019)

Third: Recommendations on the protection of freedom of expression:

At the end of this report, AFTE makes a number of recommendations aiming to encourage local and international stakeholders to continue dialogue with the Egyptian authorities in order to commit to protecting freedom of expression and freedom of information. The recommendations are as follows:

• The Egyptian authorities should immediately release those arrested in connection with the September demonstrations, including journalists, creators, university professors and political activists, and stop prosecuting citizens for expressing opinions opposing the current regime.
• The Egyptian government should unblock websites, especially journalistic and news websites that were blocked in the wake of the September demonstrations, including Al Hurra and BBC.
• The Supreme Council for Media Regulation should stop the interference of the security services in the material published in newspapers, which lead to the prevention of opinion articles.
• The Syndicate of Musical Professions must ensure the freedom of creativity for all artists, stop its practices against “mahraganat” singers, and allow them to sing freely.

 Conclusion:

This report addressed the violations that occurred during the third quarter in 2019, on the level of freedom of expression files, and explained the political context witnessed by Egypt in this period, and its impact on the state of freedom of expression.

Through this periodic report, AFTE tries to encourage targeted groups of journalists, innovators, activists and academics to advocate for freedom of expression issues. The association also provides documented information on the state of freedom of expression to assist local and international organizations in their efforts to defend human rights.

[1]ANHRI website, Accessed on October 10th, 2019, https://bit.ly/2VDJFDz
[2] Masrawy website, Accessed on October 10th, 2019, https://bit.ly/2IPjeWu
[3]Mada Masr website, Accessed on October 1st, 2019, https://bit.ly/2OKKuJk 
[4]El-Dostour website, Accessed on October 10th, 2019, https://bit.ly/2otv9lX 
[5]Cairo 24 website, A Accessed on October 10th, 2019, https://bit.ly/2IMPEkb
[6]Cairo 24 website, A Accessed on October 10th, 2019, https://bit.ly/2oCSiSP
[7]A post by Mostafa El-Said on his face book page on August 5th, 2019. Accessed on October 10th, 2019, https://bit.ly/33vFRHs
[8]The Supreme Council for Media Regulation: Blocking and fines are the penalty for spreading rumors in the media, September 20th, 2019, Accessed on October 7th, 2019, http://bit.ly/33qUb3F
[9]Mahmoud el Shal, “The Religion Category”, ARIJ, Accessed on October 13th, 2019. Link: http://bit.ly/2OT7ia7
[10]Omar Fraes, “Two Jordanians detained in Egypt: a routine visit ends with arrest and “confessing” on the screen", September 26th, 2019, Accessed October 7th, 2019, Link: http://bit.ly/2VCTphr  
[11]AFTE, Accessed on October 7th, 2019, Link: http://bit.ly/2MzU0MI
[12]The Supreme Council for Media Regulation, Accessed on September 13th, 2019, Link: http://bit.ly/33vfH7F
[13]Mona Seif, October 10th, 2019, Accessed on October 13th, 2019, Link: http://bit.ly/2B6DTki
[14]A copy of the request.
[15]A statement by Egyptian filmmakers, October 9th, 2009, Link: http://bit.ly/2VFcxLz
[16]A statement by writers and intellectuals, September 29th, 2019, Accessed on October 7th, 2019, link: http://bit.ly/32dz2d7
[17]A copy of the request by the Syndicate of Musical Professions.
[18]A copy of the decree by the Syndicate of Musical Professions.  
[19]AFTE, Accessed on October 14th, 2019. Link: http://bit.ly/2nKeSIR