Egyptian authorities must unconditionally release any detained persons merely to express solidarity with Palestinians in the ongoing genocide in Israel, including at least seven Egyptian nationals detained for expressing support for Gaza operations. The group also called on authorities to investigate allegations of torture and other disadvantages related to the planned solidarity march.
Hundreds of international activists traveled to Egypt in June to participate in a global march to Rafah City to break Israel’s illegal blockade in the occupied Gaza Strip, but Egyptian authorities arrested dozens of Egyptian and foreign national responses and arrested non-Jesus Christ.
Amnesty International recorded arbitrary detention, unpublic detention and abuse of three Egyptians and five foreign nationals associated with the Gaza march from June 10 to 16 in Gaza. Amnesty International received testimony that at least one Egyptian national was tortured during his detention. The group calls on all persons who are still detained for the sake of expressing solidarity of Palestinians unconditionally and immediately release, including those detained for expressing solidarity with Palestinians since October 2023.
Egyptian authorities are arresting and punishing activists as Israel is arresting and punishing activists as Israel imposes genocide on them.
Mahmoud Shalaby, an Egyptian and Libyan fellow at Amnesty International.
“The world has seen a glimpse of the brutality that Egyptian authorities continue to inflict on dissidents. The arbitrary arrests and ill-treatment that these activities have been subjected to represent just a fraction of the ongoing repression faced by virtually anyone who expresses views not condoned by the government,” said Mahmoud Shalaby, Egypt and Libya Researcher at Amnesty International.
“Incredible, the Egyptian authorities showed solidarity with the Palestinians while Israel was genocidalizing them, and Israel suffered from activists. The Egyptian authorities should promote the right to assemble and express themselves in peace, thereby promoting the torment with PareTINIS and anyone surveyed, and conducted investigations, and conducted other investigations, and conducted other investigations, and conducted other investigations.
On June 11, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in an official statement that foreign nationals must obtain authorization in advance to visit areas bordering Gaza and submitted a request to the Egyptian Embassy, among other means. Organizers of the Gaza march told Amnesty International that they had submitted a request for authorization, filing a request for authorization to more than 30 Egyptian embassies abroad, about two and a half months ahead of the scheduled date in March. Embassy officials told them the requests had been forwarded to authorities in Cairo, but organizers had never received a response.
Egyptian security forces later arrived at the airport by arresting Egyptian and foreign militants, arrested Egyptian and foreign militants from hotels or checkpoints in Rafah, and then arrested them on their way to Rafah, and then expelled hundreds of non-Egyptians.
Arbitrary detention and torture or other disadvantages to Egyptian nationals
Security forces arrested three Egyptian nationals (two men and one woman) from the home of the Governor General of Cairo and al-sharkia between 10 and 12 June 2025, according to a lawyer from the Egyptian Commission on Rights and Freedoms (ECRF). These three are part of the Telegram group that supports the Gaza march.
They were reportedly detained in an undetention facility at an undisclosed National Security Agency (NSA) facility, ranging from nine to ten days after being arrested. NSA agents brought the three to Cairo’s Supreme National Security Prosecution (SSSP) on June 21, 22 and 23.
SSSP prosecutors alleged that their allegations include “joining a terrorist group [the Muslim Brotherhood]ECRF lawyers said “publish false news” and “funding terrorist organizations’ funding.” The prosecutor then ordered a 15-day pretrial detention pending investigation.
During the SSSP questioning, one of the men said that NSA agents suffered electric shocks on their hands and sensitive parts of their bodies and defeated him with kicks and slaps in the face. Another man told prosecutors that NSA agents beat him and forced him to be exposed. These behaviors constitute adverse treatment and may constitute torture.
In June, SSSP prosecutors asked four other Egyptian nationals (three men and one woman) and ordered 15 days of detention in anticipation of the same charges in the same case, according to ECRF’s lawyers.
Arbitrary arrest and abuse by foreign nationals
Amnesty International spoke with five foreign nationals who participated in the Gaza march, including Croatian-Perovian activist Stefanie Crisostomo and Spanish national and Gaza March spokesman Saif Abukeshek. They told amnesty that Egyptian police suffered serious assaults and other acts of violence while arresting them. They also said they had been detained in Incommunicado detention centers at the police station, NSA facilities and Cairo Airport.
Crisostomo told Amnesty International that on June 14, transparent NSA agents arrested her and her husband at a hotel in Cairo without providing any reason or allowing them to contact the embassy or anyone else after confiscating their cell phones. They were then moved to an undisclosed security facility where police detained her French husband for 30 hours while transferring Stefanie to Cairo Airport. At the airport, she refused to be deported until police released her husband. The police then put on handcuffs and grabbed her arm tightly, causing bruises. Amnesty International reviewed photos of her arm, where the bruises were clearly seen and worried that this might constitute a bad treatment.
One of the other foreign nationals chose not to disclose his nationality, saying that on June 13, police arrested him at a checkpoint in Ismailia province and arrested him at a checkpoint in Ismailia province. During the arrest, police beat him with batons and hit him in the face and neck. He said a police officer tried to put his finger in his anus during his arrest. Police took the team to the Ismailia police station and detained it until the next morning, before transferring it to Cairo Airport to deport.
Two other men, including Norwegians, and Saif said that on June 16, transparent police arrested them at a cafe in Cairo without showing a warrant. Police then blindfolded them and drove them to the undisclosed safety facilities of an unmarked van. NSA officials asked two Norwegian men but were still blindfolded and handcuffed, parades on Gaza, their identities and number of participants in their accommodation. One of the men told Amnesty International that when he refused to answer, NSA agents patted him twice in the face and then knelt on their chest. According to the man, the blow resulted in a minor rib fracture.
The second person said that when he refused to answer certain questions, NSA agents slapped him in the face and kicked him in front of the chest.
Saif Abukeshek said police deliberately knocked his body against the wall and door while moving him between different rooms in the facility, blindfolded with handcuffs and handcuffed his hands behind his back. “I can clearly hear them laugh at me as I hit the wall,” he said.
The three were then transferred to Cairo Airport and were deported between two and 25 hours at the facility. At no time, these four people were allowed to contact the embassy or anyone else until deportation was made.
background:
Between October 2023 and June 2024, Amnesty International and Egyptian human rights groups have recorded arrests of more than 123 people who have expressed solidarity with Palestinians through peaceful protests, comment online, hanging signs or writing slogans on the wall. At least in pre-trial detention, investigations into allegations of forgery involving terrorism, false news or illegal parliament remain in pre-trial detention.
