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September 11, 2024September 10, 2024 – Egypt –
A coalition of over 30 press freedom and human rights organizations, including the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), ARTICLE 19, and Cartooning for Peace, issued a joint statement on September 9, 2024, condemning the arrests and enforced disappearances of four Egyptian journalists. The group called for their immediate release and accountability for those responsible for their mistreatment.
The detained journalists—Ashraf Omar, Khaled Mamdouh, Ramadan Gouida, and Yasser Abu Al-Ela—have all been charged under broad anti-terrorism laws for their journalistic work. Ashraf Omar, a cartoonist with the independent outlet Al-Manassa, was arrested on July 22 after publishing illustrations criticizing Egypt’s economic hardship and chronic power outages. Held incommunicado for two days, he later appeared before a prosecutor facing charges of “joining a terrorist group,” spreading false news, and misusing social media. His family reported that he was subjected to torture while in custody.
The arrests come amid heightened repression in Egypt, where authorities continue to silence critical voices under vague legal pretexts. The journalists were detained without a formal summons, denied access to legal representation, and subjected to enforced disappearance—clear violations of international human rights law and Egypt’s constitutional guarantees.
The joint statement demanded the immediate and unconditional release of the four journalists, the dropping of all politically motivated charges, and thorough investigations into allegations of torture and abuse. Organizations also called on the Egyptian government to stop using national security as a cover for criminalizing journalism and dissent.
Egypt remains one of the world’s top jailers of journalists, with a longstanding record of stifling press freedom. These latest arrests, particularly of figures like Omar, whose work is satirical and non-violent, reflect an increasingly intolerant environment where even artistic expression is treated as subversion.
The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) also joined the call, underscoring how such crackdowns are part of a systemic effort to shut down public discourse. As global attention builds, rights groups warn that failure to act will further embolden state-led attacks on free expression, reinforcing a dangerous precedent for the treatment of journalists in Egypt.
Reference-
https://cpj.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Joint-Statement-on-Egypt-9_9_2024-2.pdf