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Egypt ranked 126th in world for freedom

February 14, 2019 at 9:37 am

Egyptian police arrest a child in Cairo, Egypt, 2 June 2017 [Tareq al-Gabas/Apaimages]

US organisation Freedom House has ranked Egypt 126th out of 195 countries when it comes to public freedoms.

According to a new report by the organisation based on 2018 data, Egypt and Sri Lanka “are among the least free countries at the level of Internet Freedom”.

The report explained that “Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi continues to rule Egypt in an authoritarian manner,” pointing out that serious opposition to the president “no longer exists, as liberal and Islamic activists have been constantly prosecuted and imprisoned”.

In the report, the rate of civil liberties in Egypt decreased from five in the last report to six in the current report, with one meaning the “most free” and seven “least free”. This was due to the approval of a law which restricts local organisations’ work and the campaign against the activities of trade unions and associations unrecognised by the government.

The same decrease in standards can be seen in political freedoms and press freedoms.

Since the military coup in 2013, the Egyptian authorities have been carrying out arrest campaigns targeting thousands of opponents, including Islamists, human rights activists and others. These campaigns have even reached loyalists within the regime.

READ: HRW condemns execution of 3 Egypt prisoners