Rights Group condemns Egypt’s mass execution

Egypt executed 49 prisoners in just 10 days in October

The Human Rights Watch (HRW) has called on Egyptian authorities to immediately halt carrying out death sentences as they have executed 49 prisoners in just 10 days in October among which some arrested during a deadly crackdown on a mass protest in 2013 and urged authorities in Cairo to grant fair retrials to those on the death row.

Between October 3 and 13, Egypt executed a total of 47 men and 2 women, according to statement issued by Human Rights Watch. The group said 15 of those executed had been convicted of involvement in political violence that followed the military overthrow in July 2013 of Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, as well as 2 women while 32 are convicted in criminal cases.

“Egypt’s mass execution of scores of people in a matter of days is outrageous,” said Joe Stork, deputy Middle East and North Africa director for HRW. “The systematic absence of fair trials in Egypt, especially in political cases, makes every death sentence a violation of the right to life.”

Human Rights Watch opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. In 2017, Human Rights Watch said that President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and other official should issue a moratorium on the death penalty in view of the sharp rise in the number of death sentences and the failure to pass a comprehensive transitional justice law.

HRW estimates since President Abdel was elected in 2014, Egypt has become one of the top 10 countries in the world carrying out death sentences along with China, Iran and Saudi Arabia.