Amnesty International reports rise in executions in Egypt in past two months

Egypt executed 57 men and women in October and November, nearly double the 32 people reported in the whole of 2019, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.

At least 15 of those executed had been sentenced to death in cases related to political violence following what Amnesty called unfair trials, the London-based human rights group said in a report.

“The Egyptian authorities have embarked on a horrifying execution spree in recent months, putting scores of people to death, in some cases following grossly unfair mass trials,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Research and Advocacy Director.

The state press centre and the Interior Ministry could not be reached for comment on the Amnesty report.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has said there are no political prisoners in Egypt and that stability and security are paramount.

Egyptian courts have sentenced some 3,000 people to death since 2014, when Sisi took power, according to the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, an independent organization that documents human rights violations in the Middle East and North Africa.

That compares with fewer than 800 death sentences in the previous six years, according to Amnesty International.

Main Photo: A man with the Egyptian flag and a t-shirt of Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo, Egypt. EPA-EFE/MOHAMED HOSSAM