Rights groups and prominent lawyers have renewed calls for Egyptian authorities to immediately release dozens of young people held in pretrial detention over their solidarity with Palestine.
Advocates say the detentions are “senseless” and contradict Egypt’s official stance on the issue, and that all mediation efforts, including those by the state-led National Dialogue, have failed.
Negad El Borai, a human rights lawyer and member of the National Dialogue’s board of trustees, spearheaded the latest appeals. After speaking with families of the detainees, he wrote on Facebook, “We also don’t understand why their detention continues. Please, the country can’t take more of this.”
El Borai detailed previous unsuccessful attempts to secure their release, including efforts by Diaa Rashwan, the National Dialogue’s general coordinator, and Mahmoud Fawzy, now minister of parliamentary affairs, to meet the public prosecutor.
He said a direct petition to the president yielded nothing, and a discussion with the prime minister also brought no results.
Human rights lawyer Hoda Abdelwahab also appealed directly to the public prosecutor to review the detainees’ cases and release them. She stressed that the detainees have no political or religious affiliations and were simply responding to state calls for solidarity with Gaza.
Abdelwahab, who represents several of the detainees and attends their detention renewal hearings, told Al Manassa their testimonies show their only motive was to oppose what they described as a “war of genocide.”
She noted arrests were carried out arbitrarily and that the case files contain no incriminating evidence. “How can we reconcile a position that supports Palestine with continuing to imprison those who showed solidarity?” she asked.
The appeals come after the latest lists of detainee releases omitted the names of those held over Palestine solidarity, deepening their families’ suffering and raising further questions over the legal basis for their continued detention.
According to figures published in June 2024 by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, security forces have arrested 186 people in 16 different State Security cases since the start of Israel’s military campaign in October 2023. The arrests targeted citizens engaged in peaceful activities, including protests, holding signs, and participating in relief efforts.
