The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights has denounced a wave of arrests targeting atheists, nonreligious individuals, and others with alternative religious views, calling it a violation of constitutional guarantees for freedom of belief and expression.
The crackdown, which began in mid-September, has resulted in the arrest of at least 14 people, EIPR said in a statement issued Monday. Those arrested are believed to have expressed views diverging from mainstream religious beliefs on social media platforms.
“Several detainees were forcibly disappeared for days before appearing at the Supreme State Security Prosecution,” the statement said. EIPR added that prosecutors charged them with joining a group formed in violation of the law and publicly insulting a recognized religion. The detainees are being held under case no. 6954 of 2025.
The campaign reportedly began on Sept. 13 with the arrest of content creator Magid Zakaria Abdel Rahman, known online as “The Mufti of Humanity.” He was held incommunicado for 10 days before reappearing at the State Security Prosecution, according to EIPR. Authorities later arrested other individuals who appeared on his show or posted videos on Facebook.
EIPR linked the arrests to a wider trend of targeting individuals who follow nontraditional or unrecognized beliefs. The organization documented 39 arrests in 2025 alone in six separate cases, including 17 adherents of the Ahmadi Religion of Peace and Light, a spiritual group not recognized by official religious institutions.
One of the arrested individuals was a Syrian refugee who was deported. The group also alleged that those detained faced torture and inhumane treatment, including physical abuse, denial of medicine and food, and incitement against them inside detention facilities.
Security forces and prosecutors have questioned detainees about their religious beliefs “in what amounts to religious interrogation,” EIPR noted, adding that detainees reported being forced to attend religious lectures in detention. The organization called such acts a form of “religious coercion” and urged authorities to ensure that prisoners are not compelled to participate.
EIPR cited Article 64 of Egypt’s constitution, which guarantees absolute freedom of belief, and urged authorities to uphold the country’s international obligations, including Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which protects all forms of belief, including atheism.
The group warned of an “increasingly hostile environment” for freedom of belief and expression, especially for people who do not adhere to officially sanctioned religions.
EIPR demanded an immediate halt to the arrests, the release of all detainees, and the dismissal of charges related to their religious views or online expression.
