The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), an independent Egyptian human rights organization, said on Monday that authorities have arrested or prosecuted at least 52 people since the start of 2025 over their religious beliefs or views that diverge from prevailing norms. They describe the campaign as an escalating security crackdown and a violation of constitutional and international guarantees of freedom of belief and expression.
In a statement, EIPR said the arrests form part of a broader security campaign that began in September last year and has targeted nonreligious people, atheists, and others over opinions expressed on social media.
The organization said it documented the arrest of 20 people over a three-month period, with prosecutors charging them with “joining a group in violation of the law” and “contempt of religions.”
EIPR said the Supreme State Security Prosecution on Sunday renewed the detention of five defendants in Case No. 6954 of 2025, bringing the total number of defendants in the case to 26, most of whom remain in pretrial detention.
The organization also said one of its clients detained in connection with the case died in prison on Jan. 4, adding that the Public Prosecution recorded the death at its subsequent session.
According to the statement, the campaign has expanded to include a new case, No. 11005 of 2025 (State Security), which includes activist Sherif Gaber after he was forcibly disappeared for nearly two months. Gaber and other defendants in the case were charged with the same offenses, EIPR said.
The organization noted that Gaber has previously been convicted three times on charges of “contempt of religions,” most recently in 2024, when an Ismailia misdemeanor court sentenced him to five years in prison.
EIPR said the cases contrast with repeated public statements by President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi emphasizing respect for freedom of belief and nonbelief.
The organization called for the immediate release of all those detained over their religious views and urged security authorities to comply with Egypt’s constitution and international obligations that prohibit coercing individuals to adopt or abandon beliefs.
EIPR cited Article 64 of the constitution, which states that “freedom of belief is absolute,” as well as Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which forms part of Egyptian law and protects all beliefs, including atheism and the right not to adopt a religion.
The organization said five defendants in Case No. 6954 of 2025 were released in early December, days after El-Sisi met preachers from the Ministry of Awqaf and urged them to act as “guards of freedom and choice,” stressing that “no one is a guardian over anyone.”
