Rights Group Expresses Outrage At Uptick In Executions, Death Sentences In Egypt

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd October, 2020) Egypt has been sentencing and carrying out death penalties at a breakneck pace which violates prisoner's rights to life and fair prosecution, a prominent rights watch group said on Thursday.

According to a report from Human Rights Watch (HRW), prison authorities have executed dozens of men and women in October alone without informing family members or making public announcements.

At the same time, an increasing number of people have come under military and terrorism trials, which prosecute people in groups en masse in a hasty manner, the organization said.

"Egypt's mass executions of scores of people in a matter of days is outrageous," said Joe Stork, deputy middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "The systematic absence of fair trials in Egypt, especially in political cases, makes every death sentence a violation of the right to life.

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According to what HRW has been able to piece together from various news reports and prisoner accounts, executions have picked up pace after an incident left four prison officers dead.

The attack took place in late September in the notorious Scorpion Prison when inmates on death row stabbed officers with sharp improvised objects. This led to a shooting that killed four prisoners.

HRW believes that prison authorities across Egypt began searching and stripping prisoners after the incident. The uptick in executions may also be linked to the attack, the human rights body said.

HRW reiterated its opposition to the death penalty in all circumstances and renewed its 2017 call on Egyptian President Andel-Fatah al-Sisi to issue a moratorium on death penalties.

Under the current president, Egypt entered the top 10 countries for executions and death sentences.