The 2019 Egyptian protests were mass protests
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Damietta
Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...
and other cities on 20, 21 and 27 September 2019 in which the protestors called for President
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
to be removed from power.
Security forces responded with tear gas, rubber bullets
and, ,
arbitrary arrests had been made,
based on data from the
Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
, the
Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) ( ar, المفوضية المصرية للحقوق و الحريات, al-Mafwaḍiyyah al-Miṣriyyah lil-Ḥuqūq wal-Ḥurrīyāt) is an Egyptian human rights organisation based in Cairo. T ...
, the
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information,
among which 111 were
minors according to
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
and the
Belady Foundation.
Prominent arrestees included human rights lawyer
Mahienour el-Massry,
journalist and former leader of the
Constitution Party Khaled Dawoud
Khaled Dawoud is the former leader of the Constitution Party of Egypt. Dawoud has been a journalist for Al-Ahram Weekly since 1996. Dawoud resigned as a spokesperson for the National Salvation Front (NSF) on 16 August 2013 in protest at the sup ...
and two professors of political science at
Cairo University,
Hazem Hosny and
Hassan Nafaa
Hassan Nafaa is an Egyptian writer and professor of political science at Cairo University. He was a coordinator of the National Association for Change, a loose political alliance in Egypt prior to the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
2019 arrest
At 15 ...
.
The wave of arrests was the biggest in Egypt since Sisi formally became president in 2014.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
called for all those arrested for peacefully expressing their opinions to be released immediately.
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
described the Sisi government being "shaken to its core" by the 20–21 September protests and that the authorities had "launched a full-throttle clampdown to crush demonstrations and intimidate activists, journalists and others into silence".
Two thousand people, including
Sudanese Professionals Association
The Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA; ar, تجمع المهنيين السودانيين) is an umbrella association of 17 different Sudanese trade unions. The organisation started forming in October 2012, though was not officially regi ...
(SPA) representatives, protested in
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
on 26 September in support of Waleed Abdelrahman Hassan, a Sudanese anti-Islamist student detained by Egyptian authorities, who gave a
forced confession on
MBC Masr television.
The SPA stated, "the era when Sudanese citizens were humiliated inside or outside their country has gone and will never return".
The
Sudanese Foreign Ministry summoned the Egyptian ambassador
and Waleed Abdelrahman Hassan was freed on 2 October 2019.
A massive police clampdown took place around
Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
and across Egypt on 27 September,
together with pro-Sisi rallies of government employees organised by the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
,
and anti-Sisi protests on
Warraq Island on the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
,
in
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
,
in
Helwan
Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...
,
in
Qus
Qus ( ar, قوص, older name ar, قوص واروير, translit=qus warwir, from cop, ⲕⲱⲥ ⲃⲉⲣⲃⲓⲣ) is a city in the modern Qena Governorate, Egypt, located on the east bank of the Nile.
History Naming
Its modern name is one of ...
,
and in the
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
,
Aswan Minya and
Sohag Governorates.
On 3 November 2019,
parliamentarian Ahmed Tantawi
Ahmed Tantawi or Ahmed Mohamed Ramadan Tantawi ( ar, أحمد محمد رمضان الطنطاوي; also: ''Tantawy'') is an Egyptian journalist and politician. , he is a member of the 25-30 Alliance and a member of the Egyptian House of Rep ...
made
online
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...
and parliamentary proposals for Sisi to step down in 2022 rather than stand for re-election in 2024.
Background
Mass protests in the
Egyptian revolution of 2011
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
led to the demission of President
Hosni Mubarak
Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011.
Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...
, the
2012 Egyptian presidential election
Presidential elections were held in Egypt in 2012, with the first round on 23 and 24 May 2012 and the second on 16 and 17 June. The 2012 Egyptian Presidential election was the first democratic presidential election of Egypt’s history. The Musli ...
won by
Mohamed Morsi
Mohamed Mohamed Morsi Eissa al-AyyatThe spellings of his first and last names vary. survey of 14 news organizations plus Wikipedia in July 2012
2012–2013 Egyptian protests
The 2012–2013 Egyptian protests (sometimes called the Hirak Uprising) were part of the crisis in Egypt including the June 2013 protests, the July 2013 coup d'état, and part of the post-coup unrest. They saw varying opposition against thr ...
against the Morsi presidency, the
2013 Egyptian coup d'état
The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected
President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitut ...
which overthrew Morsi, the
August 2013 Rabaa massacre by the security forces and army led by general
Abdel Fattah el-Sisi
Abdel Fattah Saeed Hussein Khalil el-Sisi; (born 19 November 1954) is an Egyptian politician and retired military officer who has served as the sixth and current president of Egypt since 2014. Before retiring as a general in the Egyptian mil ...
, and an authoritarian government under Sisi, who was elected president with no serious opponents in
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
and
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
. Protests against the imprisonment of ordinary civilians led to mass demonstrations at the beginning of the year. The first wave of mass protests were from February–June. Strikes against electricity, bread and corn and rice prices, fuel price hike, economy, shortage of food and water and oil. It led to nothing achieved.
Online anti-Sisi videos
Starting on 2 September 2019,
Mohamed Ali (also: ''Aly''
), an Egyptian construction contractor living in exile in Spain, claimed on
online social networks that he had worked in the construction industry for 15 years under army contracts, building five villas for colleagues of Sisi and a palace for Sisi in a military camp. Ali accused Sisi of wasting public funds and "
akinglow-level corruption to a new level".
Ali's videos outline specific incidents and directly accuse well-known military individuals, including Major-Generals
Kamel al-Wazir and
Essam al-Kholy. Egyptian authorities ran a media campaign attacking Ali. According to Said and Mamdouh writing in ''
Mada Masr'', the governmental campaign "did not refute the substance of
li'sclaims."
After the first week of wide circulation of Ali's videos, Sisi denied the allegations at a session of the "National Youth Conference.
Sisi stated that "all the intelligence agencies told me please do not talk about it. ... I told them, what's between me and the people is trust."
Within a few hours of Sisi's speech, Ali posted two hours of new videos, referring to Sisi's son Mahmoud and the
Sinai insurgency
The Sinai insurgency is an ongoing insurgency in the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt, that was commenced by Islamist militants against Egyptian security forces, which have also included attacks on civilians. The insurgency began during the Egyptian C ...
.
Mosaad Abu Fagr, a Sinai activist in exile, then released two videos in which he claimed that the Egyptian authorities refused an offer by North Sinai tribal leaders to remove the terrorist cells within a few weeks, and that he was asked by the tribal leaders to publish that information. Abu Fagr stated that Sisi cooperated with drug smugglers and dealers instead of working with the tribes and that Sisi and his son Mahmoud have business interests in smuggling between the Sinai and the
Gaza Strip
The Gaza Strip (;The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory under the control of the Palestinian National Authority and Hamas, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza.. ...
. Abu Fagr also accused the Egyptian security forces of the "wiping out of entire villages" along the border with Gaza.
Lawyer Mohamed Hamdy Younes stated that he would request the
Attorney-General to investigate Ali's accusations. He was then arrested and charged with belonging to a terrorist organisation.Former army officer and lawyer Ahmed Sarhan circulated a video supporting most of Ali's claims, calling for Younes to be released and making new accusations against people close to Sisi. Sarhan's video was viewed half a million times.
A masked man circulated a video claiming that he had sensitive information about Sisi, that Ali's videos contain "factual information about the corruption in the upper ranks of the Armed Forces" and that "the events happening" constitute "retaliation" by the
Mukhabarat
( ar, مخابرات, also transliterated '' / ''), is the Arabic term for intelligence, as used by an intelligence agency. In most of the Middle East, the term is colloquially used in reference to secret police agents who spy on civilians. Organi ...
against
Military Intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...
, which was headed by Sisi until 2012. In another video, a masked man claiming to be an intelligence officer stated that Sisi changed commanders frequently in order to avoid any becoming too powerful and that Sisi coordinated intelligence information closely with Israel. Former Air Force pilot Hany Sharaf and former state security officer Hesham Sabry then circulated videos highly critical of Sisi.
Wael Ghonim, who played a key online role in sparking the
2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
and lives in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, posted videos similar to the others, adding claims that Sisi's son Mahmoud played a strong role in managing Egyptian "daily politics".
A representative of the Egyptian Embassy in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
telephoned Ghonim, asking him to stop criticising the Egyptian authorities, in exchange for which he would receive a payment and a guarantee to be able to "return to Egypt safely". Ghonim refused, and a few days later Ghonim's brother Hazem was arrested in Cairo. Ghonim interpreted this as a kidnapping in revenge for Ghonim having refused to remain silent.
Ali was described in mid-September by Mohamed Elmasry of the
Doha Institute for Graduate Studies
The Doha Institute for Graduate Studies is a higher education institute in Doha, Qatar. Its first student enrollment was in the 2015/2016 academic year. The Doha Institute is intended as a graduate studies academy; students enrolled in its progra ...
as being "probably the most popular man in Egypt" with millions of viewers of his online videos and millions of people using Ali's anti-Sisi
hashtag
A hashtag is a metadata tag that is prefaced by the hash (also known as pound or octothorpe) sign, ''#''. On social media, hashtags are used on microblogging and photo-sharing services such as Twitter or Instagram as a form of user-generated ...
s. Elmasry described Ali as "a legitimate threat to the el-Sisi government."
On 21 September, following the previous day's protests, Ali called for a "million-man march" to fill all the "major squares" in Egypt on the following Friday, 27 September. Ali stated, "This is a people's revolution... We have to link up together as one... and organise going down to the major squares."
Late September 2019 protests
20 and 21 September
On Friday 20 September 2019, in response to Ali's call for anti-Sisi protests, two thousand people, mostly young, in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Damietta
Damietta ( arz, دمياط ' ; cop, ⲧⲁⲙⲓⲁϯ, Tamiati) is a port city and the capital of the Damietta Governorate in Egypt, a former bishopric and present multiple Catholic titular see. It is located at the Damietta branch, an easter ...
,
Suez,
Kafr El Sheikh
Kafr El Sheikh ( arz, كفر الشيخ ) is an Egyptian city and the capital of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, Egypt, about 134 km north of Cairo, in the Nile Delta of lower Egypt. As of November 2006, the town had a population of around 500,0 ...
and four other Egyptian cities on 20 September 2019 carried out street protests calling for Sisi to be removed from power.
Chants included "rise up, fear not, Sisi must go" and "the people demand the regime's fall".
Street protests continued in Cairo, Suez,
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
and
El Mahalla El Kubra
El Mahalla El Kubra ( ar, المحلة الكبرى, , , ) – commonly shortened to ' – is the largest city of the Gharbia Governorate and in the Nile Delta, with a population of 535,278 as of 2012. It is a large industrial and agricultural cit ...
on 21 September. In Suez, with 200 demonstrators, teargas, rubber bullets and live bullets were shot at protestors. The teargas spread to "a few" kilometres from the zone of the protest where a resident felt the gas making her nose feel as if it were burning.
27 September
On 26 September, exiled former presidential candidate
Ayman Nour stated that the massive scale of the arrests showed that the Sisi government was "terrified" and that he expected protests to grow, with the fear barrier having been broken down and the mass arrests provoking anger in the context of socioeconomic difficulties. On the same day, actor
Amr Waked tweeted to seven million followers that "Sisi is done ... it is over for him and anyone who supports him now will be making a huge mistake."
;Anti-Sisi
On 27 September itself, 1000
to 2000
people on
Warraq Island on the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
next to Cairo protested against Sisi and were attacked by police using tear gas.
One of the slogans chanted by protestors was, "No matter how, we'll bring Sisi down".
Using their rifles, police "beat the hell" out of six of the Warraq protestors.
A protest of 24 people took place in
Helwan
Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...
in the
Cairo Governorate
Cairo Governorate is one of the 27 governorates of Egypt. It is formed of the city of Cairo, both the national capital of Egypt and the governorate's, in addition to five satellite cities: the New Administrative Capital - set to become the s ...
in front of the al-Istiqama mosque. Police fired shots in the air in response.
Anti-Sisi protests took place in
Qus
Qus ( ar, قوص, older name ar, قوص واروير, translit=qus warwir, from cop, ⲕⲱⲥ ⲃⲉⲣⲃⲓⲣ) is a city in the modern Qena Governorate, Egypt, located on the east bank of the Nile.
History Naming
Its modern name is one of ...
in
Qena
Qena ( ar, قنا ' , locally: ; cop, ⲕⲱⲛⲏ ''Konē'') is a city in Upper Egypt, and the capital of the Qena Governorate. Situated on the east bank of the Nile, it was known in antiquity as Kaine (Greek Καινή, meaning "new (city)"; ...
,
where they were dispersed by police,
in
Luxor Governorate
Luxor Governorate has been one of Egypt's governorates since 7 December 2009, when former president Hosni Mubarak announced its separation from the Qena Governorate. ,
in
Aswan Governorate,
in
Minya Governorate,
and in
Sohag Governorate.
A protest of 70 people took place in
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
and was dispersed by police.
;Clampdown on protests
Police organised "a huge show of force" in central Cairo and other Egyptian cities, with
Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
heavily policed and four
metro stations close to Tahrir Square were closed.
All roads leading to Tahrir Square were blocked and checkpoints were established on
6th October Bridge
The 6th October Bridge ( ar, كوبري 6 أكتوبر, ) is an elevated highway in central Cairo, Egypt. The bridge and causeway crosses the Nile twice from the west bank suburbs, east through Gezira Island to Downtown Cairo, and on to connect ...
, which had been a key route to Tahrir Square during the
2011 Egyptian revolution
The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...
,
and
15th May Bridge
15 (fifteen) is the natural number following 14 and preceding 16.
Mathematics
15 is:
* A composite number, and the sixth semiprime; its proper divisors being , and .
* A deficient number, a smooth number, a lucky number, a pernicious nu ...
.
Instructions received by the Ministry of Interior had been to respond to demonstrations with limited force for "no more than a few minutes" and to use all available violent measures against street protests.
;Pro-Sisi
Pro-Sisi rallies were organised on 27 September with the
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
instructing health, education, youth and sports ministries and agencies and oil companies to send their employees to the rallies.
State companies bussed employees to a major road east of the centre of Cairo
and to
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
.
Free meals were given to a group of families from
Beni Mazar
Beni Mazar () is a rural town in Egypt. It is located in the Minya Governorate, on the west bank of the Nile. The older name of the town is Shinwada ( or شِنُوَدة) which comes from Sahidic (Bohairic: ϣⲓⲛⲟⲩⲟϯ) meaning "kailyard ...
in Minya Governorate who organised 30 buses to participate in the pro-Sisi Cairo rallies. The National Security Agency warned independent Members of
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
from talking about the "ongoing events or the discussions around Sisi".
Arrests and harassment
In response to the first reports of arrests,
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...
(HRW) called for Egypt to respect the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is a multilateral treaty that commits nations to respect the civil and political rights of individuals, including the right to life, freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedo ...
to which it is legally bound, guaranteeing freedom of expression, association and peaceful assembly. HRW called for the Egyptian security services to follow the
United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials by using "non-violent means before resorting to the use of force and firearms".
Arrests for the 20 and 21 September protests were estimated as 500 by the
Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
(ECESR) that published a list of the names of arrestees.
Arrests were earlier reported by the
Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms
The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF) ( ar, المفوضية المصرية للحقوق و الحريات, al-Mafwaḍiyyah al-Miṣriyyah lil-Ḥuqūq wal-Ḥurrīyāt) is an Egyptian human rights organisation based in Cairo. T ...
(ECRF) for 12 towns including Cairo, Giza, Alexandria, Suez and towns in
Dakahlia Governorate
Dakahlia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الدقهلية ', ) is an Egyptian governorate lying northeast of Cairo. Its area is approximately 3,500 km2. Although the capital of the governorate is Mansoura, it got its name from the ancient to ...
,
Qalyubia Governorate
Qalyubia Governorate ( ar, محافظة القليوبية ' ) is one of the governorates of Egypt. Located in Lower Egypt. It is situated north of Cairo in the Nile Delta region. Its capital is Banha.
Name
Name of Qalubiyya governorate is driv ...
and
Kafr el-Sheikh
Kafr El Sheikh ( arz, كفر الشيخ ) is an Egyptian city and the capital of Kafr El Sheikh Governorate, Egypt, about 134 km north of Cairo, in the Nile Delta of lower Egypt. As of November 2006, the town had a population of around 500,0 ...
. ECRF stated that it had created an "emergency room" to provide support in relation to the sudden surge in arrests.
Human rights lawyer
Mahienour el-Massry was arrested by three plainclothes officers in front of the
Supreme State Security Prosecution headquarters in Cairo while telephoning to a friend Noha Kamal on 22 September. She screamed to Kamal, "They're arresting me. I am being taken away" and was taken away in a microbus.
HRW called on the Egyptian security forces to "immediately release all those arrested for solely exercising their rights".
On 23 September, Mohamed Ali, whose videos sparked off the online discussion and street protests, stated that "officers" had been following him in Spain for two weeks, and that he had been "hiding and running away from them". Ali stated that the officers wished to kill him and that he was too tired to "run any more". Ali stated that Spanish authorities were responsible for his safety and that if he were "killed in Spain," then that would "
rove
Rove may refer to:
Places
* Le Rove, a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France
* Rove, Honiara, a suburb of Honiara, Solomon Islands
* Rove, Vojnik, a settlement in the hills east of Frankolovo in the Municipality of Vojnik ...
that Europe is a liar just like the United States and is willing to give up anybody."
By 25 September, the arrest count was estimated at by the
Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI), ECESR and ECRF
and by ''
Middle East Eye
Middle East Eye (MEE) is a London-based news website covering events in the Middle East and North Africa. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary porta ...
''.
In addition to el-Massry, prominent arrestees included former leader of the
Constitution Party Khaled Dawoud
Khaled Dawoud is the former leader of the Constitution Party of Egypt. Dawoud has been a journalist for Al-Ahram Weekly since 1996. Dawoud resigned as a spokesperson for the National Salvation Front (NSF) on 16 August 2013 in protest at the sup ...
and two professors of political science at
Cairo University,
Hazem Hosny and
Hassan Nafaa
Hassan Nafaa is an Egyptian writer and professor of political science at Cairo University. He was a coordinator of the National Association for Change, a loose political alliance in Egypt prior to the 2011 Egyptian revolution.
2019 arrest
At 15 ...
.
Dawoud, Hosny and Nafaa were charged with "spreading fake news and joining terrorist organisations".
Hazem Hosny was arrested without a warrant and held incommunicado. His legal defence team called for him to be released immediately.
Hosny had earlier described Mohamed Ali as playing a "positive role" and described the new protest movement as having the potential to affect the "international formula that largely determines Sisi's continued rule". Hosny argued in favour of "
tripping
Tripping may refer to:
* Psychedelic experience
* Tripping (ice hockey), a penalty infraction
* Tripping (pipe), the act of running or pulling drill pipe into or out of a wellbore on a drilling rig
* "Tripping" (song), a 2005 single by Robbie Wil ...
Sisi of his dictatorial control of the Egyptian state".
Prior to his arrest, Hassan Nafaa had argued that "the continuation of Sisi's absolute rule
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
lead to disaster" and that "public pressure from the street" was needed to end Sisi's presidency. Nafaa stated that "the image Sisi has created for himself has been totally shaken and it has been replaced by the opposite image."
Khaled Dawoud, arrested on 25 September 2019, as former media spokesperson of the
National Salvation Front, had supported the
2013 Egyptian coup d'état
The 2013 Egyptian coup d'etat took place on 3 July 2013. Egyptian army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi led a coalition to remove the democratically elected
President of Egypt, Mohamed Morsi, from power and suspended the Egyptian constitut ...
but later criticised Sisi. Following Mohamed Ali's video releases, Dawoud called for investigations of the corruption claims.
The arrest count mounted to on 26 September, with the arrest of lawyers
Mohamed Salah Agag, deputy head of the Lawyers' Syndicate; Ahmed Sarhan; Ahmed Abdel Azeem; Islam Khairy Nour Eddin and Mahmoud Moemen Naeem. Two Turks, two Jordanians, a Palestinian and a Dutchman were arrested and charged with "spreading violence against the state and publishing false news."
The arrests of five journalists, including
Sayed Abdellah, who had been reporting on the protests in Suez, and
Mohammed Ibrahim, author of the blog "Oxygen Egypt", were documented by
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
. Labour leader
Rashad Mohammed Kamal Rashad is a given name which may refer to:
Surname:
*Ahmad Rashad (born 1949), American football player and sportcaster
*Ali Akbar Rashad (born 1955), Iranian philosopher and Islamic scholar
*Isaiah Rashad (born 1991), American rapper
*Phylicia Ras ...
, who participated in the protests, was arrested at his home in Suez. Politicians, including Abed Aziz Husseini, vice-president of the
Dignity Party (Karama) and Abdel Nasser Ismail, vice-president of the
Socialist Popular Alliance Party
The Socialist People's Alliance Party ( ar, حزب التحالف الشعبي الإشتراكي ''Hizb Al-Tahalof Al-Shaeby Al-Ishtiraky'', SPAP) is a leftist party in Egypt formed shortly after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Its membership ...
were arrested.
On 29 September, the Egyptian blogger, software developer and activist
Alaa Abd el-Fattah
Alaa Ahmed Seif Abd-El Fattah ( ar, علاء أحمد سيف الإسلام عبد الفتاح, ; born 18 November 1981), known professionally as Alaa Abd El-Fattah ( ar, علاء عبد الفتاح), is an Egyptian-British blogger, software d ...
, who had previously been arrested for his political activism during the Mubarak, Morsi and Sisi presidencies, and had not participated in the 2019 Egyptian protests, was arrested by State Security Prosecution on unknown charges.
El-Fattah's lawyer
Mohamed al-Baqer, director of the human rights organisation
Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms
Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms (also: ''Adala and Liberties Centre'') is an Egyptian human rights organisation created in 2014 by lawyers and students, based in Cairo.
Founding and leadership
Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms was cre ...
, was himself arrested at the prosecutor's office on 29 September.
Both were tortured in
welcome parades in
Tora Prison.
Arrested politicians included 11 members of the
Independence Party
Independence Party may refer to:
Active parties Outside United States
* Independence Party (Egypt)
* Estonian Independence Party
* Independence Party (Finland)
* Independence Party (Iceland)
* Independence Party (Mauritius)
* Independence Part ...
that had called for citizens to participate in the street protests as proposed by Mohamed Ali.
On 2 October, ECESR listed detainees grouped into six separate legal cases, among which almost all () are in Case 1338/2019.
Alaa Abd el-Fattah and his lawyer Mohamed el-Baqer were detained under Case 1356/2019
or 1365/2019.
On 6 October, ECRF listed about detainees, larger than any earlier arrest waves of the Sisi presidency. Three quarters had appeared in front of a prosecutor; 57 had been released without being charged; 100 people were listed as missing.
Of those arrested for protesting, many prisoners appear to not have participated in this most recent wave of action. There are multiple cases of people claiming that their family members have never publicly protested, in 2011 or 2019, but were still arrested. Several human rights lawyers and advocates described the arrests as indiscriminate and arbitrary. Amnesty International stated that at least 111 children were arrested as well, often after having their phones searched at checkpoints.
According to the New York Times, the arrested protestors were held in poor conditions. Due to the overflow in local prisons, some detainees have gone without food, water, or access to toilets. Most have not been allowed to contact their families. For this reason, families of those imprisoned rarely knew where their family members were being held. Some of the detained were placed in the bases of the
Central Security Forces, a paramilitary group whose buildings are not made to hold citizen prisoners.
Internet censorship
In the week following the 20/21 September protests, Egyptian authorities blocked, restricted or temporarily disrupted online communication services including
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...
,
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (also called WhatsApp Messenger) is an internationally available freeware, cross-platform, centralized instant messaging (IM) and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by American company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). It allows us ...
,
Signal.
Egyptian political party freeze threat
The
Civil Democratic Movement, including the
Socialist Popular Alliance Party
The Socialist People's Alliance Party ( ar, حزب التحالف الشعبي الإشتراكي ''Hizb Al-Tahalof Al-Shaeby Al-Ishtiraky'', SPAP) is a leftist party in Egypt formed shortly after the Egyptian Revolution of 2011. Its membership ...
, stated that it did not participate in the protests but did have a vision for political reforms. It objected to the mass arrests of protestors, lawyers, journalists and politicians, and stated that it was considering a freeze on public political activities in response to the crackdown.
Further calls for political change
November parliamentary protest
On 3 November 2019, elected member of the
House of Representatives Ahmed Tantawi
Ahmed Tantawi or Ahmed Mohamed Ramadan Tantawi ( ar, أحمد محمد رمضان الطنطاوي; also: ''Tantawy'') is an Egyptian journalist and politician. , he is a member of the 25-30 Alliance and a member of the Egyptian House of Rep ...
made parliamentary and
online social network
A social network is a social structure made up of a set of social actors (such as individuals or organizations), sets of dyadic ties, and other social interactions between actors. The social network perspective provides a set of methods for an ...
protests calling for el-Sisi to step down in 2022, rather than in 2024 as defined in the 2019 constitutional amendment. Tantawi later discussed his video with ''
Mada Masr'', stating that his aim was to protect Egypt from the "imminent danger" of el-Sisi continuing in power too long, that it was consistent with el-Sisi's promises, and that this should satisfy el-Sisi's supporters.
Tantawi submitted his formal request under parliamentary procedure to
Ali Abdel Aal
Ali Abdel Aal Sayyed Ahmed ( ar, علي عبد العال; born 29 November 1948) is an Egyptian law professor and politician. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives between 10 January 2016 and 12 January 2021. As law professor he worked a ...
, Speaker of the House of Representatives, proposing that 12 parliamentary committees be created to "generate a national dialogue about the political, economic and social problems facing the country," to solve "the real crisis Egypt is living through, which authorities should pay attention to before it is too late" and that the proposal would help to "absorb public outrage". Tantawi expressed his worry that a violent reaction by authorities to his initiative would discourage "the people" from choosing political methods of change.
Member of parliament
Mahmoud Badr
Mahmoud Badr ( ar, محمود بدر, links=no; born 1985) is an Egyptian activist and journalist. He co-founded the Tamarod ("Rebel") movement and serves as its official spokesman and one of its principal leaders.Hussein, DinaTamarod: The Organiza ...
called Tantawi's proposal an "outright violation of the constitution" and 95 members of parliament submitted a request to the Speaker, Abdel Aal, to refer Tantawi to the parliament's Ethics Committee, on the grounds that Tantawi's initiative "undermines the Egyptian state and its institutions".
December 2019 broad consensus
On 28 December 2019, Mohamed Ali, who had sparked off the September street protests, released the "
Egyptian Consensus Document" with a list of four key principles and four key actions for replacing the existing system of government. Ali claimed that the document represented the consensus of a wide range of the Egyptian opposition.
The following day, the
Egyptian National Action Group
The Egyptian National Action Group or ENAG is a group of expatriate Egyptians created in December 2019 with the aim of overthrowing what is described by the group as military rule in Egypt.
Creation
In December 2019, a group of expatriate Egypti ...
(ENAG), including
Ayman Nour as spokesperson,
was launched. ENAG made a similar claim of representing the consensus of a broad array of the Egyptian opposition ("centrists, liberals, leftists
ndIslamists") with a consensus program for replacing the governmental system.
September 2020 anniversary
Protests restarted on the 2020 anniversary of the 2019 protests. The protests were decentralised
and started on 20 September 2020, again calling for el-Sisi to resign.
Protest locations included
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
,
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
,
Suez,
Kafr El Dawwar,
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
,
Aswan,
El Qanater El Khayreya
El Qanater El Khayreya ( ar, القناطر الخيرية , "the Benevolent Bridges") is a city and a markaz in Qalyubia Governorate, Egypt. It is the location of the Delta Barrages, the first modern irrigation structure across the Nile, lo ...
,
Faiyum,
Minya and
Luxor
Luxor ( ar, الأقصر, al-ʾuqṣur, lit=the palaces) is a modern city in Upper (southern) Egypt which includes the site of the Ancient Egyptian city of ''Thebes''.
Luxor has frequently been characterized as the "world's greatest open-a ...
.
The sixth day of protests, on 25 September, was called a "Day of Rage".
Sociopolitical analysis
Dalia Fahmy of
Long Island University
Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...
said that the 20 September 2019 protests showed people "
reakingthe fear barrier", which she said was surprising but expected because of demographic change. She stated, "When you have much of the population that doesn't live with the post-revolution trauma or memories, you have a group of young people coming in with a different set of demands and different kinds of understanding of a future possibility. So those on the streets today are very different from the ones that were there eight years ago."
Muslim Brotherhood role
According to
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...
political science professor
Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, the
Muslim Brotherhood
The Society of the Muslim Brothers ( ar, جماعة الإخوان المسلمين'' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar and schoolteacher Hassan ...
supported and amplified Mohamed Ali's criticisms against Sisi and Ali's calls for protests. Al-Sayyed stated, "the Brotherhood certainly benefited from his videos and their channels exploited what he was saying to portray a negative image of Sisi's leadership." He expected that the Muslim Brotherhood as an "idea based on Islam
ould Ould is an English surname and an Arabic name ( ar, ولد). In some Arabic dialects, particularly Hassaniya Arabic, ولد (the patronymic, meaning "son of") is transliterated as Ould. Most Mauritanians have patronymic surnames.
Notable p ...
continue to attract many."
Former member of parliament and member of the
al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies The al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS) is an Egyptian research institute specializing in political science created in 1968 as part of the al-Ahram Foundation.
Independence
In October 2019, during the Abdel Fattah el-Sisi ...
,
Amr el-Shobaki, judged the Brotherhood's role to be weak, stating that the Brotherhood does not "have the capacity to call for a rally
nd itscapacity to recruit new members has been weakened." He said that the 20 September protests were by "everyday youth, those economically marginalised" and that "the Brotherhood wasn't behind or even participated" in the protests.
Reactions
Writing in ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...
'' on 6 October 2019, Bel Trew criticised the lack of reactions of Western powers to the wave of arrests, stating "no major western ally of Egypt has breathed a word."
Egypt
The
Revolutionary Socialists
The Revolutionary Socialists ( ar, الاشتراكيون الثوريون; ) (RS) are a Trotskyist organisation in Egypt originating in the tradition of 'Socialism from Below'. Leading RS members include sociologist Sameh Naguib. The organisati ...
stated that the protests "restored hope to the millions who were desperate". The
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology.
Active parties
For ...
, a supporter of the 2013 coup by Sisi, objected to the 2019 crackdown, stating that citizens had the right to "exercise their constitutional and legal right to peaceful demonstration".
International civil society protests
Demonstrations by expatriate Egyptians in support of the 21 September and 22 September protests took place in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
,
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
.
;Sudan
On 26 September, two thousand people
protested in support of Waleed Abdelrahman Hassan (or ''Walid'', ''Abdulrahman''),
a Sudanese student arrested in Cairo for alleged participation in the 21 September protest. The protest took place in
Khartoum
Khartoum or Khartum ( ; ar, الخرطوم, Al-Khurṭūm, din, Kaartuɔ̈m) is the capital of Sudan. With a population of 5,274,321, its metropolitan area is the largest in Sudan. It is located at the confluence of the White Nile, flowing n ...
in front of the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Egyptian embassy. The
Sudanese Professionals Association
The Sudanese Professionals' Association (SPA; ar, تجمع المهنيين السودانيين) is an umbrella association of 17 different Sudanese trade unions. The organisation started forming in October 2012, though was not officially regi ...
(SPA) called for Abdelrahman Hassan to be able to contact his family, choose a lawyer and not be tortured or coerced.
Abdelrahman Hassan's friends and relatives stated that an apparent confession by him broadcast by
MBC Masr on 26 September, in which he stated support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, was a
forced confession, given Abdelrahman Hassan's long-term opposition to Islamists in Sudan under the
Omar al-Bashir government, for which he was arrested in 2013 and 2018, and during the
Sudanese Revolution
The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudane ...
. Abdelrahman Hassan's friend Mohammed Saleh described the idea of Hassan supporting the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood as "unbelievable". The SPA stated that the video broadcast was "shameful" and that, "We stress here that the era when Sudanese citizens were humiliated inside or outside their country has gone and will never return."
Another protest in front of the Egyptian embassy in Khartoum was held on 27 September, with protest banners stating that Abdelrahman Hassan was not a member of the Muslim brotherhood and that he didn't participate in the 2019 Egyptian protests. The Sudanese embassy in Cairo stated that it was in contact with Egyptian authorities and that Abdelrahman Hassan was charged with terrorism and membership of a banned organisation.
On 29 September, the Egyptian ambassador in Khartoum was summoned and informed of concerns about Abdelrahman Hassan. The
Sudanese Foreign Ministry protested against the Egyptian refusal to allow the Sudanese embassy in Cairo to meet Abdelrahman Hassan and asked for Abdelrahman Hassan to be given his full legal rights by the Egyptian authorities.
Abdelrahman Hassan was released on 2 October and the Sudanese embassy in Cairo said that he would depart Cairo the same evening to return to Khartoum.
International bodies
;European Parliament
According to the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
(EP), as of 23 October 2019, there had been "no official, strong and united public response
orthcomingfrom the
uropean Unionand its Member States to the September–October 2019 crackdown in Egypt". In Resolution 2019/2880(RSP), the EP strongly condemned the crackdown and "
emindedEgypt that any response by the security forces should be in line with international norms and standards and its own Constitution." In the resolution, the EP itemised 18 comments, requests, instructions and demands to Egyptian and European Union authorities and to the
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights in relation to the crackdown and other human rights issues in Egypt.
The United States
On 23 September, between the two major protests in the fall of 2019, Sisi met with U.S. President
Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
at the
United Nations General Assembly
The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; french: link=no, Assemblée générale, AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as the main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ of the UN. Curr ...
. In reference to the protests, Trump stated that "everybody has demonstrations" and that "Egypt has a great leader." He reiterated his support for a strong relationship between Egypt and the United States. Trump said that Sisi has brought order and stability to his country. At the meeting, Sisi claimed that the cause of the protests was "political Islam."
See also
*
2019–2021 Algerian protests
The 2019–2021 Algerian protests, also called Revolution of Smiles or Hirak Movement ( ar, rtl=yes, 1=الحِرَاك, links=, lit=The movement, translit=al-Ḥirāk), began on 16 February 2019, six days after Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced h ...
*
Human rights in Egypt
*
Sudanese Revolution
The Sudanese Revolution was a major shift of political power in Sudan that started with street protests throughout Sudan on 19 December 2018 and continued with sustained civil disobedience for about eight months, during which the 2019 Sudane ...
*
17 October Revolution
The 17 October Protests, commonly referred to as the 17 October Revolution () is a series of civil protests taking place in Lebanon. These national protests were triggered by planned taxes on gasoline, tobacco, and VoIP calls on applications s ...
*
2019–2021 Iraqi protests
The 2019–2021 Iraqi protests were a series of protests in Iraq consisting of demonstrations, marches, sit-ins and civil disobedience. It started on 1October 2019, a date which was set by civil activists on social media, spreading mainly over ...
*
November 2011 uprising in Egypt
*
2011 Egyptian protest movement
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Egyptian protests, 2019
2018–2022 Arab protests
2019 in Egypt
2019 protests
Arab Winter in Egypt
Protests in Egypt
September 2019 events in Egypt