Artists in Egypt: Caught in the Machinery of Repression

In Egypt, the machinery of repression targets artists through restrictive laws, heavy censorship, and shadowy extra-legal tactics. As these harsh conditions persist, Egypt will appear before the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on 28 January for its Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a key opportunity to assess the country’s human rights record. The UPR, held every 4.5 years, reviews the human rights practices of all UN member states. Freemuse aims to highlight the risks faced by artists and urges the UPR to prioritise the protection of artistic expression in Egypt.

For creators tackling politically charged, socially taboo, or religiously sensitive topics in Egypt, the cost is often persecution—or worse. Women and LGBTQ+ individuals face heightened legal and societal backlash. Blasphemy laws and the Cybercrime Law are frequently used to silence dissent, while state approval for public performances stifles artistic freedom.

One prominent case is Galal El-Behairy, a poet and lyricist imprisoned since March 2018 for writing lyrics, a song critical of President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi. Initially charged for the song, he was later sentenced to three years by a military court for his unpublished poetry collection The Finest Women on Earth. Although his sentence ended in July 2021, he remains detained on new charges related to his lyrics. El-Behairy has undergone hunger strikes to protest his prolonged detention, which exceeds Egypt’s legal pre-trial limit.

The Egyptian government’s crackdown on satirical artists is exemplified by the arrest of cartoonist Ashraf Omar from Al-Manassa on 22 July 2024. Known for satirising issues such as the electricity crisis and state asset sales, Omar was charged with spreading false news, misusing social media, and alleged ties to a terrorist group—likely due to his cartoons. Omar remains in detention under successive orders, raising fears of prolonged, untried imprisonment.

Egypt’s crackdown on artistic freedom, exemplified by cases such as Galal El-Behairy and Ashraf Omar, reveals the harsh reality for creators challenging authority. As Egypt faces its UPR at the UN, it’s a crucial moment for the international community to demand accountability and protect artistic expression.