Five years after mass protests broke out across Egypt leading to the toppling of former president Hosni Mubarak, and bearing popular chants for “bread, freedom, social justice,” the country has recoiled back to a human rights crisis of unprecedented proportions. Since the 2013 military takeover which forced Mohamed Morsi to step down, making way for President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi to rule the country, several controversial laws have been decreed. In light of the parliamentary absence which lasted over three years, from mid-2012 till early 2016, decreed laws which severely limited freedoms and expanded the authority of the state vis-à-vis civil society were not subject for discussion, let alone voting. Among the many repercussions of this questionable range of human rights-defying laws are forced arrests, the banning of political movements, journalism-impeding laws, anti-protests laws and more. In 2013, the Muslim Brotherhood, from which former president Mohammad Morsi hailed, was outlawed and designated a “terrorist organization.” In the following year, the April 6 movement, which played a key role in the 2011 revolution, was also banned. However, on the more troublesome end of laws introduced in 2013 is the protest law. The…
