Egypt

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government continues to oversee Egypt’s worst human rights crisis in decades and has escalated the use of counterterrorism laws to prosecute peaceful dissidents. The government has arrested scores of al-Sisi’s critics, including potential presidential candidates, ahead of the 2018 presidential elections that was held in an unfair and unfree environment. Police and the National Security Agency have systematically used torture and enforced disappearances. The government has sent thousands of civilians to military courts, undermined the judiciary’s independence, and executed dozens of people following flawed trials. The government continues to ban most forms of independent organization and peaceful assembly.