Call for an end to state harassment of Mohamed Abdel Salam
Published: Jul 24, 2025 Reading time: 3 minutes Share: Share an articleThe undersigned human rights organisations call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately end all forms of harassment or intimidation against human rights defender Mohamed Abdel Salam, Executive Director of the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), in retaliation for his legitimate human rights work. The organisations are also calling to ensure that AFTE is free to conduct its activities without any undue restrictions.
On 20 May 2025, police officers at Cairo International Airport detained Mohamed Abdel Salam for about an hour and confiscated his passport, without providing any legal justification. During his brief detention, he was questioned about his travel and human rights work. Upon release, the police instructed him to report to a National Security Agency (NSA) office in Cairo for further questioning, again without any legal basis provided.
On 23 May, Mohamed Abdel Salam received a call from an NSA agent who asked him to collect his passport from an agency office in Cairo. The agent claimed the confiscation of his passport had been an “unintended administrative mistake.” Mohamed Abdel Salam went to the NSA office and retrieved his passport without being questioned further.
This is not the first time the Egyptian authorities have targeted Mohamed Abdel Salam or AFTE. In 2018, airport authorities confiscated his passport and summoned him to the NSA without legal grounds. He was able to obtain a new passport in 2023. In November 2022, plainclothes police put AFTE’s Cairo office under surveillance for two weeks.
In May of this year, AFTE has attempted to submit its first request to receive funding to the Ministry of Social Solidarity, as Law No. 149/2019 (known as the 2019 associations law), which governs the operation of civil society organizations in Egypt, requires associations to obtain authorisation before receiving funding, contrary to international law and standards. Despite submitting all required documents nearly two months ago, the organisation has not received the approval yet, hindering AFTE’s ability to seek and use funds to pursue the association’s activities.
AFTE has also encountered difficulties in maintaining a bank account since registering in 2023 under the 2019 associations law. After an eleven-month delay, a private bank finally opened an account for the organisation. Under international law, states must protect the right to freedom of association, including by removing any restrictions on the right imposed by the state or other actors.
For over a decade, the Egyptian authorities have systematically targeted human rights defenders with criminal prosecutions, arbitrary travel bans, and asset freezes. To this day, authorities continue to impose travel bans on staff members from several independent NGOs, including lawyer Huda Abdel Wahab, co-founder of the Arab Centre for Independence of Judiciary and Legal Profession (ACIJLP), Gasser Abdel-Razek, Kareem Ennarah, and Mohamed Bashir, three directors of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR).
We call on the Egyptian authorities to immediately stop subjecting Mohamed Abdel Salam and other human rights defenders to harassment or intimidation for exercising their fundamental rights. Civil society actors must be able to operate freely, safely, and without fear of retaliation, in line with Egypt’s constitutional and international obligations.
Signed,
HuMENA for Human Rights and Civic Engagement
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
Intersection Association for Rights and Freedoms
Open Observatory of Network Interference (OONI)
Skyline International for Human Rights (SIHR)
Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)
New Woman Foundation
World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
MENA Rights Group
Syria Center for Media and Freedom of Expression
African Leaders Nexus
Freemuse
Malaysian Academic Movement (GERAK)
MENA Prison Forum
Right to Food Malaysia (HADAM)
Salam for Democracy and Human Rights (SALAM DHR)
Cedar Centre for Legal Studies (CCLS)
CIVICUS
Access Now
Committee for Justice
Human Rights Watch
Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
The Access Center for Human Rights (ACHR)
People in Need
Lebanese Center for Human Rights
Amnesty International
Law and Democracy Support Foundation (LDSF)
Social accountability association
Observatory of Violations of Freedom of Expression and Opinion – Tunisia
The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP)
Association Ifriqiya
