Return of Eight Egyptians Highlights Ongoing Crisis of Enforced Disappearances in Egypt

The eight citizens had been forcibly disappeared since October and November 2018, following arbitrary arrests by Egyptian authorities. They were never presented before any investigative body. Their return came without official acknowledgment and under strict silence from their families—likely out of fear of future retaliation.

Most of the released individuals were self-employed, including drivers and mobile phone store workers, according to a June 16 statement by the El-Shehab Center for Human Rights. Among them was Jaafar Abdo Abdel Aziz (44), abducted outside his home in October 2018, who had become a symbol of enforced disappearances in Aswan.

The phenomenon of enforced disappearance in Egypt continues to alarm both local and international human rights organizations. While data varies due to government suppression, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms previously documented 4,253 cases, with 412 people still missing. The worst years were 2015 and 2016, with 816 and 691 cases, respectively. In contrast, 2019 saw the highest number of reappearances—927 cases.

According to the El-Shehab Center’s 2023 report, 2,465 political detainees were still forcibly disappeared, and 65 individuals were confirmed killed extrajudicially. Amnesty International’s 2024 report similarly cited dozens of disappearances in 2023, along with systemic torture, arbitrary detention, and unfair trials.

Rights groups face immense challenges in documenting these abuses, including security restrictions, legal threats, and the government’s official denial of the phenomenon. Victims and families often remain silent due to fear. The impact of enforced disappearances is not only individual but extends to national stability, eroding public trust in judicial and security institutions, fostering extremism, and deepening social divisions.

The practice severely damages Egypt’s international reputation, drawing condemnation from global human rights bodies and foreign governments. It also violates the Egyptian constitution and international treaties to which Cairo is a signatory.

While human rights groups welcome the return of the eight citizens, they stress that isolated cases cannot justify the continuation of such practices. They urge the Egyptian government to fulfill its constitutional and international obligations and end the crime of enforced disappearance.

Rights Groups Call for Justice and End to Egypt’s Enforced Disappearances

The United Nations Working Group on Enforced Disappearances, in a May 2024 report, noted a spike in disappearances around election periods, highlighting their use as tools of intimidation amid rising political activism.

Despite mounting pressure, enforced disappearances remain entrenched in Egyptian state practices. The U.S. State Department’s 2023 human rights report on Egypt cited extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, and inhumane detention conditions.

A February 2023 joint statement by six major local human rights groups condemned the public prosecution’s failure to investigate disappearances, especially after at least 40 detainees resurfaced after being held incommunicado for up to three years, many of whom were tortured.

The only sustainable path to peace and national security, El-Shehab Center insists, is the establishment of a state of law that respects the rights of all its citizens and puts a permanent end to enforced disappearance.