investigate the causes and circumstances of parliament toughened penalties for female these deaths. genital mutilation. In March, prosecutors failed to investigate In October, 98 women became State claims that a police officer beat Mohamed Council judges, but women remained under- Abdelaziz to death in his workplace in Shebin represented or excluded from most judicial el-Qanater in Qalyubia governorate. and prosecutorial bodies. Conditions in prisons and other detention Authorities continued to prosecute women 3 facilities remained cruel and inhuman, with social media influencers for how they acted, prisoners reporting overcrowding, poor dressed and earned money on social media ventilation, and lack of hygiene and access to apps. In June, Hanin Hossam and Mawada sanitation facilities and adequate food, el-Adham were sentenced to 10 and six years drinking water, fresh air and exercise. in prison respectively, for inciting “indecent” Authorities continued to restrict or ban content and “human trafficking”. At least family visits and correspondence and deny seven women social media influencers prisoners access to adequate healthcare, in remained imprisoned on morality-related or some cases deliberately with the apparent other bogus charges. purpose of punishing dissent. Authorities failed to prevent and investigate DEATH PENALTY widespread violence against women and girls. In May, authorities released all suspects Courts, including terrorism circuits of criminal due to “lack of evidence” in a case courts and emergency courts, handed down concerning a gang rape at a Cairo hotel in death sentences after grossly unfair trials. 2014. At least two witnesses reported being On 29 July, an emergency court, whose pressured by security agents to change their convictions and sentences are not subject to testimonies. appeal, sentenced 16 men to death following Authorities continued to arrest and a grossly unfair trial in a case relating to prosecute individuals on the basis of their 4 deadly attacks. real or perceived sexual orientation or gender Executions were carried out, often in secret identity. In August, a court convicted four and without final family visits. On 26 April, men of engaging in same-sex sexual relations the authorities executed 82-year-old Abd and sentenced them to prison terms ranging alRahim Jibril and eight others convicted of from six to nine years. killing police officers in August 2013. Their mass trial was marred by torture-tainted WORKERS’ RIGHTS “confessions”. In other cases, several men Authorities repressed workers’ right to strike were executed for offences not meeting the and form independent trade unions, and threshold of most serious crimes, including penalized workers for expressing their drug trafficking. opinions or demands. They failed to protect SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED dozens of workers unfairly dismissed, punished and harassed by private companies DISCRIMINATION AND VIOLENCE 5 for their involvement in peaceful strikes. Women continued to face discrimination in In September, a court in Alexandria law and practice. sanctioned the dismissal without In February, the cabinet referred a new draft compensation of a public sector company personal status law to parliament, which worker for “publicly expressing his political retained discriminatory provisions against opinions”. The same month, authorities women in relation to marriage, divorce, child arbitrarily detained three Universal Company custody and education, and granted powers workers for two days for exercising their right to male guardians to judicially annul women’s to strike. marriage without their consent. In April, In August, the president ratified a new law, allowing for the unfair, automatic dismissal of Amnesty International Report 2021/22 155