Twenty-two peaceful women demonstrators*, aged between 17 and 22 year old, were arrestedbetween 28 and 30 December 2013 on the campus of Al Azhar University in Cairo, severely tortured and forced to undergo virginity tests. They are now being unlawfully detained in Al Qanater Prison. Today, Alkarama solicited the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture to intervene with the Egyptian authorities to obtain their immediate release and provide them with reparation for their abuse.

On 24 and 25 January, 106 demonstrators and bystanders were unlawfully killed in Egypt when the police and army used excessive force to quell protests against the Egyptian government. Most of the deaths occurred on 25 January 2014, which marked the third anniversary of the Egyptian revolution. Alkarama again urges the Egyptian authorities to respect the right to peaceful protest, as they are bound to do under international law, and prevent arrests and extrajudicial killings of peaceful protestors.