Türk calls on Egypt to end “rotation” practice that facilitates prolonged arbitrary detentions

GENEVA – UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Tuesday called on Egyptian authorities to put an end to a practice that allows Government critics to be held arbitrarily and for prolonged periods, even after serving their sentences or completing maximum pretrial detention.

Human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, journalists, peaceful protesters and political opponents have been targeted by this strategy, which has come to be known as “rotation”. The practice entails the authorities bringing new charges against individuals when they are about to complete their prison sentences or as they reach the maximum legal period of pretrial detention, thus preventing their release. These fresh charges, often under counter-terrorism laws, are usually similar to those for which they had already been charged or convicted, and often lack substantive foundation.