UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan on “rotation” practice by Egyptian Government that facilitates detention of critics arbitrarily and for prolonged periods.

“We call on Egyptian authorities to put an end to the practice known as “rotation”, which allows Government critics to be held arbitrarily and for prolonged periods, even after serving their sentences or completing maximum pretrial detention,” UN Human Rights Office spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said.

“Human rights defenders, activists, lawyers, journalists, peaceful protesters and political opponents have been targeted by this “rotation” practice. It 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,” he told reporters at the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.

The latest case concerns poet Galal El-Behairy, who was arbitrarily detained after completing a prison term on 31 July 2021 for writing songs and poetry critical of the Government. Since then, he has faced similar charges in two different cases under the counter-terrorism law and the penal code. The latest charges were brought against him on 19 August 2025, extending his detention for at least 15 more days.

In addition to El-Behairy’s case, this practice has been used in the case of writer and activist Alaa Abdel Fattah; lawyer and former member of the National Council for Human Rights, Hoda Abdel-Moneim; lawyer and coordinator of the Association of the Families of the Forcibly Disappeared, Ebrahim Metwally Hegazy; andpolitical activist and former spokesperson for the 6th of April Youth Movement, Mohammad Adel Fahmy Ali. All of them remain in arbitrary detention.

“Most of those targeted by “rotation” should not have been detained or jailed in the first place, as the charges brought against them are often related to the exercise of their legitimate rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. It has become a tool by which the Egyptian Government represses those perceived to be critical of its policies,” Al-Kheetan said.

It is crucial that Egyptian authorities ensure that the application of counterterrorism or other criminal laws is never used to punish people for exercising their basic human rights.

“The Egyptian Government must immediately stop this practice of “rotation” and release all those who have been subjected to it. All those arbitrarily detained for exercising their fundamental freedoms or defending human rights must be released immediately,” the spokesperson stated.

For more information and media requests, please contact

Ravina Shamdasani: +41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org

Jeremy Laurence: +41 22 917 9383 / jeremy.laurence@un.org

Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org

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