By Coptic Solidarity –
On October 31, 2026, Coptic Solidarity submitted written input to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, contributing to the development of the mandate’s strategic priorities for 2026–2029.
Drawing on documented cases from Egypt, the submission highlights two pressing concerns:
(1) the misuse of public order and national security justifications to restrict protected expression, and
(2) the cumulative use of criminal, judicial, and administrative measures to silence religious minorities, individuals with nonconforming beliefs, and human rights defenders.
The submission examines several cases involving Coptic Christians and other individuals persecuted for their religious expression or peaceful human rights advocacy.
Coptic Solidarity offers four recommendations aimed at strengthening the mandate’s scrutiny of legislation enabling such incompatible restrictions, while ensuring greater engagement with affected communities.
Our recommendations to the Mandate are:
- Explicitly recognize the cumulative use of criminal, judicial, and administrative measures to restrict protected expression under the first theme of the preliminary strategic framework.
- Strengthen, through communications and thematic analysis, its examination of whether State restrictions justified on public order or national security grounds comply with Article 19(3)’s requirements of legality, legitimate aim, necessity, and proportionality.
- Use targeted legislative communications or observations to examine how national laws, such as those on blasphemy, counterterrorism, cybercrime, association, and “false news,” operate individually, concurrently, and successively to restrict protected expression.
- Convene a targeted and accessible consultation, with confidential participation options, involving community-based media, human rights defenders, members of minority and religious groups, people at heightened risk of human rights violations, and other relevant stakeholders.
Through this contribution, CS seeks to bring the experiences of Copts and other vulnerable communities in Egypt into broader international efforts to protect freedom of opinion and expression.
