Egyptian rights activists are demanding the abolition of the death penalty following what they described as “the expansion of death sentences in Egypt” — and as foreign countries and international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch leveled stinging criticism against the Egyptian judiciary.

It began when the military court in Egypt issued a final ruling in March, sentencing to death six persons charged with murder and belonging to Ansar Bayt al-Maqdis. This case became known in the media as the Arab Sharkas case.

In addition, the Cairo Criminal Court issued a decision May 16 to refer the case files of ousted President Mohammed Morsi and more than 100 other defendants to Grand Mufti Shawki Allam for consultation on whether they should be executed in a case known as the escape from Wadi Natrun Prison case. Morsi, along with other leaders and members of the Muslim Brotherhood, are accused of breaching Egyptian prisons and smuggling out some prisoners. While the court was expected to issue its final ruling June 2, it decided to postpone the ruling to give more time for the court to debate the matter. The court confirmed the death sentence for Morsi on June 16.

Against the backdrop of the aforementioned death sentences and the referral to the Grand Mufti, as well as previous death sentences — most notably the death sentences handed to 37 persons accused of murder and inciting riots in Minya — George Ishaq and Abdul Ghaffar Shukr, two members of the National Council for Human Rights, issued press statements calling for a halt to issuing death sentences in Egypt for at least three years to give time for the security and political situation to improve. They noted that they preferred permanent abolition.