...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
office has expressed "deep shock" and concern over the reported executions of 20 people in Egypt over the past two weeks.
Due process and fair trial guarantees appear to have been disregarded, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) noted in a statement issued on Friday.
On January 2, five men were reportedly hanged in Alexandria after being sentenced to death by an Egyptian military court; four had been convicted over a 2015 blast in Kafr al-Sheikh that killed three military recruits and injured two others.
"We understand the defendants were tried by military judges on the basis of legislation that refers cases of destruction of public property to military courts and in view of the victims being from the Egyptian Military Academy," OHCHR spokesperson Liz Throssell told news hounds in Geneva. "Civilians should only be tried in military or special courts in exceptional cases."
Previously, on December 26, a group of 15 men convicted on "terrorism" charges over the 2013 deaths of soldiers in the Sinai Peninsula were executed.
Military courts typically deny defendants the rights afforded by civilian courts, Throssell said, citing reports "that the prisoners who were executed may have been subjected to initial enforced disappearance and torture before being tried".
The UN human rights office has urged Egyptian authorities to "reconsider" the use of the death penalty
, noting that executions "should not be used as a means to combat terrorism".