(Beirut) - Egyptian Ministry of Interior officers on April 10, 2025, apparently killed two men in northwest Egypt hours after their arrest, which would amount to extrajudicial executions, Human Rights Watch said today. 

The ministry claimed that the two men, Youssef El-Sarhani and Faraj Al-Fazary, were killed in a shootout in Marsa Matrouh governorate, but there is credible evidence that the men had turned themselves in to the police hours before they were killed and were in police custody when they died. 

"The killings in Marsa Matrouh are only the latest in a long line of abuses carried out for years with near-absolute impunity by Egyptian security forces" said Amr Magdi, senior Middle East and North Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. "The Egyptian authorities should promptly create an independent judicial committee to investigate the killings in Marsa Matrouh and refrain from putting any pressure on families to give up their right to justice."

On April 9, three noncommissioned police officers in Marsa Matrouh were killed in a security raid to arrest a fugitive charged in drug trafficking cases, pro-government newspapers reported, citing official sources.

A journalist speaking to Human Rights Watch, numerous witness accounts published on Facebook, news sites, and several Egyptian human rights organizations said that police forces then raided houses and detained between 20 and 24 women and girls, reportedly to force relatives who might have been involved to turn themselves in. The Interior Ministry denied these arrests.

Community leaders intervened and reportedly reached an agreement with the police to release the women, on the condition that the leaders help apprehend those wanted in the police killings. Community leaders convinced El-Sarhani and Al-Fazary, both between 19 and 20 years old and reportedly related to those wanted for the police killings, to turn themselves in as witnesses. They reportedly did so in the presence of community leaders who mediated the process on the evening of April 10 at the 30 kilometer point on Al-Salloum highway.

National Security Agency officers reportedly took El-Sarhani and Al-Fazary to a nearby road and shot and killed them. Several witnesses including residents and community leaders in Matrouh made public statements and presented credible evidence to the authorities that Interior Ministry officers had killed the two men. 

A local resident involved in mediating the handover said in a video statement that he called the National Security Agency officer involved when he learned of the killings. He said that the officer told him that he had turned the men over to [Interior] Ministry officers, "and it's out of my hands."

The ministry claimed in a brief statement on April 11 that its forces in Marsa Matrouh "identified the location of two extremely dangerous criminal elements" and that they targeted them, killing both men in "a shootout" and seized two assault rifles. The statement did not identify the slain men or provide the location of the alleged shootout. It did not provide evidence of threats that would justify the use of lethal force.

The killings caused an uproar in Matrouh and nationwide on social media. In response, Matrouh's Council of Sheikhs and Omada, a local council appointed by the government, announced it was "ending cooperation with the police agencies" until investigations are completed, a rare confrontation with the government. The Lawyers' Syndicate in Matrouh held an emergency general assembly and voted to appoint lawyers to represent the families of the deceased men. 

Public prosecutors in Matrouh initiated an investigation into the killings following pressure from families and local community officials. However, according to media reports and a journalist Human Rights Watch interviewed, the main officers involved have not been summoned for interrogation. A senior lawyer representing the families said they are still pushing prosecutors to interrogate the National Security Agency officer involved. 

Lawyers for the families also said that they have been unable to obtain the forensic report on the killings. The families of the two slain men are facing pressure from "intermediaries" to accept "reconciliation" and financial compensation to drop their complaints, the journalist said. 

Human Rights Watch has previously documented how Egypt's Interior Ministry police and National Security Agency officers have, under President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government, apparently killed dozens of alleged suspects across the country in unlawful extrajudicial executions they contend are "shootouts." For example, Human Rights Watch found that the ministry announced the killing of at least 755 people in 143 alleged shootouts between January 2015 and December 2020, with only one suspect arrested in these incidents. 

The right to life is an inherent, core, and non-derogable human right, regardless of the circumstances. The United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions says that the duty to investigate is "triggered" not only in a clear case of an unlawful death, but also where there are "reasonable allegations of a potentially unlawful death," even without a formal complaint. 

In all cases involving use of firearms by law enforcement officials, persons affected (in case of death, families of the deceased) "shall have access to an independent process, including a judicial process." Families should have the right to participate in the investigation process. To meet international standards, investigations must be prompt, transparent, effective, independent, and impartial. 

The authorities should suspend all allegedly involved officials and those who could interfere with an investigation, protect families and witnesses from intimidation, and form an independent judicial committee to investigate and prosecute those responsible.

"The apparent Mafia-style killing of two young men in Marsa Matrouh should serve as yet another alarm bell to Egypt's international partners who support police agencies with weapons, training, and other assistance despite an ever-growing record of abuse and the lack of accountability," Magdi said. "Egypt's international partners should make clear that authorities have an obligation to investigate and ensure accountability for alleged abuses."

Source: Human Rights Watch