Articles by Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE)
![Syrian lawyer and human rights defender Mazen Darwish, in an undated photo taken from the website of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM), https://scm.bz/](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/mazendarwish_ipi_jointaction.jpg)
NGOs to Bashar al-Assad: Implement your amnesty decree and free Syrian activist Mazen Darwish
The International Press Institute and 23 IFEX members sent a letter to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad calling for the release of lawyer and human rights defender Mazen Darwish ahead of his court hearing on 25 March 2015.
![Screenshot/Youtube](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/docafteegyptjpg2.jpg)
Documentary: Egyptian artists share their experiences with the censors
Artistic expression was under tight control in Egypt before the January 2011 revolution, and remains so today.
![Demonstration at Tahrir Square in Cairo, REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/egypt_protests_rt.jpg)
Why successive Egyptian governments see demonstrations as a threat
Haunted by the toppling of former regimes by popular protest and despite the fact that, since 2011, they have all been brought to power through citizens exercising their right to protest, successive governments have all maintained a hostile view towards peaceful assembly.
![REUTERS/Mike Hutchings](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/righttoknow.jpg)
On Right to Know Day, calls for UN to include free expression rights in development goals
More than 100 civil society organisations ask the UN Secretary General to recognise the importance of free expression rights in the sustainable development goals.
![Protesters march during a rally against anti-protest legislation in Cairo on 21 June 2014, REUTERS/Al Youm Al Saabi Newspaper](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/protestlaw_egypt_rt.jpg)
More activists fall victim to Egypt’s draconian protest law
While peacefully marching to demand the repeal of Egypt’s protest law and the release of prisoners of conscience, 23 activists were detained and charged on groundless accusations.
![Journalists protest the imprisonment of Al Jazeera journalists Peter Greste, Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed in Egypt, outside Al Jazeera offices in Sanaa, Yemen on 25 June 2014. , REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/rtr3voyf.jpg)
Demand the release of recently sentenced Al Jazeera staff
More than 100 groups and individuals worldwide call on Egyptian President el-Sisi to remove the unjust sentencing of three Al Jazeera journalists.
![Activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, http://manalaa.net/node/87368](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/egypt_abdel_al_fattah_wikipedia.jpg)
Rights groups condemn 15-year sentences for Egyptian protesters
The harsh sentence handed down in absentia by the Cairo Criminal Court against Alaa Abdel Fattah, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, Wael Metwally and 22 others is a severe violation of the right to a fair trial.
![Student supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood shout slogans as they face a line of riot police during a demonstration outside Cairo University on 14 May 2014, REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany](https://ifex.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/cairo_university_student_protest_rt.jpg)
University students’ rights and freedoms undermined in Egypt
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Universities has issued several restrictive decisions including the imposing of restrictions on the right to protest, prohibiting electoral campaigns on campuses and the irrevocable expulsion of students who contributes to acts of disrupting or undermining academic process.