Mediterranean Sea. Courts continued to hand down death sentences; executions were carried out. BACKGROUND The newly elected House of Representatives convened on 10 January and had 15 days to review and approve legislative decrees issued by President al-Sisi in the absence of a parliament. It approved almost all such laws, including the Counter-Terrorism Law (Law 94 of 2015) that eroded fair trial safeguards and wrote emergency-style powers into domestic law. Egypt remained part of the Saudi Arabialed military coalition engaged in the armed conflict in Yemen (see Yemen entry). In January, President al-Sisi approved legislation authorizing the armed forces to operate outside Egypt for a further year. Relations between Egypt and Italy deteriorated after Italian PhD student Giulio Regeni died in mysterious circumstances when conducting research into Egyptian trade unions. When his body was found on 3 February, a police official told Egyptian media that Giulio Regeni had died in a traffic accident, but autopsies concluded that he had been tortured. On 24 March, two weeks after the European Parliament expressed its concern over the killing, Egypt’s Ministry of the Interior said the security forces had killed members of a criminal gang responsible for Giulio Regeni’s death. On 8 April, Italy recalled its ambassador from Egypt. On 9 September, Egypt’s Public Prosecutor said the security forces had briefly investigated Giulio Regeni before his disappearance and murder. Several states continued to supply Egypt with arms and military and security equipment, including jet fighters and armoured vehicles. The government kept the Rafah crossing to the Gaza Strip closed for all but 46 days of the year, according to the available figures from the UN Relief and Works Agency. 146 COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY The armed forces continued operations against armed groups active in North Sinai, using armoured vehicles, artillery and air strikes. The Ministry of Defence said each of these operations killed dozens of “terrorists”. Much of the area remained under a state of emergency and effectively off-limits to independent human rights monitors and journalists. Armed groups launched repeated and deadly attacks targeting the security forces as well as government and judicial officials and other civilians. Most such attacks occurred in North Sinai, although bombings and shootings by armed groups were reported in other parts of the country. The armed group calling itself Sinai Province, which had declared allegiance to the armed group Islamic State (IS), said it carried out many of the attacks. During the year, Sinai Province said it executed several men it claimed were spies for the security forces. FREEDOMS OF EXPRESSION, ASSOCIATION AND ASSEMBLY The authorities severely restricted the rights to freedoms of expression, association and peaceful assembly in law and practice. Journalists, activists and others faced arrest, prosecution and imprisonment on charges that included inciting or participating in protests, disseminating “false rumours”, defaming officials and damaging morality. Photojournalist Mahmoud Abou Zeid, known as Shawkan, and more than 730 other people, continued to face hearings in a mass, unfair trial that began in December 2015. Mahmoud Abou Zeid faced trumped-up charges that included “joining a criminal gang” and murder for documenting a sit-in protest in the capital, Cairo, on 14 August 2013. The court tried many in their absence. On 1 May, security forces raided the Press Syndicate in Cairo and arrested journalists Amro Badr and Mahmoud al-Saqqa on charges that included inciting protests and publishing “false rumours”. The Syndicate condemned the raid and the arrests. A court Amnesty International Report 2016/17