UN human rights office says “arbitrary arrests” in Egypt have become a “chronic problem”

The UN’s human rights office expressing concerns over Egypt’s arrest of bloggers and activists is leading the conversation on Egypt in the foreign press this morning. A spokeswoman for the office said that Egypt is escalating its crackdown on freedoms and described the arrests as a “chronic problem,” the Associated Press says. The Sisi administration has repeatedly come under fire from human rights defenders for clamping down on dissent, Newsweek notes. The international community, however, has been “largely silent,” former detainee Aya Hijazi says in an opinion piece for the Washington Post.