Updated

A leading international rights group has urged Egypt's President Abdel Fatah el-Sissi to prioritize reforms aimed at ending human rights abuses during his second, four-year term in office.

Tuesday's statement by Human Rights Watch also has called on Egypt's allies to push el-Sissi to end a crackdown on non-governmental organizations; halt forced disappearances; release political prisoners and journalists; and protect minorities.

El-Sissi won a second term in office, with more than 97 percent of the vote in March.

He was first elected after the military's 2013 overthrow of an Islamist president amid mass protests, and has since waged the heaviest crackdown on dissent in Egypt's modern history.

His government has outlawed unauthorized protests, jailed thousands of Islamists, as well as several prominent secular activists, and blocked hundreds of independent websites.