CAIRO, Mar 24 (Aswat Masriya) - Egypt's top prosecutor ordered the release of 44 people held in detention, pending investigations, a statement from his office said on Tuesday. 

Prosecutor General Hisham Barakat said that the release order comes in accordance with a decision he issued in November 2013 mandating a technical committee to study and revise the cases of all those preventively detained.

All cases were inspected and the evidence against them evaluated, to determine their legal stances and their involvement in the crimes under investigation, the statement read. 

The prosecutor's statement said there was not enough evidence against those ordered released today, adding that they had been in detention for cases and incidents that took place in Cairo and its twin city Giza.

The statement did not, however, allude to the charges they faced.

In its annual report on human rights conditions in over 90 countries, international watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in late January that authorities have arrested at least 22,000 since the ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi in July 2013 and until July 2014, citing an Interior Ministry official.

Most of those arrested are suspected Muslim Brotherhood supporters, HRW said.

Earlier this month, Barakat ordered the release of 120 students and elderly people in detention, in accordance to the same decision issued in November 2013.