Abduction and arbitrary and incommunicado detention of Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy

EGY 003 / 0917 / OBS 099

Abduction /

Arbitrary and incommunicado detention

Egypt
September 13, 2017

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDHand the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgentintervention in the following situation in Egypt.

Descriptionof the situation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the abduction andarbitrary and incommunicado detention of Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, human rights lawyer, Co-founder and Coordinatorof the Association of the Families of theDisappeared in Egypt[1].Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy reportedly also provided legal advice to GiulioRegeni’s family[2].

Accordingto the information received, on September 10, 2017, Mr. Metwally Hegazydisappeared at Cairo International Airport before boarding a flight to Geneva.Mr. Metwally Hegazy was travelling to Switzerland in response to an invitationby the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances(WGEID) to attend the proceedings of its 113th Session , held fromSeptember 11 to 15, 2017 at the UN Human Rights Council.

Hisfamily lost contact with him around 8 am after he had arrived at the airport,texting that he “was heading to the security [forces’] office” which is nearpassport control. They subsequently contacted the authorities at the Genevaairport who communicated that the latter had not arrived on the flight fromCairo, leading them to believe that he had been arrested at Cairo InternationalAirport. The lawyers of Mr. Metwally Hegazy contacted the airport police andlooked for him in nearby police stations but they were not able to obtain anyinformation on his whereabouts. They subsequently sent a telegram to theprosecutor general’s office to report the suspected arrest.

Thewhereabouts of Mr. Metwally Hegazy remained unknown from that date untilSeptember 12, in the evening, when the Stop Enforced Disappearance Campaignreported he had been located in State Security Prosecution custody, inAl-Tagammo’ al-Khamis on the outskirts of Cairo. He was interrogated by theState Security Prosecution (SSP) for charges of communicating with foreignentities to harm state security, spreading false news and forming and managinga group that was formed against the law and the constitution. During hisinterrogation, his home was searched by security forces. The officialinvitation made by the WGEID and Mr. Hegazy’s passport were confiscated asevidence in the criminal case No. 900/2017 opened against him. The SSP orderedthe detention of Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy for 15 days pendinginvestigations, and sent him to the high security wing of Tora prison complex.

Mr.Metwally Hegazy is not the only member of the Association of the Families ofthe Disappeared who has been targeted by the Egyptian authorities. FellowCo-founder Ms. Hanan Badr El-Din Othman, whose husband has beenmissing since 2013, was arrested on May 6, 2017 while visiting a detainee inQanater Prison whom she hoped would have information about her husband’swhereabouts. She remains in detention since that date.

Mr. Islam Salameh, another lawyerwho represents the forcibly disappeared families, was arrested by the security forces in March2016. He was briefly held in incommunicado detention before being released in June 2016.

Mr. Ahmed Amasha, Co-founderof the League for Families of the Disappeared, has been detained since March10, 2017 without trial or a formal indictment in Tora Prison in Cairo. He alsodisappeared during several days and was severely tortured.

TheObservatory expresses its utmost concern over the abduction and arbitrarydetention of Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, as they appeared to be linked to his human rightsactivities, and consequently urges the Egyptianauthorities to immediately allow him access to his lawyer and family, releasehim and drop all the charges brought against him.

TheObservatory recalls that arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances havebecome common practice in Egypt over the past few years targeting dissentingvoices, including human rights defenders.

Actions requested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities of Egypt asking them to:

i. Immediately and unconditionallyrelease Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy aswell as all human rights defenders detained in Egypt;

ii. Drop all charges against Mr. Ebrahim Hegazy as well as all human rights defenders inEgypt;

iii. Put an end to all acts ofharassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy, and all members ofthe Association of the Families of the Disappearedas well as against all human rights defenders in Egypt;

iv. Conform with theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially Articles1, 6(c) and 12.2; and

v. More generally, ensurein all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and withinternational and regional human rights instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

· President of the Arab Republic of Egypt,H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 2391 1441
Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial
· Prime Minister, Mr. Sherif Ismail. Fax: +202 2735 6449 / 27958016.

· Ministerof the Interior, Mr. Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar, Fax: +202 2579 2031 / 2794 5529

· Ministerof Justice, Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103 


· Ministerof Social Solidarity, Ghada Waly, Fax: +202 3337 5390
· Public Prosecutor, Counsellor NabeelSadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716
· Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of theNational Council For Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

· H.E.Mr. Amr Ramadan, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nationsin Geneva, Email: mission.egypt@ties.itu.int, Fax: +41 22 738 44 15

· Embassyof Egypt in Brussels, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Egypt in yourrespective country.

***

Paris-Geneva,September 13, 2017

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both membersof ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contactthe Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] Theorganisation name in arabic is “Awqefoo el Ikhtifaa el Qasry” (Stop EnforcedDisappearances) which aims to determine the fate and whereabouts of"disappeared" family members. Ibrahim Metwally Hegazy became anactive human rights defender working on the issue of enforced disappearancesafter the disappearance of his son Amr Ibrahim Metwally, who wasforcibly disappeared onJuly 8, 2013 and is still missing.

[2] Giulio Regeni was an Italiangraduate who was abducted and tortured to death in Egypt.