Arbitrary detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Ramy Kamel

Torture /

Judicial harassment

Egypt

November 29, 2019

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in thefollowing situation in Egypt.

Description of thesituation:

(c) Twitter

The Observatory hasbeen informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and judicialharassment of Mr. Ramy Kamel, a defender of religious minorities’rights. He is a member ofthe Maspero Youth Union (MYU)[1], a Coptic human rightsorganisation.

According to theinformation received, in the early morning of November 23, 2019, Mr. Ramy Kamelwas arrested at his home in Cairo by seven plainclothes police officers. Policeofficers did not provide an arrest warrant,confiscated his mobile phone, laptop and camera and took a number of documentsrelating to his work. Mr. Kamel was interrogated by State SecurityProsecution until 10 pm. and his lawyer was only able to see him the next day,on November 24. He was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Mr.Ramy Kamel has asthma and was not allowed to bring his inhaler. Mr. Ramy Kamelis accused of “joining a terror group”, “receiving foreign funding”, “funding aterrorist group”, “broadcasting false information”, and “using social media forthe purpose of committing a crime”, under State Security Case No. 1475/2019. OnNovember 24, Mr. Kamel was put under pre-trial detention at Tora prison,south-east Cairo, for 15 renewable days.

Mr. Ramy Kamel has a wide range of activism in promoting Coptic rightsand citizenship, including reporting on violations against Copts in Egypt[2], especially those who wereforcibly evicted from their homes, or victims of customary reconciliationsessions, and recently he expressed doubts about whether State security wasbehind the recent church fires or not. A few days before his arrest, Mr. Ramy Kamel had already been informally summoned and interrogated by nationalsecurity officers, who questioned and threatened him over his activism.

The Observatoryrecalls that the arbitrary detention of Mr. Ramy Kamel comes amid renewedcrackdown on human rights defenders, activists, journalists and civil societyin Egypt, that arose since the outbreak of popular protests across the countryon September 20, 2019, calling for the resignation of President Abdel Fattahal-Sisi[3].

The Observatory condemns the arbitrarydetention and judicial harassment of Mr. Ramy Kamel, which seem to be onlyaimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities. TheObservatory urges the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionallyrelease Mr. Ramy Kamel, and to put an end to any act of harassment, includingat the judicial level, against him and all the human rights defenders in Egypt.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Egyptasking them to:

i. Guarantee, in allcircumstances, the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Mr. RamyKamel as well as of all human rights defenders in Egypt;

ii. Immediately andunconditionally release Mr. Ramy Kamel and all the human rights defendersarbitrarily detained in Egypt, as theirdetention is arbitrary since it only seems to aim at punishing them for theirhuman rights activities;

iii. Guarantee the unhindered access of Mr. Ramy Kamel to medical assistance, a lawyer of his choice and his family members;

iv. Carry out a transparent, impartial, immediateand thorough investigation into the above-mentioned allegations of torture inorder to identify all those responsible, bring them before an independenttribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law;

v. Put an end to all actsof harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Ramy Kamel, as wellas against all human rights defenders in Egypt, and ensure that they are able to carry out theiractivities without hindrance;

vi. Conform with theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially itsArticles 1 and 12.2; and

vii. More generally,ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and withinternational and regional human rights instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

· President of the Arab Republicof Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 2391 1441. Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

· Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa KemalMadbouly Mohamed. Email: pm@cabinet.gov.eg

· Minister of the Interior, Mr. Mahmoud Tawfik,Email: center@iscmi.gov.eg

· Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohamed HossamAbdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103 


· Public Prosecutor, Counsellor Nabeel Sadek, Fax: +2022577 4716

· Head of the Egyptian parliament’s Human RightsCommittee, Mr. Alaa Abed, Email: humanrightscomplaints@parliament.gov.eg

· Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of the NationalCouncil for Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

· H.E. Mr. Alaa Youssef, Ambassador, PermanentMission of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.egypt@bluewin.ch

· Embassy of Egypt in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomaticmissions or embassies of Egypt in your respective country.

***

Paris-Geneva, November29, 2019

Kindly inform us of anyaction undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 byFIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of thisprogramme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression againsthuman rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

[1] MYU wasestablished after a church on the outskirts of Cairo was torched, igniting hugeprotests outside the Maspero state television building in October 2011. Nearly30 people died after violent attacks against protesters from the securityforces.

[2] Christiansin Egypt have faced unprecedented persecution since the rise of President AbdelFattah al-Sisi to power in 2014. Hundreds of them have been forced to flee fromtheir home, for example in northern Sinai.

[3] See forexample Observatory Urgent Appeals EGY 006 / 1019 / OBS 079, published on October 15,2019 ; EGY 004 / 0919 / OBS 075.2, published on October 10, 2019 ;EGY 005 / 0919 / OBS 076.1, published on October 4, 2019 ; or EGY 003 /0919 / OBS 074, published on September 23, 2019.