EGY 001 / 0220 / OBS 012

Arbitrary detention / Torture/

Judicial harassment

Egypt

February 10, 2020

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:

The Observatory hasbeen informed by the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) about thearbitrary detention, torture and judicial harassment of Mr. Patrick GeorgeZaki, a postgraduate student at Bologna University (Italy) and a Gender andHuman Rights researcher at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)[1].

According to theinformation received, in the early morning of February 7, 2020, Mr. PatrickGeorge Zaki was arrested at Cairo airport upon his arrival from Italy, where hehas been a postgraduate student since August 2019. He was taken into thecustody of Egypt’s National Security Investigations (NSI) at the airport andwas held incommunicado for the following 24 hours.

Afterwards, it wasestablished that during these 24 hours, Mr. Patrick George Zaki was sent to anNSI facility in Cairo where he was further questioned about his work andactivism before being transferred to NSI offices in Mansoura. According to hislawyers, with whom he could meet on February 8, Mr. Patrick George Zaki wasbeaten, subjected to electric shocks and threatened during this time.

On February 8, 2020,Mr. Patrick George Zaki was taken to the Prosecutor’s office in Mansoura (about120 kilometres northeast of Cairo) to be questioned about his work and activism.He was presented with a police report which falsely stated that he was arrestedat a chekpoint in Mansoura, pursuant to an outstanding warrant issued inSeptember 2019. Following this questioning, the Prosecution ordered hisremaining in detention for 15 days pending further investigations.

Mr. Patrick GeorgeZaki is being charged with “publishing rumours and false news that aim todisturb social peace and sow chaos” (article 102 bis of the Criminal Code),“incitement to protest without permission from the relevant authorities withthe aim of undermining state authority” (article 18 of the Protest law),“calling for the overthrow of the state” (article 87 of the Criminal Code),“managing a social media account that aims to undermine the social order andpublic safety” (article 27 of Cybercrime law) and “incitement to commitviolence and terrorist crimes (article 28 of the Anti-Terrorism law)”. Thesecharges, which are widely used against peaceful political activists,journalists, and rights defenders, can result in at least 13 years inprison.

The Observatoryrecalls that the arbitrary detention of Mr. Patrick George Zaki comes amid renewedcrackdown on human rights defenders, activists, journalists and civil societyin Egypt, that arose since the outbreak of popular movement across the countryon September 20, 2019, protesting against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi[2].The Observatory also recall that since October 2019, as part of the random stop, search, and arrest campaign the security agencies carried out mainly in downtown Cairo, that target individuals perceived to be politically active in anyway, six EIPR staff members have been temporarily detained and questioned, including for a period of two days in one case.

The Observatory condemns the arbitrarydetention and judicial harassment of Mr. Patrick George Zaki, which seem to be only aimed at punishinghim for his legitimate human rights activities. The Observatory urges theEgyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release Mr. PatrickGeorge Zaki, and to put an end to any act of harassment, including at thejudicial 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. Patrick George Zaki as well as of all human rights defendersin Egypt;

ii. Immediately andunconditionally release Mr. Patrick George Zaki 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. Carry out a transparent, impartial, immediate andthorough investigation into the above-mentioned allegations of torture in orderto identify all those responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal,and sanction them as provided by the law;

iv. Put an end to all acts ofharassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Patrick George Zaki, as well as against all human rightsdefenders in Egypt, and ensure that theyare able to carry out their activities without hindrance;

v. Conform with the provisionsof the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the GeneralAssembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its Articles 1and 12.2; and

vi. More generally, ensure inall 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:

· Presidentof the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 23911441. Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

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

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

· Minister ofJustice, Mr. Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103 


· PublicProsecutor, Counsellor Nabeel Sadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716

· Head of theEgyptian parliament’s Human Rights Committee, Mr. Alaa Abed, Email: humanrightscomplaints@parliament.gov.eg

· Mr. MohamedFayeq, President of the National Council for Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497/ 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

· H.E.Mr. Alaa Youssef, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the UnitedNations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.egypt@bluewin.ch

· Embassy ofEgypt in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

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

***

Paris-Geneva, February10, 2020

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.

To contact theObservatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 143 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

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

[1] The Egyptian Initiativefor Personal Rights has been working since 2002 to strengthen and protect basicrights and freedoms in Egypt, through research, advocacy and supportinglitigation in the fields of civil liberties, economic and social rights, andcriminal justice.

[2] See for example 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 / OBS076.1, published on October 4, 2019 ; or EGY 003 / 0919 / OBS 074,published on September 23, 2019.