27.03.03
Urgent Interventions
Egypt: arrests, torture and threats of rape against anti-war demonstrators
Case EGY 270303 / 270303.VAW / 270303.CC
Urgent Appeal / Violence Against Women / Child Concern
Arbitrary arrests and detention / Disproportionate use of force / Ill treatment and torture
Risk of torture / Threats of Rape / Fair trial
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Egypt
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information from the Egyptian Organisation of Human Rights (EOHR), a member of the OMCT network, and other reliable sources, concerning the violent repression of anti-war demonstrators in Cairo, as well as the arrest of many demonstrators and the ill-treatment and torture of several of their number.
According to the information received, demonstrations broke out in Cairo as the war in Iraq began on March 20th, 2003. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo and were met with violent repression by the police. It is reported that the police use disproportionate force in order to keep the demonstrators back from the American and British embassies, causing injuries to many demonstrators. The police also reportedly began arresting large numbers of people during protests held over subsequent days. According to the information received, protests broke out in Al-Azhar Mosque, Talaat Harb Square, Ramses Street, and the State Broadcasting Corporation on March 21st, 2003.
According to the information received, on March 21st, the police began to beat demonstrators who were pushing against a barrier on Talaat Harb Street. Police reportedly fired water cannons into the crowd, beat demonstrators with clubs and made many arrests. According to the information received, the police also occupied the Egyptian Bar Association for almost six hours, and arrested more than 15 lawyers, some of whom were beaten during this time. Many of these lawyers had reportedly previously defended anti-war demonstrators.
According to the information received, Members of Parliament Mohammed Farid Hassanein, Hammdeen Sabahi, Abdel Azim al-Maghrabi, and Haidar Baghdadi were also subjected to beatings by the police. A decision was reportedly made on March 24th that Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohammed Farid Hasaneen were to be detained for 15 days pending investigation for their participation in the anti-war demonstrations. According to our sources, this violates their parliamentary privilege, which states that: “No member of the People’s Assembly shall be subject to a criminal prosecution without the permission of the Assembly except in cases of flagrante delicto.” According to information received, Mohammed Farid Hassanein is suffering from multiple injuries including a concussion, a retinal tear of his left eye, as well as retinal detachment in his right eye, cuts on the head, face and nose, and multiple injuries to both arms and legs. It is also reported that he has twice previously undergone heart surgery and suffers from high blood pressure. OMCT is consequently gravely concerned for his personal integrity.
On March 22nd, 2003, it is reported that three female college students - Marwa Faroq, Shaymaa Samir, and Nourhan Thabet - were arrested on their way to a demonstration at Cairo University. Nourhan Thabet is pregnant, and was reportedly beaten by the police, blindfolded, and bound. Our sources report that her current location is unknown, leading to grave concerns for her integrity.
According to the information received, Manal Ahmad Khalid was detained on March 21st in Tahrir Square. She was reportedly beaten, and as a result sustained a serious eye injury. She has reportedly been denied medical attention, and has been threatened with rape by the authorities. Another demonstrator, Ziyad 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Uleimi was beaten by security forces after having been arrested at the premises of the Egyptian Bar Association. He received injuries to his left arm, and claims to be suffering from pain in his legs.
According to the information received, the following demonstrators have been arrested at El Tahrir Square, Cairo and are being tried by the Qasr El Nil Public Prosecution:
Hamdi Ahmed Morsi, Karim Mohamed Abdel Aleem Ibrahim, Ahmed Nageh Abou El Hamd Ibrahim, Abdel Baqi Mohamed Ismail, Mohamed Ahmed Salem, Mahmoud Abdel Kader Ahmed Hassan, Khaled Fathi Abdullaah Muhamed, Ashraf Fathi Ahmed Hussein, Ashraf Wagdi Adbel Hamid, Yaser Fawzy Abdel Ghanee Abd El Aal, Ahmed Abd El Maqsoud Ahmed Gebreel, Mostafa Ismael Mostafa, Ahmed Hanafy Ahmed Tahir, Sherif Abd El Hamid Ismael, Alaa Abd El Azim Mohamed Mustafa, Mohamed Ahmed Ali El Sayid, Alaa Mohamed El Mohamadee El Morsee, as well as Mohamed Hegazy Abdel Wahaab (a minor, exact age unknown).
Below are the names of those arrested and being tried by the al-Gamileya Public Prosecution:
Mohamed Mahmoud Abd El Aty, Mona Mina (Doctor), Magda Mohamed Abd El Rahmen (Journalist in El Arabi Nasiri Newspaper), Abdullah Abd El Rahmen (Worker in poultry industry), Mohamed Said, Mohamed Rageb Abd El Satar (Journalist at El Tagamaoh Newspaper), Mohamed Osman, Essam Mohamed Hassan, Mohamed Mostafa, Shady Gamal Assad (Editor at El Esboah Newspaper), Abd El Gawad Mostafa Abd El Motee (Student at Technical Industrial Institute), Al Farouq Omar Mohamed (Student at Al Ashar University), Abd El Gawad Mahdi, Nagy Mohamed Sayid Ahmed (Accountant).
Below are names of the detainees that are being tried by the State Prosecution:
Mohamed Farid Hasanein (Member of People’s Assembly), Hamdin Sabbahi (Member of the People’s Assembly), Kamal Abou Aita (Trade unionist), Sayid El Touchee (Lawyer), Abd El Aziz El Husseini, Tamim El Bargousey (student), Nadah El Kasas (Journalist), Abeer El Asceree (journalist), Walid El Sayid, Khalid Kamel, Hasan Mahmoud, Ibrahim Hussein, Wael Tawfiq, Remon Zacaria, Magdy Abass, Wael Khalil, Gamal Abd El Fatah (Pharmacist), Ghunem Nawafl, Ahmed Awad, Ahmed Diaa, Hussein Hasan Hanafee.
The following are the names of those arrested at the Bar Association demonstrations and who are being tried by the Azbakeya Prosecution:
Gamal Abd El Aziz (Lawyer), Ahmed Abd El Selem (Director of a construction company), Yaser Farag (Lawyer). Zeid Abd El Mageed Zaky (Attorney), Issam Fadl (Journalist at El Beyen Newspaper Marat), Hamada Ali Abdullah (Journalist), Mohamed Ibrahim Abd El Atee (Journalist), Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud (Driver), Manal Ahmed Khalid (Director’s Assistant), Niveen Ahmed Samir (Director At Hamdin Sabahee’s Office), Hamada Gazy, Mahmoud Mohamed Zaky, as well as Marian Bakry (a minor, exact age unknown).
According to the information received, over sixty-nine detainees have been sent to the prosecutor already. Thirteen demonstrators were reportedly sent to the al-Azbekiya Public Prosecutor's office on March 22nd, where they received four-day detention orders, which were extended for an additional week on March 25th. Forty-nine persons were sent to the Qasr al-Nil and al-Gamaliya Public Prosecution offices on March 22nd, where they received detention orders for fifteen days. According to the information received, the remaining detainees were sent to the State Security Prosecution Office on March 23rd. These detainees face trials before the State Security Court, the verdicts of which cannot be appealed and can only be overturned by an order from the office of the President of the Republic.
The detainees have reportedly been charged with "participating in an illegal assembly of more than five people," under the Egyptian Illegal Assembly Law. Other charges include the destruction of public property; blocking traffic; transmitting propaganda that could disturb public safety and harm public interests; and assaulting law enforcement personnel. According to the information received, demonstrators have alleged that much of the destruction of property during the rallies, including the torching of a fire truck near Tahrir Square, was the work of police.
According to information received, there has been a large incidence of torture within the detention centers where the demonstrators have been held. Reports include the use of electric shocks, beatings that included the use of sticks and clubs, as well as the threat of rape towards the women, giving rise to grave concerns that the detainees in question here are being or risk being subjected to such treatment.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by the reports of mass arrests, ill-treatment and torture of anti-war demonstrators in Egypt, including the ill treatment of a pregnant woman and threats of rape against another woman, and condemns the authorities’ repressive actions. OMCT would like to recall that Egypt is a State Party to international human rights instruments which prohibit and punish torture and ill-treatment, including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Egypt is also party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which prohibits discrimination against women.
OMCT is in particular gravely concerned for the physical and psychological safety of the afore-mentioned people, especially Mohammed Farid Hassanein, Nourhan Thabet, Manal Ahmad Khalid, and Ziyad 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Uleimi as well as all persons who are being detained incommunicado and those who require urgent medical assistance. OMCT is particularly concerned for the integrity of the two children that have been arrested and calls for them to be released immediately. OMCT calls for the immediate release of all persons being detained as a result of the demonstrations unless there are valid legal charges that are in line with international law. OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the detainees’ procedural rights at all times and to guarantee that they be given fair trials.
Action Requested
Please write to the Egyptian authorities urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee to physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned people, especially Mohammed Farid Hassanein, Nourhan Thabet, Manal Ahmad Khalid, and Ziyad 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Uleimi;
ii. intervene with the proper authorities to ensure that adequate medical assistance is provided as a matter of urgency to all detainees that require it, especially Nourhan Thabet who is pregnant and whose location is unknown, and Mohammed Farid Hassanein who suffers from a heart condition;
iii. order the immediate release of the afore-mentioned people in the absence of valid legal charges, or if such charges exist, bring them before a competent and impartial court and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iv. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these events, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil, and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
v. provide adequate reparation to the afore-mentioned persons;
vi. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of anti-war protestors;
vii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance international human rights laws and standards, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Addresses
· H.E. President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt, Email : Webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
· H.E. Faruq Sayf al-Nasr, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Midan Lazoghly, Cairo, Egypt, Fax: +202 795 8103, E-mail: mojeb@idsc.gov.eg
· H.E. General Habib Ibrahim El Adly, Minister of the Interior, Al – Sheik Rihan Street, Bab al-Louk, Cairo, Egypt, Fax: + 202 579 2031, e-mail: moi@idsc.gov
Please also write to the embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
Geneva, March 27th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Urgent Appeal / Violence Against Women / Child Concern
Arbitrary arrests and detention / Disproportionate use of force / Ill treatment and torture
Risk of torture / Threats of Rape / Fair trial
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Egypt
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has received information from the Egyptian Organisation of Human Rights (EOHR), a member of the OMCT network, and other reliable sources, concerning the violent repression of anti-war demonstrators in Cairo, as well as the arrest of many demonstrators and the ill-treatment and torture of several of their number.
According to the information received, demonstrations broke out in Cairo as the war in Iraq began on March 20th, 2003. Tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Tahrir Square in downtown Cairo and were met with violent repression by the police. It is reported that the police use disproportionate force in order to keep the demonstrators back from the American and British embassies, causing injuries to many demonstrators. The police also reportedly began arresting large numbers of people during protests held over subsequent days. According to the information received, protests broke out in Al-Azhar Mosque, Talaat Harb Square, Ramses Street, and the State Broadcasting Corporation on March 21st, 2003.
According to the information received, on March 21st, the police began to beat demonstrators who were pushing against a barrier on Talaat Harb Street. Police reportedly fired water cannons into the crowd, beat demonstrators with clubs and made many arrests. According to the information received, the police also occupied the Egyptian Bar Association for almost six hours, and arrested more than 15 lawyers, some of whom were beaten during this time. Many of these lawyers had reportedly previously defended anti-war demonstrators.
According to the information received, Members of Parliament Mohammed Farid Hassanein, Hammdeen Sabahi, Abdel Azim al-Maghrabi, and Haidar Baghdadi were also subjected to beatings by the police. A decision was reportedly made on March 24th that Hamdeen Sabahi and Mohammed Farid Hasaneen were to be detained for 15 days pending investigation for their participation in the anti-war demonstrations. According to our sources, this violates their parliamentary privilege, which states that: “No member of the People’s Assembly shall be subject to a criminal prosecution without the permission of the Assembly except in cases of flagrante delicto.” According to information received, Mohammed Farid Hassanein is suffering from multiple injuries including a concussion, a retinal tear of his left eye, as well as retinal detachment in his right eye, cuts on the head, face and nose, and multiple injuries to both arms and legs. It is also reported that he has twice previously undergone heart surgery and suffers from high blood pressure. OMCT is consequently gravely concerned for his personal integrity.
On March 22nd, 2003, it is reported that three female college students - Marwa Faroq, Shaymaa Samir, and Nourhan Thabet - were arrested on their way to a demonstration at Cairo University. Nourhan Thabet is pregnant, and was reportedly beaten by the police, blindfolded, and bound. Our sources report that her current location is unknown, leading to grave concerns for her integrity.
According to the information received, Manal Ahmad Khalid was detained on March 21st in Tahrir Square. She was reportedly beaten, and as a result sustained a serious eye injury. She has reportedly been denied medical attention, and has been threatened with rape by the authorities. Another demonstrator, Ziyad 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Uleimi was beaten by security forces after having been arrested at the premises of the Egyptian Bar Association. He received injuries to his left arm, and claims to be suffering from pain in his legs.
According to the information received, the following demonstrators have been arrested at El Tahrir Square, Cairo and are being tried by the Qasr El Nil Public Prosecution:
Hamdi Ahmed Morsi, Karim Mohamed Abdel Aleem Ibrahim, Ahmed Nageh Abou El Hamd Ibrahim, Abdel Baqi Mohamed Ismail, Mohamed Ahmed Salem, Mahmoud Abdel Kader Ahmed Hassan, Khaled Fathi Abdullaah Muhamed, Ashraf Fathi Ahmed Hussein, Ashraf Wagdi Adbel Hamid, Yaser Fawzy Abdel Ghanee Abd El Aal, Ahmed Abd El Maqsoud Ahmed Gebreel, Mostafa Ismael Mostafa, Ahmed Hanafy Ahmed Tahir, Sherif Abd El Hamid Ismael, Alaa Abd El Azim Mohamed Mustafa, Mohamed Ahmed Ali El Sayid, Alaa Mohamed El Mohamadee El Morsee, as well as Mohamed Hegazy Abdel Wahaab (a minor, exact age unknown).
Below are the names of those arrested and being tried by the al-Gamileya Public Prosecution:
Mohamed Mahmoud Abd El Aty, Mona Mina (Doctor), Magda Mohamed Abd El Rahmen (Journalist in El Arabi Nasiri Newspaper), Abdullah Abd El Rahmen (Worker in poultry industry), Mohamed Said, Mohamed Rageb Abd El Satar (Journalist at El Tagamaoh Newspaper), Mohamed Osman, Essam Mohamed Hassan, Mohamed Mostafa, Shady Gamal Assad (Editor at El Esboah Newspaper), Abd El Gawad Mostafa Abd El Motee (Student at Technical Industrial Institute), Al Farouq Omar Mohamed (Student at Al Ashar University), Abd El Gawad Mahdi, Nagy Mohamed Sayid Ahmed (Accountant).
Below are names of the detainees that are being tried by the State Prosecution:
Mohamed Farid Hasanein (Member of People’s Assembly), Hamdin Sabbahi (Member of the People’s Assembly), Kamal Abou Aita (Trade unionist), Sayid El Touchee (Lawyer), Abd El Aziz El Husseini, Tamim El Bargousey (student), Nadah El Kasas (Journalist), Abeer El Asceree (journalist), Walid El Sayid, Khalid Kamel, Hasan Mahmoud, Ibrahim Hussein, Wael Tawfiq, Remon Zacaria, Magdy Abass, Wael Khalil, Gamal Abd El Fatah (Pharmacist), Ghunem Nawafl, Ahmed Awad, Ahmed Diaa, Hussein Hasan Hanafee.
The following are the names of those arrested at the Bar Association demonstrations and who are being tried by the Azbakeya Prosecution:
Gamal Abd El Aziz (Lawyer), Ahmed Abd El Selem (Director of a construction company), Yaser Farag (Lawyer). Zeid Abd El Mageed Zaky (Attorney), Issam Fadl (Journalist at El Beyen Newspaper Marat), Hamada Ali Abdullah (Journalist), Mohamed Ibrahim Abd El Atee (Journalist), Mahmoud Ali Mahmoud (Driver), Manal Ahmed Khalid (Director’s Assistant), Niveen Ahmed Samir (Director At Hamdin Sabahee’s Office), Hamada Gazy, Mahmoud Mohamed Zaky, as well as Marian Bakry (a minor, exact age unknown).
According to the information received, over sixty-nine detainees have been sent to the prosecutor already. Thirteen demonstrators were reportedly sent to the al-Azbekiya Public Prosecutor's office on March 22nd, where they received four-day detention orders, which were extended for an additional week on March 25th. Forty-nine persons were sent to the Qasr al-Nil and al-Gamaliya Public Prosecution offices on March 22nd, where they received detention orders for fifteen days. According to the information received, the remaining detainees were sent to the State Security Prosecution Office on March 23rd. These detainees face trials before the State Security Court, the verdicts of which cannot be appealed and can only be overturned by an order from the office of the President of the Republic.
The detainees have reportedly been charged with "participating in an illegal assembly of more than five people," under the Egyptian Illegal Assembly Law. Other charges include the destruction of public property; blocking traffic; transmitting propaganda that could disturb public safety and harm public interests; and assaulting law enforcement personnel. According to the information received, demonstrators have alleged that much of the destruction of property during the rallies, including the torching of a fire truck near Tahrir Square, was the work of police.
According to information received, there has been a large incidence of torture within the detention centers where the demonstrators have been held. Reports include the use of electric shocks, beatings that included the use of sticks and clubs, as well as the threat of rape towards the women, giving rise to grave concerns that the detainees in question here are being or risk being subjected to such treatment.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned by the reports of mass arrests, ill-treatment and torture of anti-war demonstrators in Egypt, including the ill treatment of a pregnant woman and threats of rape against another woman, and condemns the authorities’ repressive actions. OMCT would like to recall that Egypt is a State Party to international human rights instruments which prohibit and punish torture and ill-treatment, including the Convention Against Torture and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Egypt is also party to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, which prohibits discrimination against women.
OMCT is in particular gravely concerned for the physical and psychological safety of the afore-mentioned people, especially Mohammed Farid Hassanein, Nourhan Thabet, Manal Ahmad Khalid, and Ziyad 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Uleimi as well as all persons who are being detained incommunicado and those who require urgent medical assistance. OMCT is particularly concerned for the integrity of the two children that have been arrested and calls for them to be released immediately. OMCT calls for the immediate release of all persons being detained as a result of the demonstrations unless there are valid legal charges that are in line with international law. OMCT calls on the authorities to guarantee the detainees’ procedural rights at all times and to guarantee that they be given fair trials.
Action Requested
Please write to the Egyptian authorities urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee to physical and psychological integrity of the aforementioned people, especially Mohammed Farid Hassanein, Nourhan Thabet, Manal Ahmad Khalid, and Ziyad 'Abd al-Hamid al-'Uleimi;
ii. intervene with the proper authorities to ensure that adequate medical assistance is provided as a matter of urgency to all detainees that require it, especially Nourhan Thabet who is pregnant and whose location is unknown, and Mohammed Farid Hassanein who suffers from a heart condition;
iii. order the immediate release of the afore-mentioned people in the absence of valid legal charges, or if such charges exist, bring them before a competent and impartial court and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iv. guarantee an immediate investigation into the circumstances of these events, identify those responsible, bring them before a civil competent and impartial tribunal and apply the penal, civil, and/or administrative sanctions provided by law;
v. provide adequate reparation to the afore-mentioned persons;
vi. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of anti-war protestors;
vii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance international human rights laws and standards, particularly the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Addresses
· H.E. President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt, Email : Webmaster@presidency.gov.eg
· H.E. Faruq Sayf al-Nasr, Minister of Justice, Ministry of Justice, Midan Lazoghly, Cairo, Egypt, Fax: +202 795 8103, E-mail: mojeb@idsc.gov.eg
· H.E. General Habib Ibrahim El Adly, Minister of the Interior, Al – Sheik Rihan Street, Bab al-Louk, Cairo, Egypt, Fax: + 202 579 2031, e-mail: moi@idsc.gov
Please also write to the embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
Geneva, March 27th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.