Egypt
25.02.03
Urgent Interventions
Egypt: further arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention of peaceful anti-war demonstrators
Case EGY 170203.1
Follow-up of Case EGY 170203
Arbitrary arrests / Incommunicado detention / Risk of torture / Freedom of expression
Geneva, February 25th, 2003
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Egypt.
New information
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information from the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights (EOHR), a member of the OMCT network, and other reliable sources concerning further arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention of peaceful anti-war demonstrators, notably Mr. Kamal Khalil, in Egypt.
According to information received, on February 19th, 2003, the Egyptian Security Forces arrested Mr. Kamal Khalil, a leader of the Egyptian anti-war movement and the Director of the Socialist Studies Center in Cairo. It is reported that his family last saw him on February 18th, 2003. The authorities reportedly told his family that he is being held in the State Security Detention. According to the information received, Mr. Khalil has not yet been charged and he has been denied access to his family and doctors. In addition, Mr. Khalil reportedly has health problems that could become very serious without medication. He recently underwent surgery for a hernia, and suffers from asthma and urgently requires medication for both conditions. His family has attempted to deliver medication to the authorities for him, but have thus far been unsuccessful.
The arrests of anti-Iraqi war activists have increased during the last two months and, in addition to Mr Khalil, 14 people remain in detention.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for Mr. Khalil’s physical and psychological integrity, due to the fact that he is being detained incommunicado, with the increased risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture that this entails, as well as his urgent requirement for medical assistance. More generally, OMCT is also concerned by the alleged arbitrary arrests and detention of persons engaged in exercising their rights to the freedom of expression and opinion. OMCT is also concerned by the use of emergency law in Egypt and the broad powers that it gives the government to arrest and detain people that it sees as a threat. OMCT calls upon the authorities to order the immediate release of all peaceful anti-war demonstrators that are currently being held and to halt any further actions of these types against such persons, as these represent violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that has been ratified by Egypt. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately end the use of emergency law and ensure that it is not extended when it expires in May 2003.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT had previously been informed by EOHR of the arbitrary arrests and detention of 15 peaceful demonstrators, following demonstration held on January 18th, 2003. According to the information received, they were arrested because of their involvement in demonstrations against the war in Iraq. These persons include: Tamer Hendawi Abd El Hafeez; Mohamed Khalil Ghatas; Mohamed Dakhli; Abdel Gawaad Ahmed Mostafa; Rami Safwat; Mahmed Hassan Hassan Ahmed; Magdy El Kordi; Mohamed Hosni Mahmoud; Samir El Fouli; Sabri El Samak; Mr. Ibrahim El Sahary ; Karim Ahmed Mohamed Omr; Mahmed Abd El samee; Mostafa Aid Ramadan; and Mohamd Abd El Razek Mohamed – the latter four of whom have been confirmed as having been released. Several other persons have been detained since then however.
Concerning the Emergency Law, it is worth noting that EOHR has launched a campaign aimed at ending the enforcement of the Emergency Law in Egypt. Under the Emergency Law No 162 of 1958 (‘the Emergency Law’), the executive authority has wide powers to suspend many civil and political freedoms and rights granted by the Constitution and legislative safeguards in the Criminal Procedures Code. The Emergency Law is due to expire in May 2003. At that time, a state of emergency will have been in force in Egypt for 22 consecutive years. It is predicted that the emergency status could be extended for another three-year period. The Emergency Law has been used to restrict various freedoms such as the freedom of assembly, movement, residence and opinion over the last two decades. Moreover, wide powers of arrest, detention, and search and seizure have resulted in widespread violations of civil and political rights. Power has also been given to the military ruler to issue decrees that have the force of law, thus avoiding parliamentary supervision. Such decrees have been used against human rights defenders (for example, Military Order No.4 of 1992).
According to our sources, the most dangerous consequence of the Emergency Law is its usurpation of the role of the Egyptian judicial system. Parallel exceptional courts have been created to hear criminal cases concerning threats to State security and alleged violations of military decrees. Certain civil and political trial protections do not apply in exceptional jurisdictions. Additionally, there can be no appeal for verdicts handed down by such courts. However, the President has wide powers with respect to ratification of verdicts and is even capable of ordering a retrial. The continuous enforcement of Emergency Law is no longer justifiable in Egypt, as the political or religious violence that was the pretext of the extension of the state of emergency during the 1980s and 1990s no longer exists.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Egypt urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of those who have been detained as a result of participation in peaceful anti-war demonstrations;
ii. immediately grant Mr. Khalil medical attention and ensure that he has access to his family and legal representation;
iii. order the immediate release of the afore-mentioned detainees in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of peaceful demonstrators;
vi. immediately end the use of emergency law and ensure that it is not extended when it expires in May 2003.
vii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· H.E. President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt, Fax: 202 390 19 98, Email: Webmaster@presidency.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.eg
· Her Excellency Mrs Naéla Gabr, Ambassador of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 49, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, fax: + 41 22 738 44 15, e-mail: mission.Egypt@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
Geneva, February 25th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Follow-up of Case EGY 170203
Arbitrary arrests / Incommunicado detention / Risk of torture / Freedom of expression
Geneva, February 25th, 2003
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in Egypt.
New information
The International Secretariat of the OMCT has received information from the Egyptian Organization of Human Rights (EOHR), a member of the OMCT network, and other reliable sources concerning further arbitrary arrests and incommunicado detention of peaceful anti-war demonstrators, notably Mr. Kamal Khalil, in Egypt.
According to information received, on February 19th, 2003, the Egyptian Security Forces arrested Mr. Kamal Khalil, a leader of the Egyptian anti-war movement and the Director of the Socialist Studies Center in Cairo. It is reported that his family last saw him on February 18th, 2003. The authorities reportedly told his family that he is being held in the State Security Detention. According to the information received, Mr. Khalil has not yet been charged and he has been denied access to his family and doctors. In addition, Mr. Khalil reportedly has health problems that could become very serious without medication. He recently underwent surgery for a hernia, and suffers from asthma and urgently requires medication for both conditions. His family has attempted to deliver medication to the authorities for him, but have thus far been unsuccessful.
The arrests of anti-Iraqi war activists have increased during the last two months and, in addition to Mr Khalil, 14 people remain in detention.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned for Mr. Khalil’s physical and psychological integrity, due to the fact that he is being detained incommunicado, with the increased risk of being subjected to ill-treatment or torture that this entails, as well as his urgent requirement for medical assistance. More generally, OMCT is also concerned by the alleged arbitrary arrests and detention of persons engaged in exercising their rights to the freedom of expression and opinion. OMCT is also concerned by the use of emergency law in Egypt and the broad powers that it gives the government to arrest and detain people that it sees as a threat. OMCT calls upon the authorities to order the immediate release of all peaceful anti-war demonstrators that are currently being held and to halt any further actions of these types against such persons, as these represent violations of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that has been ratified by Egypt. Furthermore, OMCT calls on the authorities to immediately end the use of emergency law and ensure that it is not extended when it expires in May 2003.
Brief reminder of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT had previously been informed by EOHR of the arbitrary arrests and detention of 15 peaceful demonstrators, following demonstration held on January 18th, 2003. According to the information received, they were arrested because of their involvement in demonstrations against the war in Iraq. These persons include: Tamer Hendawi Abd El Hafeez; Mohamed Khalil Ghatas; Mohamed Dakhli; Abdel Gawaad Ahmed Mostafa; Rami Safwat; Mahmed Hassan Hassan Ahmed; Magdy El Kordi; Mohamed Hosni Mahmoud; Samir El Fouli; Sabri El Samak; Mr. Ibrahim El Sahary ; Karim Ahmed Mohamed Omr; Mahmed Abd El samee; Mostafa Aid Ramadan; and Mohamd Abd El Razek Mohamed – the latter four of whom have been confirmed as having been released. Several other persons have been detained since then however.
Concerning the Emergency Law, it is worth noting that EOHR has launched a campaign aimed at ending the enforcement of the Emergency Law in Egypt. Under the Emergency Law No 162 of 1958 (‘the Emergency Law’), the executive authority has wide powers to suspend many civil and political freedoms and rights granted by the Constitution and legislative safeguards in the Criminal Procedures Code. The Emergency Law is due to expire in May 2003. At that time, a state of emergency will have been in force in Egypt for 22 consecutive years. It is predicted that the emergency status could be extended for another three-year period. The Emergency Law has been used to restrict various freedoms such as the freedom of assembly, movement, residence and opinion over the last two decades. Moreover, wide powers of arrest, detention, and search and seizure have resulted in widespread violations of civil and political rights. Power has also been given to the military ruler to issue decrees that have the force of law, thus avoiding parliamentary supervision. Such decrees have been used against human rights defenders (for example, Military Order No.4 of 1992).
According to our sources, the most dangerous consequence of the Emergency Law is its usurpation of the role of the Egyptian judicial system. Parallel exceptional courts have been created to hear criminal cases concerning threats to State security and alleged violations of military decrees. Certain civil and political trial protections do not apply in exceptional jurisdictions. Additionally, there can be no appeal for verdicts handed down by such courts. However, the President has wide powers with respect to ratification of verdicts and is even capable of ordering a retrial. The continuous enforcement of Emergency Law is no longer justifiable in Egypt, as the political or religious violence that was the pretext of the extension of the state of emergency during the 1980s and 1990s no longer exists.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Egypt urging them to:
i. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of those who have been detained as a result of participation in peaceful anti-war demonstrations;
ii. immediately grant Mr. Khalil medical attention and ensure that he has access to his family and legal representation;
iii. order the immediate release of the afore-mentioned detainees in the absence of valid legal charges or, if such charges exist, bring them before an impartial and competent tribunal and guarantee their procedural rights at all times;
iv. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of these arrests in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal, civil and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
v. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of peaceful demonstrators;
vi. immediately end the use of emergency law and ensure that it is not extended when it expires in May 2003.
vii. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with international human rights standards.
Addresses
· H.E. President Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, Abedine Palace, Cairo, Egypt, Fax: 202 390 19 98, Email: Webmaster@presidency.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.eg
· Her Excellency Mrs Naéla Gabr, Ambassador of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 49, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, fax: + 41 22 738 44 15, e-mail: mission.Egypt@ties.itu.int
Please also write to the embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
Geneva, February 25th, 2003
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.