Egypt
02.08.01
Urgent Interventions
Egypt: harassment of Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali’s family
Case EGY 020801
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 been informed by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), a member of the OMCT network, of the harassment, including threats, beatings, arbitrary arrests and detentions of members of Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali’s family, by the Egyptian police in Helwan, Egypt.
According to the information received Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali and members of her family have been the target of a series of abuses committed by members of the Helwan police investigation station, notably Officer Ehab El Tahawy and his assistants. It is thought that these incidents have been motivated by Mrs. Hamid Ali’s involvement in the ongoing trial of the policeman accused of having tortured her husband to death in 1994.
According to the information received, on May 3rd, 2001, members of the Helwan police broke into Mrs. Hamid Ali’s house and arbitrarily arrested everyone present and detained them in Helwan police station. They were reportedly released later the same day. On May 4th, the police reportedly visited Mrs. Hamid Ali’s at 2 pm and arrested her, confiscated pieces of furniture, and ordered the men to take off all of their clothes except their underwear. The police then took Mrs. Hamid Ali to her son’s house and arrested him, also ordering him to strip down to his underwear. The police then forced Mrs. Hamid Ali and her son to walk down the street without their clothes on, in order to humiliate them.
According to the information received, Mrs. Hamid Ali visited the Helwan prosecutors’ office on May 12th, in order to register a complaint about the afore-mentioned abuses. She was told to return the following day, at which time the prosecutor ordered her to go to the police station, ostensibly to retrieve some of the items confiscated from her home by the police. However, when she went to the police station, Officer El Tahawy ignored the prosecutor’s orders and detained her at the police station for three days, until May 15th.
According to the information received, on July 23rd, 2001, members of the Helwan police broke into Mrs. Hamid Ali’s house, without a warrant from the prosecutor’s office, broke furniture and electric appliances, and threatened to arrest her children for crimes they had not committed.
EOHR reportedly appealed to the South Cairo Attorney General, who transferred the case to Helwan’s prosecutions offices. The latter have reportedly visited Mrs. Hamid Ali’s house, but have not as yet completed the investigation.
It is thought that this series of abuses and violations of Mrs. Hamid Ali and her families’ human rights stem from the police attempting to pressure her into giving up the case of her husband, Mr Fathi Abd El Monem’s death by torture at the hands of the police in Helwan police station in 1994. The trial of the policeman accused of this crime, Officer Mohsen Badwy, is currently at the appeal stage, which could explain the timing and intensity of the police’s actions against Mrs. Hamid Ali and her family.
OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Hamid Ali and the other members of her family.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Egypt urging them to:
1. ensure the respect of Mrs. Hamid Ali and her families’ physical and psychological integrity;
2. 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;
3. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of the above-mentioned persons;
4. guarantee adequate restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for Mrs. Hamid Ali and her family, for the recent abuses;
5. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, E-mail: webmaster@presidency.gov.eg, Fax : + 202 390 1998, Telex: 93794 WAZRA UN
· His Excellency General Habib al-'Adeli, Minister of the Interior, Fax: + 202 579 2031, E-mail: moi2@idsc.gov.eg
· His Excellency Farouk Solf Al Nasr, Minister of Justice, Fax : +202 355 81 03
Please also write to the embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
Geneva, August 2nd, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply
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 been informed by the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR), a member of the OMCT network, of the harassment, including threats, beatings, arbitrary arrests and detentions of members of Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali’s family, by the Egyptian police in Helwan, Egypt.
According to the information received Mrs. Sammah Hamid Ali and members of her family have been the target of a series of abuses committed by members of the Helwan police investigation station, notably Officer Ehab El Tahawy and his assistants. It is thought that these incidents have been motivated by Mrs. Hamid Ali’s involvement in the ongoing trial of the policeman accused of having tortured her husband to death in 1994.
According to the information received, on May 3rd, 2001, members of the Helwan police broke into Mrs. Hamid Ali’s house and arbitrarily arrested everyone present and detained them in Helwan police station. They were reportedly released later the same day. On May 4th, the police reportedly visited Mrs. Hamid Ali’s at 2 pm and arrested her, confiscated pieces of furniture, and ordered the men to take off all of their clothes except their underwear. The police then took Mrs. Hamid Ali to her son’s house and arrested him, also ordering him to strip down to his underwear. The police then forced Mrs. Hamid Ali and her son to walk down the street without their clothes on, in order to humiliate them.
According to the information received, Mrs. Hamid Ali visited the Helwan prosecutors’ office on May 12th, in order to register a complaint about the afore-mentioned abuses. She was told to return the following day, at which time the prosecutor ordered her to go to the police station, ostensibly to retrieve some of the items confiscated from her home by the police. However, when she went to the police station, Officer El Tahawy ignored the prosecutor’s orders and detained her at the police station for three days, until May 15th.
According to the information received, on July 23rd, 2001, members of the Helwan police broke into Mrs. Hamid Ali’s house, without a warrant from the prosecutor’s office, broke furniture and electric appliances, and threatened to arrest her children for crimes they had not committed.
EOHR reportedly appealed to the South Cairo Attorney General, who transferred the case to Helwan’s prosecutions offices. The latter have reportedly visited Mrs. Hamid Ali’s house, but have not as yet completed the investigation.
It is thought that this series of abuses and violations of Mrs. Hamid Ali and her families’ human rights stem from the police attempting to pressure her into giving up the case of her husband, Mr Fathi Abd El Monem’s death by torture at the hands of the police in Helwan police station in 1994. The trial of the policeman accused of this crime, Officer Mohsen Badwy, is currently at the appeal stage, which could explain the timing and intensity of the police’s actions against Mrs. Hamid Ali and her family.
OMCT is gravely concerned for the physical and psychological integrity of Mrs. Hamid Ali and the other members of her family.
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in Egypt urging them to:
1. ensure the respect of Mrs. Hamid Ali and her families’ physical and psychological integrity;
2. 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;
3. put an immediate end to the persecution and harassment of the above-mentioned persons;
4. guarantee adequate restitution, compensation and rehabilitation for Mrs. Hamid Ali and her family, for the recent abuses;
5. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
· His Excellency Mohammad Hosni Mubarak, President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, E-mail: webmaster@presidency.gov.eg, Fax : + 202 390 1998, Telex: 93794 WAZRA UN
· His Excellency General Habib al-'Adeli, Minister of the Interior, Fax: + 202 579 2031, E-mail: moi2@idsc.gov.eg
· His Excellency Farouk Solf Al Nasr, Minister of Justice, Fax : +202 355 81 03
Please also write to the embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
Geneva, August 2nd, 2001
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply