Enforced disappearance of ECRF Researcher Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din

EGY 002 / 0619 / OBS050
Enforced disappearance
Egypt
June 14, 2019

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

Description of thesituation:

The Observatory hasbeen informed by reliable sources about the enforced disappearance of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, Researcher on the right to housing atthe Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), a human rights law firmbased in Cairo operatingin several governorates.

According to theinformation received, on June 12, 2019, Mr. Ibrahim EzzEl-Din was arrested on his way home from ECRF office in Cairo’s Mokattam area.However, since then, despite requests from his mother and ECRF lawyers, the Mokattampolice station has consistently denied detaining him. As of publication of thisUrgent Appeal, despite communications from Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din’s mother andECRF to the Attorney General, no information on the whereabouts of Mr. IbrahimEzz El-Din was available.

The Observatory expresses its utmostconcerns over the enforced disappearance of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din and urgesthe Egyptian authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and allow himaccess to his lawyer and family.

The Observatory fears that Mr. Ibrahim EzzEl-Din’s enforced disappearance comes as a result of his criticism of thepolicies of the government towards shanty urban areas and slums[1],and recalls that this is not the first time that ECRF and its members are subjectedto harassment[2].

The Observatory urges the Egyptianauthorities to release Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din immediately and unconditionallyand to put an end to all forms of harassment against him, including at thejudicial level.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in Egypt,urging them to:

i. Guarantee,in all circumstances, the physical integrity and psychological well-beingof Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din as well as of all human rightsdefenders in Egypt;

ii. Immediately disclose Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din’swhereabouts and release him immediately and unconditionally as his detention isarbitrary since it only seems to aim at punishing him for his human rightsactivities;

iii. Guarantee the unhindered access of Mr. IbrahimEzz El-Din to a lawyer of his choice and his family members;

iv. Put an end to all acts of harassment,including at the judicial level, against Mr. IbrahimEzz El-Din, as well as of all humanrights defenders in Egypt and ensurethat they are able to carry out their activities without hindrance;

v. Conform in allcircumstances to the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders,adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, inparticular its Articles 1 and 12.2.;

vi. Ensurein all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with international 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 Kemal MadboulyMohamed. Email: pm@cabinet.gov.eg

· Minister ofthe 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 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.

***

Geneva-Paris, June 14,2019

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

[1] In particular he criticised the Maspero Triangle development projectwhich led to the demolition of 75% of the Maspero triangle slums in Cairo andof the mass displacement of the inhabitants of Cairo’s Al-Warraq Island as aresult of another development project.

[2] See inparticular Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 004 / 0917 / OBS 105, published onSeptember 27, 2017, as well as Urgent Appeal EGY002 / 0518 / OBS 059.9, published on January 11, 2019.

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