Ongoing arbitrary detention of human rights lawyer Mohamed El-Baqer and blogger Alaa Abdel Fattah

Arbitrarydetention /

Judicialharassment

Egypt

October4, 2019

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of theWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, has received newinformation and requests your urgent intervention in the following situationin Egypt.

Newinformation:

TheObservatory has been informed by reliable sources about the ongoing arbitrarydetention and judicial harassment of Mr. Mohamed El-Baqer, a human rights lawyer andDirector of Adalah Center for Rights and Freedoms, and Mr. Alaa Abdel Fattah, ablogger and member of the “No to Military Trials for Civilians” movement[1].

Accordingto the information received, on September 30, 2019, Messrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah were transferred to ToraHigh Security prison 2, where conditions of detention are very strict, anddetainees are held in solitary confinement and are not allowed to receive anyvisit.

TheObservatory recalls that Messrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah were arrested on September29, 2019 (see background information). They were subsequently accused underCriminal Case 1356 of 2019 by State Security Prosecution on charges of“belonging to a terrorist group”, “funding a terrorist group”, “spreading falsenews undermining national security” and “using social media to commitpublishing offenses”, and were given 15 days of preventive detention pendinginvestigation. Their place of detention remained unknown until October 1, whenthe prison authorities informed their families that they were detained in ToraHigh Security prison 2.

TheObservatory expresses its utmost concern over the arbitrary detention andongoing judicial harassment of Messrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattahand urges the Egyptian authorities to release them immediately andunconditionally and to put an end to all forms of harassment against them,including at the judicial level, as well as against all human rights defendersin Egypt.

Backgroundinformation:

OnSeptember 29, 2019, Mr. Mohamed El-Baqer was arrested at the State SecurityProsecution premises while he was attending an investigation session with hisclient Mr. Alaa Abdel Fattah, who had been arrested earlier in the morning ofthat same day in his probation cell at the Dokki police station, where hespends his daily 12 hours police monitoring. The Observatory recalls that onMarch 29, 2019 Mr. Alaa Abdel Fattah was released under probation from Cairo’sTora prison, at the term of his five-year sentence. As part of his probation,he must spend every night at the Dokki police station[2].

Thearrest of Messrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah came in the midst of amassive arrest campaign following demonstrations that called for Presidental-Sisi to step down following allegations of corruption and waste of publicfunds made against his family and a number of army leaders. At least 2,200people have been arrested since September 20, 2019 in response to the protests,according to latest reports. On September 27, 2019, the United Nations HighCommissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet expressed “serious concerns about reports of lack of due process followingwide-spread arrests linked to the protests in Egypt, and urged the authoritiesto respect the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly in fullcompliance with international norms and standards”.

Otherhuman rights defenders have also been arrested, including human rightslawyer MahienourEl-Massry and Ms. Asmaa Dabees, founder of the “Daughter of the Nile”, aninitiative working on violence against women in Beheira with a focus ondomestic violence, female genital mutilation, and forced marriage, who were respectively arbitrarily arrested on September 22 andSeptember 26, 2019[3].

Actionsrequested:

Pleasewrite to the authorities in Egypt, urging them to:

i. Guaranteein all circumstances the physical integrity and psychological well-being ofMessrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah, as well as that of allhuman rights defenders in Egypt;

ii.Release Messrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah immediately and unconditionallyas their detention is arbitrary since it only seems to aim at punishing themfor their human rights activities;

iii.Guarantee the unhindered access of Messrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa AbdelFattah to a lawyer of their choice and their family members;

iv.Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, againstMessrs. Mohamed El-Baqer and Alaa Abdel Fattah, as well as of all human rightsdefenders in Egypt and ensure that they are able to carry out theiractivities without hindrance;

v.Conform in all circumstances to the provisions of the Declaration on HumanRights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations GeneralAssembly, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2.;

vi.Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedomsin accordance with international human rights instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

• President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 2391 1441. Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial
• Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa Kemal Madbouly Mohamed. Email: pm@cabinet.gov.eg
• Minister of the Interior, Mr. Mahmoud Tawfik, Email: center@iscmi.gov.eg
• Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103 

• Public Prosecutor, Counsellor Nabeel Sadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716
• Head of the Egyptian parliament’s Human Rights Committee, Mr. Alaa Abed, Email: humanrightscomplaints@parliament.gov.eg
• Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, 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 United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.egypt@bluewin.ch
• Embassy of Egypt in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Pleasealso write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Egypt in your respectivecountry.

***

Geneva-Paris,October 4, 2019

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu,the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

[1] This movement was set up in 2011 and denounced human rights abusescommitted in particular by security forces and the army during the rule of theSupreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) after the fall of former PresidentMubarak.

[2] See Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 002 / 1113 / OBS 095.8, published onMarch 29, 2019.

[3] See Observatory Urgent Appeals EGY 003 / 0919 / OBS 074 and EGY 005 / 0919 / OBS 076, published on September 23 and 30, 2019. @font-face { font-family: Wingdings;}@font-face { font-family: "MS Mincho";}@font-face { font-family: "MS Gothic";}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}@font-face { font-family: "@MS Gothic";}@font-face { font-family: "@MS Mincho";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; }span.MsoFootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }span.LienInternet { }span.NotedebasdepageCar { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; }span.Ancredenotedebasdepage { vertical-align: super; }span.NotedebasdepageCar1 { font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 10); }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Calibri", sans-serif; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }