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UN Arbitrary Detention Team: Arbitrary detention in Egypt has reached the stage of “serious violation of international law”

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In response to a complaint filed by the Committee for Justice

UN Arbitrary Detention Team: Arbitrary detention in Egypt has reached the stage of “serious violation of international law”

The Committee for Justice said that the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention of the United Nations Human Rights Council issued its opinion in the case of Egyptian detainee Ahmed Yasser Mahmoud Ahmed Hassan based on the complaint submitted by CFJ about the violations committed against him after his detention and during his trial.

This opinion was issued at the eighty-ninth session of the Working Group, 23-27 November 2020, and a copy of it was sent to CFJ. On 28 February, 2020, the team confirmed that it requested the Egyptian authorities to respond to these allegations, but the Egyptian side requested an extension of the deadline on 15 April, 2020, and then sent the response late, so the team issued its opinion.

The working group explained that it had received information indicating that in 2018, the Supreme State Security Prosecution referred Hassan to a military court on charges of joining a terrorist group called “Hasm”, and financing it, using the Internet to spread the ideas of that group, plotting with and supporting other defendants in committing terrorist acts against the State, and possessing firearms, explosives, and printing flyers.

The working group added that when Hassan appeared for the first time in May 2018, after an enforced disappearance of about five months, from 20 December 2017 to 22 May 2018, he appeared before the prosecution without defense, and during his trial sessions, he was placed behind a glass barrier that prevented his communication with his lawyer, and his family has not been allowed since his arrest to contact or visit him.

The team indicated that as a result of the lack of communication with his lawyer or his family, it is unknown exactly what happened to him during his disappearance. Thus no one knows whether Hassan has made any confession and, if he has, whether the confession was made under coercion. His family also submitted complaints to the Minister of Interior and the Attorney General to visit him, but to no avail, which made it difficult for his lawyer or his family to submit formal complaints to the State regarding any ill-treatment he suffered or suffering from. 

The working group also reported that it was noticed that Hassan suffered from a problem in his leg while attending his trial sessions. The prison administration also denied his family’s requests to send him food and clothes, and he was not allowed to leave his cell. All these practices make his detention conditions cruel and inhuman. 

The working group considered that there was no justification for trying Hassan before a military court operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Defense and considered the military court violating the due legal procedures and guarantees in Articles 10 and 11 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and in Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; Which affirms that everyone has the right to be tried before a competent, independent and impartial court. 

The Working Group also concluded that the procedures against Hassan amounted to a violation of the right to a fair trial and that his detention amounted to arbitrary detention in the third category. Because of the violations of his right to a fair trial and due process rights, he was denied access to his lawyer and was not given sufficient time and facilities to prepare his defence.  

The team also stressed that all measures should be taken to ensure that the defendants in the Hasm and Liwa al-Thawra cases, which are pending before the East Cairo Military Court and include 277 other defendants, are not subjected to an unfair trial and due process violations such as the ones identified in the present case. The Working Group emphasized that mass trials are incompatible with the interests of justice and do not meet the standards of a fair trial.

The team also noted that this view is only one of several opinions in recent years in which the team found that the Egyptian government is violating its international human rights obligations, expressing its concern that this indicates a systemic problem with arbitrary detention in Egypt, which, if continued, might amount to the level of a serious violation of international law, and that the duty to comply with international human rights standards rests with all state agencies, officials and agents in addition to all other natural and legal agencies, and that under certain circumstances, systematic imprisonment or other forms of severe deprivation of liberty constitute crimes against humanity.

The team also noted that this view is only one of many opinions in recent years in which the Working Group finds the government to be in violation of its international human rights obligations; the Working Group is concerned that this indicates a systemic problem with arbitrary detention in Egypt, which, if it continues, may amount to a serious violation of international law. The duty to comply with international human rights standards rests with all State organs, officers and agents as well as all other natural and legal persons. The Working Group recalled that, under certain circumstances, widespread or systematic imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of the rules of international law may constitute crimes against humanity. 

CFJ appreciated the opinion of the Working Group regarding the complaint it submitted and expressed its support for the demands mentioned in the conclusion of the opinion, calling on the Egyptian authorities to conduct a full, independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the violations against the detainee, and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for violating his rights.

CFJ stressed the need for Egypt to make its laws, especially the anti-terrorism law, compatible with the recommendations contained in the opinion, as well as with the obligations that Egypt undertook under international human rights law.

For more information and media requests or inquiries, please get in touch with us (+41229403538 / media@cfjustice.org)

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