Press Release
The “Committee for Justice” (CFJ) has monitored the Egyptian authorities’ enforced disappearance of four siblings—two women and a man with schizophrenia—under unclear circumstances and without presenting them to the relevant judiciary or conducting any investigations.
According to CFJ, the siblings were arrested on separate occasions and subsequently disappeared, with no information about their whereabouts or reasons for their detention disclosed.
On November 13, a security force of about ten personnel, some in uniform and others in plainclothes, raided the home of Abdel Rahman Hamdi Mohamed Abdel Hamid Khater, a 31-year-old epilepsy patient, in Imbaba, Giza Governorate. Abdel Rahman, who lived with his mother and his sister Umama (25), a Quran tutor, was taken along with his sister after the force broke into their home under the pretext of a “brief investigation,” promising a swift return. Over a month has passed, and their fate remains unknown.
On November 22, their other sister, Khadija (27), was arrested. Her home in the Matariya district of Cairo was raided during her absence. After authorities threatened her family, demanding her presence at the Matariya Police Station for questioning, Khadija voluntarily went to the station. She disappeared afterward, her phone was switched off, and officials denied any knowledge of her whereabouts. She has not been presented to any judicial body since.
Their elder brother, Taha (29), who suffers from schizophrenia, was taken on December 11 in the early hours of the morning. Security forces raided his residence in Imbaba, Giza, and led him to an unknown location. All contact with him has since been lost, and he has not been brought before any judicial body.
The four siblings are known for their good reputation, and their family has confirmed that they are entirely uninvolved in any political or oppositional activities. The family, now in a state of distress, has demanded the disclosure of their children’s fates, insisting that their continued enforced disappearance constitutes a grave violation of human rights and both domestic and international laws.
CFJ expresses unequivocal condemnation of these serious violations by the Egyptian authorities, emphasizing that the siblings’ enforced disappearance contravenes Egypt’s constitution, domestic laws, and international treaties to which it is a party.
CFJ calls for the immediate disclosure of the siblings’ whereabouts and their unconditional release. It also stresses the urgent need for medical and psychological care for Taha, who suffers from schizophrenia, and reiterates the importance of ending enforced disappearances, respecting human rights, and upholding the rule of law in Egypt.
