Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders Annual Report 2009 - Egypt

Political context

As the April 8, 2008 municipal and local elections drew near, hundreds of potential candidates and activists were arbitrarily arrested, detained or subjected to restrictions imposed by the Egyptian authorities.¹ Most of them were supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, but they also included journalists or human rights defenders. The European Parliament denounced this repressive climate in a resolution condemning "the recent arrests and action against NGOs and human rights defenders [that] undermine the commitments entered into by the Egyptian Government concerning fundamental rights and freedoms".² This decision was denounced as interfering in Egyptian affairs,³ and had no impact on the repression exercised against human rights defenders.

Furthermore, the State of Emergency Law that has been in force since 1981 was extended for another two years in May 2008. It was used more and more often to restrict the exercise of the right to peaceful assembly and to prosecute before special courts those who exercise this right. On April 6-7, 2008, the police put down brutally demonstrations organised in support of a labour movement of textile workers in Mahalla, north of Cairo, and dispersed violently the ensuing protests against rising food costs and corruption. The event turned into a confrontation between the demonstrators and the police. Two persons were killed by shots fired by the police, and about 258 persons were arrested, including several bloggers. Most were released without charge, but for 49 persons the judicial proceedings before special courts were still pending as of the end of 2008.⁴ These courts, composed of military tribunals judging civilians, flout the fundamental guarantees of a right to a fair trial and accept as evidence information obtained under torture.

In 2008, recourse to ill-treatment and torture remained widespread in Egypt. In particular, several videos broadcast by Egyptians on the Internet showed police officers torturing suspects.

2008 was also marked by attacks on freedom of expression. On September 28, the Editor-in-chief of the al-Dustour daily newspaper, Mr. Ibrahim Eissa, was sentenced by the Boulaq Court of Appeal, in Cairo, to two months' imprisonment for having written an article on President Moubarak's health. The President of the Republic pardoned him on October 6.⁵ However, other journalists continued to be subjected to acts of intimidation. Thus, on October 26, 2008, Mr. Nader Gohar, owner of the Cairo News Company (CNC), was sentenced by the al-Agouza Criminal Court in Cairo to a fine of 150,000 Egyptian Pounds (about 21,185 Euros) for having broadcast footage of the above-mentioned demonstrations without a licence.⁶

Restrictions to the freedom of movement of human rights defenders

In 2008, the Egyptian authorities refused to authorise several human rights defenders to leave the territory, thereby preventing them from taking part in international conferences. For instance, in February 2008, Mr. Hisham Bastawissi, Vice-President of the Egyptian Court of Cassation, and Mr. Ashraf al-Baroudy, a judge sitting at the Alexandria Court of Appeal, were not authorised to leave the country to attend a conference on the independence of the judiciary in the Euro-Mediterranean region organised in Brussels from February 9 to 11. Again, in November, Mr. Ashraf al-Baroudy was not authorised to travel to Jordan to attend a seminar organised by FIDH on the independence of the High Judicial Councils. Furthermore, a veto from the Government that was issued in December 2007 prevented members of the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) from attending a meeting on AIDS organised at the UN General Assembly on June 10 and 11, 2008.

Reprisals against defenders fighting torture

This year, defenders denouncing the use of torture or ill-treatments were subjected to acts of intimidation, even of violence. For instance, on April 30, Dr. Magda Adly, a member of the Nadeem Centre for the Psychological Support and Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, was attacked by a policeman armed with a knife in the Kafr El Dawwar Court, in the Beheira district. She had just attended a hearing during which she had exhibited bloodstained articles of clothing belonging to her clients, evidencing the physical violence to which they had been subjected to when they were arrested. Likewise, Mr. Mohamed Bayoumi, a lawyer at the Association for Human Rights and Legal Aid (AHRLA), an NGO providing legal assistance to victims of torture and asylum seekers, was subjected to acts of intimidation and harassment due to his defence of Ms. Awleel, a Sudanese refugee, who had been attacked and raped by two Egyptian police officers. In July 2008, one of the policemen offered Mr. Bayoumi money to withdraw the complaint against him. On August 2, family members of the policeman hit him in the leg in the street, and stole Ms. Awleel's file. On August 13, Mr. Bayoumi's family received a phone call at two o'clock in the morning informing him, erroneously, that Mr. Bayoumi had been shot dead in the street and that his body was in the hospital mortuary.

Acts of harassment against journalists denouncing human rights violations

In 2008, journalists who denounced human rights violations were also subjected to acts of harassment. For instance, on January 28, 2008, Ms. Howayda Taha was arrested while working on a report on the physical abuse and the social problems to which Egyptian agricultural workers were subjected. The police confiscated her recordings and questioned her for four hours before releasing her.⁷ Similarly, on July 8, 2008, the Rahmanya police initiated judicial proceedings against the journalist Kkamal Murad. On June 17, he had been arrested while interviewing peasants at Exbat Mohram and photographing police officers beating up peasants to force them to sign leases with a local businessman in Rahmanya, in the Buhaira region in the Delta. Mr. Murad was accused of "assuming a false identity", "assaulting the police", "inciting to violence" and "defamation". He incurs from six months' to three years' imprisonment and, as of the end of 2008, the charges against him remained pending 8.

Re-registration of human rights organisations

In 2008, the courts authorised the re-registration of two human rights organisations, thereby cancelling decrees by the Minister for Social Solidarity ordering them to be closed down. In March-April 2007, several decrees had indeed led to the closing down of the headquarters and the regional offices of the Centre for Trade Union and Workers Services (CTUWS), an organisation defending workers' rights. Likewise, on September 8, 2007, the Minister for Social Solidarity issued a decree ordering the closing down of AHRLA. However, on March 30 and October 26, 2008 respectively, the Cairo Administrative Court cancelled the decisions, on the grounds that they were contrary to the freedom of association recognised by the Egyptian Constitution. Nonetheless, as of the end of 2008, the decisions of the Administrative Court had not been implemented neither by the Ministry for Social Solidarity nor by the Governor of Cairo.

Urgent Interventions issued by The Observatory in 2008⁹

1 From January to April 2008, 650 supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood were arrested in Egypt. See the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights (EOHR).

2 See European Parliament Resolution P6_TA(2008)0023, January 17, 2008.

3 See Statement by the Egyptian Foreign Minister, Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, to the official press agency MENA, January 19, 2008.

4 See EOHR.

5 Idem.

6 Idem.

7 Idem.

8 Idem.

9 See the Compilation of cases in the CD-Rom attached to this report.