Sale of surveillance technology to Egypt: Paris Prosecutor asked to open a criminal investigation
| Publisher | International Federation for Human Rights |
| Publication Date | 9 November 2017 |
| Cite as | International Federation for Human Rights, Sale of surveillance technology to Egypt: Paris Prosecutor asked to open a criminal investigation, 9 November 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a0d49554.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
This morning, FIDH and the Ligue des Droits de l'Homme (France), with the support of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, filed a criminal complaint relating to the potential role - via the sale of surveillance technology - of the French company Amesys (renamed Nexa Technologies) in widespread oppression under the Al-Sissi regime. The complaint was filed with the specialised unit responsible for prosecuting crimes against humanity in France. This request for the opening of a criminal investigation for complicity to torture and enforced disappearance follows revelations published by the newspaper Télérama, and supplements the investigation already underway on the sale of surveillance technology to Gaddafi's Libya.
On 5 July 2017, Télérama revealed that Amesys had "changed its name and shareholder in order to sell its services to the new Egyptian authorities while the French state stands and looks on". A press conference was organised at FIDH headquarters in Paris with the journalist who published these revelations: Olivier Tesquet.
This morning, FIDH filed a complaint ("dénonciation") with the specialised unit responsible for prosecuting crimes against humanity within the Paris Prosecutor's office, requesting that a criminal investigation be opened for complicity to torture and enforced disappearances in Egypt. On 19 October 2011, our organisations first filed a complaint against Amesys following revelations published in the Wall Street Journal and WikiLeaks. In 2013, FIDH organised for Libyan victims of the Gaddafi regime to come to France and testify before the investigating judges as to how they were tracked down, arrested and then tortured. In May 2017, Amesys was formally placed under the status of assisted witness ("témoin assisté) for complicity to torture committed in Libya between 2007 and 2011.
However, the opening of criminal proceedings alone would not mask the lack of political willingness on the part of the French authorities, who should have prevented the export of "dual-use" surveillance technologies by the former managers of Amesys to Egypt, where oppression has been in full swing since General Al Sissi's coup d'état.
