Disciplinary harassment of Judges Assem Abel Gabbar and Hesham Raouf within the anti-torture bill case

New information

EGY 002 / 0516 /OBS 042.3

Disciplinaryharassment /

Threat of dismissal /

Restrictions tofreedom of association

Egypt

April 7, 2017

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, apartnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH, hasreceived new information and requests your urgent intervention in the followingsituation in Egypt.

New information:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the disciplinary harassmentof Judges Assem Abel Gabbar, formerDeputy Chief Justice of the Court of Cassation, and Hesham Raouf, who sits at Cairo’s Appeal Court and formerJustice Minister’s assistant, to the ‎Disciplinary Council to consider theirdismissal for “engaging in political activities” during theirparticipation in the revision of the anti-torture bill.

According to the information received, on March 30, 2017, the SupremeJudicial Council referred the two judges to the Disciplinary Council for theirremoval from office on accusation of “engaging inpolitical activities”. Messrs. Assem Abel Gabbar and Hesham Raouf had collaborated with Mr NegadEl-Borai, human rights lawyer andDirector of the “United Group – Attorneys-at-law, Legal Advisors” (UnitedGroup)[1], inthe drafting of an anti-torture bill. The first hearing is scheduled to take place onApril 24, 2017.

The Observatory recalls that Mr. El-Borai is facing criminal charges of“establishing an unlicensed entity with the intent of inciting resistance wardsto the authorities”, “implementing human rights activities without license”,“deliberately spreading false information with the purpose of harming publicorder or public interest” and “receiving funds from the National Center forState Courts (NCSC)” (see background information) in an investigation regardingthe same anti-torture activity.

The Observatory considers that the aforementioned investigation anddisciplinary harassment will further undermine human rights defenders’ effortsto fight against torture in the country. Moreover, they clearly show theunwillingness of Egyptian authorities to live up to their commitments[2]to bring the definition in the Penal Code of the crime oftorture in line with international standards.

Therefore, theObservatory urges the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionallyput an end to the harassment against Judges Assem Abel Gabbar and Hesham Raouf, aswell as Negad El-Borai, by immediately dropping the ongoing proceedingsagainst them.

Background information:

In March 2015, the Supreme Judicial Councilfiled a complaint against Mr. Negad El-Borai for drafting an anti-torture bill,organising a workshop to discuss it, and advocating before the Egyptianauthorities for its adoption.

On May 21, 2015, Mr. Negad El-Borai wasinterrogated by an investigative judge in North Giza Court on the drafting ofthe anti-torture bill.

On March 3, 2016, Mr. El-Borai wasinterrogated for the fourth time by an investigative judge in relation to thesame case. Subsequently, he was arrested, then released from custody on hisguarantee of residence, and charged with “establishing an unlicensed entitywith the intent of inciting resistance wards to the authorities”, “implementinghuman rights activities without a license”, “deliberately spreading falseinformation with the purpose of harming public order or public interest” and“receiving funds from the National Center for State Courts (NCSC)”.

On April 6, 2016, United Group submitted itsproposal of anti-torture bill to the House of Representatives’ Speaker andcalled for its adoption, after it had failed to get a response from Egyptianauthorities one year after its presentation to various State bodies. At themoment of issuing this appeal, no answer has yet been received from anyEgyptian authorities, including the Egyptian Parliament.

On May 17, 2016, Mr. Negad El-Borai wassummoned for the fifth time before the investigative judge.

On June 5, 2016, Mr. El-Borai was again calledfor an interrogation, during which the investigative judge confronted histestimony with the statement made by the National Security Officer. The officerstated that Mr. El-Borai had “received funds from foreign organisations tobring down the State and attract youth to establish political movements inorder to turn public opinion against the State using methods of “non-violence”.He added that Mr. El-Borai “gives statements to the media that turn publicopinion against the State inside and outside the country using the indirectmethods of the “minds revolution” that causes its fall”.

Moreover, Judge Hesham Raoufand JudgeAssem Abdel Gabar, were also targeted for participating in the drafting processof the anti-torture bill. On November 12, 2016, Judge Abdulshafy Othmansummoned Judge Hesham Raouf for an interrogation on the anti-torture bill.

Furthermore, on January 26, 2017, the airportauthorities prevented Mr. Negad El-Borai from boarding his flight to Jordan atCairo International Airport, pursuant to a travel ban issued by an investigatingmagistrate and the General Prosecutor within the framework of a criminalinvestigation under case No. 173/2011, known as the “foreign funding caseagainst NGOs”.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities ofEgypt asking them to:

i. Put an end to all forms of harassment - including at the disciplinaryand judicial level - against Judges Hesham Raouf and Assem Abdel Gabar, as wellas against Mr. Negad El-Borai, by dropping all proceedings against them, sincethey only aim at sanctioning their legitimate human rights activities;

ii. Immediately and unconditionally lift the travel ban against Mr. NegadEl-Borai;

iii. Comply with all the provisions of the United Nations Declaration onHuman Rights Defenders, in particular with its Articles 1, 5(b) and 12.2;

iv. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

·President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +2022391 1441, Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial

·Prime Minister, Mr. Sherif Ismail. Fax: + 202 2735 6449 / 27958016

·Minister of the Interior, Mr. Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar, E-mail: Fax: +202 2579 2031/ 2794 5529 


·Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103 


·Minister of Social Solidarity, Ghada Waly, Fax: +202 3337 5390 


· Public Prosecutor,Counsellor Nabeel Sadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716

· Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of the NationalCouncil For Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email:nchr@nchr.org.eg

· H.E. Ms. Wafaa Bassim, Ambassador, PermanentMission of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Email:mission.egypt@ties.itu.int, Fax: +41 22 738 44 15

· Embassy of Egypt inBrussels, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic missions orembassies of Egypt in your respective country.

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The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997by FIDH and OMCT. The objective of this programme is to prevent or remedysituations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT areboth members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European UnionHuman Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civilsociety.

[1] The United Groupis an Egyptian law firm established 50 years ago, which also works on modellegislation to improve the respect of human rights standards.

[2] In March 2015,during a UN Human Rights Council session, Egypt accepted to implement severalrecommendations formulated during the Universal Periodic Review to strengthenthe fight against torture in the country.