Release of Mr. Tarek Hussein

EGY 001 / 0617 / OBS 066.3
Release

Egypt
August 1, 2017

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, apartnership of FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), 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 release of Mr. Tarek Hussein (known as Tito), humanrights activist and lawyer at the Egyptian Center for Economic and SocialRights (ECESR)[1].

Accordingto the information received, on July 27, 2017, Mr. Tarek Hussein was releasedfrom El-Khanqa Police Station, following the duly payment of a 2,000 EGP(approx. 99 euros) bail, which had been issued by the "Khanqa"prosecution on June 18, 2017, although not implemented until now (seebackground information).

Mr.Tarek Hussein was arbitrarily arrested on June 17, 2017, under accusations of“joining an illegal organization” and “calling for a protest” (see backgroundinformation). The police held Mr. Tarek Hussein incommunicado, preventing hisfamily and lawyers to visit him.

Followinghis enforced disappearance while in detention, Mr. Tarek Hussein’s familyand lawyers as well as the Lawyers’Syndicate filed three successive complaints regarding the various violationssuffered by Mr. Tarek Hussein in detention[2].

Inan attempt to justify his detention, the authorities claimed that at least 13verdicts had been issued all over the country against an individual named"Tarek Hussein", and in one of the cases, police claimed he wassentenced for “stealing electricity in 1993”, the year when the human rightsdefender was born. During the nearly 40 days of illegal detention, his lawyerssubmitted documentation and evidence with different authorities and policestations to prove that he was not the "Tarek Hussein" in question.

TheObservatory welcomes the release of Mr. Tarek Hussein, but expresses itsconcerns over the judicial harassment ongoing against him and other humanrights defenders in Egypt. Accordingly, the Observatory calls upon Egyptianauthorities to put an end to all kind of harassment against human rightsdefenders, as it only aims at sanctioning their legitimate human rights activities.

TheObservatory calls upon the Egyptian authorities to investigate all human rightsviolations suffered by Mr. Tarek Hussein in detention.

Backgroundinformation:

OnJune 17, 2017, at dawn fifteen masked and plain clothes officers from the CentralSecurity Forces stormed out Mr. Tarek Hussein’s house, arrested him andconfiscated his laptop and cell phone. During his arrest, Mr. Tarek Husseinrequested to see the arrest warrant but was not shown any and was physicallyand verbally assaulted instead, including upon his arrival at Al-Khanka’spolice station. He was subsequently brought before the Al-Khanka DistrictProsecution, where he was accused of “joining an illegal organization” and“calling for a protest”.

OnJune 18, 2017, the Al-Khanka District Prosecution ordered Mr. Tarek Hussein’srelease on bail, which has been paid. However, he remained detained.

OnJuly 4, 2017, Mr. Tarek Hussein who had been detained at Ain El-Shams PoliceStation since June 20, 2017, was set to be transferred to Imbaba PoliceStation. However, Imbaba Police Station denied Mr. Tarek Hussein’s presencewithin their premises.

OnJuly 6, 2017, the Prison Authority told Mr. Tarek Hussein’s family he was notbeing held in

anyof their facilities, but refused to provide written proof of this.

OnJuly 5, 2017 the Lawyers’ Syndicate filed a complaint against the Minister ofInterior regarding the various violations of Mr. Tarek Hussein’s rights.

OnJuly 6, 2017, Mr. Tarek Hussein’s family submitted a complaint before theNational Council for Human Rights. No formal, written response to any of thecomplaints submitted by the family or the Syndicate have been received to datefrom the Interior Ministry. At least one newspaper article quoted an anonymousMinistry of Interior source stating that Mr. Tarek Hussein would be held untilauthorities were able to fully confirm that he was not implicated in any othercases.

OnJuly 9, 2017, authorities reported that Mr. Tarek Hussein was held at GizaCentral Prison.

Followingthe announcement, Mr. Tarek Hussein’s family went to Giza Central Prison to see

himbut the prison’s administration denied his family a visit and did not providehis lawyer or

familyany reason for his detention. In addition, they were given Mr. Tarek Hussein’s clothes,

tornapart.

Inaddition, allegations of ill-treatment including physical and verbal assaultwere reported while in detention. It has been reported that Mr. Tarek Husseinwas detained in poor conditions which include sharing an overcrowded cell witheighty co-detainees, and was denied food and changing clothes for twoconsecutive days. Mr. Hussein’s relatives, who were in contact with theprison’s authorities, were told that “he deserves to die”.

Mr.Tarek Hussein’s arrest and arbitrary detention occurred amidst protest overTiran and Sanafir islands’ transfer to Saudi Arabia, which he has been vocallyopposing[3].

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities of Egypt asking them to:

i. Immediately and unconditionally putan end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr.Tarek Hussein as well as against all human rights defenders in Egypt;

ii. Guarantee in all circumstances thephysical and psychological integrity of Mr. Tarek Hussein, as well as all humanrights defenders in Egypt;

iii. Conform with theprovisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by theGeneral Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially Articles1, 6(c) and 12.2;

iv. More generally, ensurein all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms inaccordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and withinternational and regional human rights instruments ratified by Egypt.

Addresses:

· President of the Arab Republic of Egypt,H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 2391 1441
Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial
· Prime Minister, Mr. Sherif Ismail. Fax: +202 2735 6449 / 27958016.

· Ministerof the Interior, Mr. Magdi Abdel-Ghaffar, Fax: +202 2579 2031 / 2794 5529

· Ministerof Justice, Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103 


· Ministerof Social Solidarity, Ghada Waly, Fax: +202 3337 5390
· Public Prosecutor, Counsellor NabeelSadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716
· Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of theNational Council For Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg

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

· Embassyof Egypt in Brussels, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be

Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Egypt in yourrespective country.

***

Paris-Geneva,August 1, 2017

Kindlyinform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in yourreply.

TheObservatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both membersof ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented byinternational civil society.

To contactthe Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29

[1] Foundedin 2009, ECESR is an Egyptian NGO working through litigation, research, dataproviding and campaigning to patronize and protect economic and social rightsand expand their domain.

[2] See Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 001 / 0617 / OBS 066.1 issuedon July 7, 2017.

[3] Inthat context, between June 14 and 16, 2017, at least 121 opposition activistswere arrested, including Mohammad Abdelrahman (known as Nouby), Ms. Esraa Fehead and Mr. Mahmoud Naguib. At least eleven activists were to be released on June 18, 2017. Seethe Urgent Appeal of the Observatory EGY 002 / 0617 / OBS 070, issued on June26, 2017.