Arbitrary detention /
Torture /
Judicial harassment
Egypt
November 29, 2019
The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of FIDH and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), requests your urgent intervention in the
following situation in Egypt.
Description of the
situation:
The Observatory has
been informed by reliable sources about the arbitrary detention and judicial
harassment of Mr. Ramy Kamel, a defender of religious minorities’
rights. He is a member of
the Maspero Youth Union (MYU)[1], a Coptic human rights
organisation.
According to the
information received, in the early morning of November 23, 2019, Mr. Ramy Kamel
was arrested at his home in Cairo by seven plainclothes police officers. Police
officers did not provide an arrest warrant,
confiscated his mobile phone, laptop and camera and took a number of documents
relating to his work. Mr. Kamel was interrogated by State Security
Prosecution until 10 pm. and his lawyer was only able to see him the next day,
on November 24. He was reportedly subjected to torture and ill-treatment. Mr.
Ramy Kamel has asthma and was not allowed to bring his inhaler. Mr. Ramy Kamel
is accused of “joining a terror group”, “receiving foreign funding”, “funding a
terrorist group”, “broadcasting false information”, and “using social media for
the purpose of committing a crime”, under State Security Case No. 1475/2019. On
November 24, Mr. Kamel was put under pre-trial detention at Tora prison,
south-east Cairo, for 15 renewable days.
Mr. Ramy Kamel has a wide range of activism in promoting Coptic rights
and citizenship, including reporting on violations against Copts in Egypt[2], especially those who were
forcibly evicted from their homes, or victims of customary reconciliation
sessions, and recently he expressed doubts about whether State security was
behind the recent church fires or not. A few days before his arrest, Mr. Ramy Kamel had already been informally summoned and interrogated by national
security officers, who questioned and threatened him over his activism.
The Observatory
recalls that the arbitrary detention of Mr. Ramy Kamel comes amid renewed
crackdown on human rights defenders, activists, journalists and civil society
in Egypt, that arose since the outbreak of popular protests across the country
on September 20, 2019, calling for the resignation of President Abdel Fattah
al-Sisi[3].
The Observatory condemns the arbitrary
detention and judicial harassment of Mr. Ramy Kamel, which seem to be only
aimed at punishing him for his legitimate human rights activities. The
Observatory urges the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally
release Mr. Ramy Kamel, and to put an end to any act of harassment, including
at the judicial level, against him and all the human rights defenders in Egypt.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities of Egypt
asking them to:
i. Guarantee, in all
circumstances, the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Mr. Ramy
Kamel as well as of all human rights defenders in Egypt;
ii. Immediately and
unconditionally release Mr. Ramy Kamel and all the human rights defenders
arbitrarily detained in Egypt, as their
detention is arbitrary since it only seems to aim at punishing them for their
human rights activities;
iii. Guarantee the unhindered access of Mr. Ramy Kamel to medical assistance, a lawyer of his choice and his family members;
iv. Carry out a transparent, impartial, immediate
and thorough investigation into the above-mentioned allegations of torture in
order to identify all those responsible, bring them before an independent
tribunal, and sanction them as provided by the law;
v. Put an end to all acts
of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Ramy Kamel, as well
as against all human rights defenders in Egypt, and ensure that they are able to carry out their
activities without hindrance;
vi. Conform with the
provisions of the UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the
General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9, 1998, especially its
Articles 1 and 12.2; and
vii. More generally,
ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamental
freedoms in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with
international 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. Mustafa Kemal
Madbouly Mohamed. Email: pm@cabinet.gov.eg
·
Minister of the Interior, Mr. Mahmoud Tawfik,
Email: center@iscmi.gov.eg
·
Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohamed Hossam
Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103
·
Public Prosecutor, Counsellor Nabeel Sadek, Fax: +202
2577 4716
·
Head of the Egyptian parliament’s Human Rights
Committee, Mr. Alaa Abed, Email: humanrightscomplaints@parliament.gov.eg
·
Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of the National
Council for Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg
·
H.E. Mr. Alaa Youssef, Ambassador, Permanent
Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.egypt@bluewin.ch
·
Embassy of Egypt in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2
675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be
Please also write to the diplomatic
missions or embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
***
Paris-Geneva, November
29, 2019
Kindly inform us of any
action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the
Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by
FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this
programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against
human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union
Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
[1] MYU was
established after a church on the outskirts of Cairo was torched, igniting huge
protests outside the Maspero state television building in October 2011. Nearly
30 people died after violent attacks against protesters from the security
forces.
[2] Christians
in Egypt have faced unprecedented persecution since the rise of President Abdel
Fattah al-Sisi to power in 2014. Hundreds of them have been forced to flee from
their home, for example in northern Sinai.
[3] See for
example Observatory Urgent Appeals EGY 006 / 1019 / OBS 079, published on October 15,
2019 ; EGY 004 / 0919 / OBS 075.2, published on October 10, 2019 ;
EGY 005 / 0919 / OBS 076.1, published on October 4, 2019 ; or EGY 003 /
0919 / OBS 074, published on September 23, 2019.
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