A quite troublesome rise in the number of reported cases of enforced disappearances has swept Cairo and other governorates across Egypt. According to a report released by Human Rights Monitor on Saturday, 44 cases of enforced disappearances have been recorded until May 2015, with 31 taking place in May, in addition to 13 more reported during March and April.
“Over the last four years, there were cases of enforced disappearances, but it was not the default, it was more rare… one among other violations,” said Mona Seif, a human rights activist working closely with political detainees.
The General Assembly of the United Nations describes enforced disappearance in its Declaration on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance as follows: “persons are arrested, detained or abducted against their will or otherwise deprived of their liberty by officials of different branches or levels of Government, or by organized groups or private individuals acting on behalf of, or with the support, direct or indirect, consent or acquiescence of the Government, followed by a refusal to disclose the fate or whereabouts of the persons concerned or a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of their liberty, which places such persons outside the protection of the law.”
The UN declaration also adds that the phenomenon is not only heinous, but violates several human rights, in addition to various economic, social and cultural rights for both the victims as well as their families.
According to Article 54 of the Egyptian constitution, “All those arrested or detained shall be informed of the reasons and of their rights in writing, and allowed to immediately contact their kin and lawyer, and be presented to the investigating authority within 24 hours of the time of arrest.”
Despite conflicting statements, Nasser Amin, a National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) representative confirmed the occurrence of the phenomenon in Egypt, adding: “Sometimes people will even face prosecution secretly.”
“This is extremely illegal,” Amin added. “And it is dangerous, and puts the lives of those arrested at risk. They are often put under severe torture and it can lead to loss of lives.”
Some of the victims have been found and reported dead shortly after their disappearance such as Islam Atito, a student at the Faculty of Engineering in Ain Shams University who was captured on May 19 and found dead on May 20, and Sinai-based activist Sabry El-Ghoul.
Others have disappeared in thin air, including a number of Students Against Coup (SAC) spokespeople such as Ahmed Ghoneim, as well as several members of 6 April youth movement which was banned by court last April. Despite their families’ and lawyers’ zealous search through police stations and sending telegraphs to the General Prosecutor inquiring about their whereabouts, it takes weeks and sometimes months until they are located in prison.
Upon facing prosecution, the illegally detained victims, especially the 6 April members, are usually charged with belonging to a banned group and calling for a general strike.
“We reached a point of having killing squads in the Ministry of Interior used against activists. The rights of citizens are being lost, and the constitution ignored. The Ministry of Interior is taking its vengeance against the people who made the 25 January Revolution,” Mokhtar Mounir, a lawyer at the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression (AFTE), told Mada Masr on Friday.
The latest account of enforced disappearance was marked on June 1 reporting the disappearance of 23-year-old photojournalist Esraa El-Taweel, along with Sohaib Saad and Omar Mohamed. Friends and family of Esraa started a social media campaign on Facebook and Twitter mobilizing the #where_is_israa hashtag.
Despite the increasing number of disappearances which include a majority of youth, a Ministry of Interior spokesperson had previously denied the involvement of the Ministry in such arrests in a statement to Daily News Egypt, explaining that targeting youth, regardless of their affiliations or political stances, is not the police force’s current strategy.
As a precautionary measure, it has been widely advised to report any cases of enforced disappearances as soon as they happen by sending the General Prosecutor a telegraph including the name of the victim, and collecting a copy of the telegraph from Telecom Egypt-Ramsis branch as it is used as legal evidence of the account’s date.
“All of the words in the world are never enough to describe the lies, slander and criminality that the state practices on the youth,” read a statement issued by the Faculty of Engineering’s student union following Atito’s death. “Cold-blooded killings and indictments without fair trials are fascist acts and cannot be described as anything less.”
Comments (37)
[…] Egyptian Streets reports: A quite troublesome rise in the number of reported cases of enforced disappearances has swept Cairo and other governorates across Egypt. According to a report released by Human Rights Monitor on Saturday, 44 cases of enforced disappearances have been recorded until May 2015, with 31 taking place in May, in addition to 13 more reported during March and April. […]
What?
People go missing all the time. That doesn’t mean the goverment had anything to do with it. Where’s the proof.?
the government should be the first once to go search for them – not just say it wasn’t me
And who said they’re not? For all you know they are.
People go missing all the time. This is common in Europe, the US, Asia and every f**king corner the world. Finding them isn’t as easy as you think. The goverment shouldn’t be blamed for someone’s pregnant daughter running off with her boyfriend.
Normal people are missing all the time it is true and I agree BUT those who are missing in Egypt are ALWAYS the ones who belong to opposition groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, 6th of April Movement, or activists. This is NOT normal!!!!
There has to be evidence to say the goverment is related before such claims can be made
WOW! the Level of self imposed Ignorance you’re in is dumbfounding!!! “Happens in every F****** corner of the world” and “Pregnant daughters?!!!! these are your responses?!! Imagine then your loved ones disappear without a trace (be it ‘allegedly’ at the Governments’ hands or tragically through human trafficking, human organ black market trade, human trafficking etc) and others say stupid things about and slander them! Have respect for those people. We ALL have loved ones that care, love and worry for us. After all since the ousting of the Monarchy, the military regimes haven’t dealt with Egyptians on Beds of Roses… Yes we deserve to be protected from terrorism, but Egyptians also have the right to question what happens etc… isn’t that what we had our two ‘famous’ revolutions for? Sadly we have no notion of ‘freedom of speech’ as a people, not ‘Personal freedoms’… we will always be a complete;y intolerant society that always oppresses those with different views, life styles etc… The problem isn’t with the ‘regimes’ that govern us, but with us individually as a people. Unless we change and truly have an understanding and respect of lives in general and human life in particular, we’ll never improve as a nation. The Government can’t teach us to be humane, compassionate, kind, clean and live in coexistence… Only we can for ourselves, but we obviously don’t want to, preferring otherwise to live in a jungle. Selfish, Ignorant and hateful.
Ignorant little sh*t. WHERE IN GODS NAME is the evidence to prove the allocations in the article? People always go missing, it doesn’t mean I like it but to say this is part of a conspiracy is down right insane.
The circumstantial evidence of motive. The disappeared were anti-coup activists and journalists. They were men resisting oppression. That is the evidence.
You’re on your knees to Sisi’s fascism – these men were not.
Disgusting regime.
Why don’t you go suck a d*ck Chico instead of spreading around wild conspiracies.
shut up, you dirty cc’s army’s bootlicking scumbag. this murderous regime is trying to destroy any kind of opposition, and these are mostly young people.
This dictatorship, worse than Pharao’s will soon be at an end.
Lol ^^ butt hurt Islmests
You mad because Erdopig’s party lost the elections?
LOLOL
Ya but where is the evidence that says the goverment is associated.
There is no evidence, but they all support the Muslim Brotherhood. All of the groups named we involved in espionage and took bribes from US backed NGO’s and received millions in bribes for intel regarding the army and finances in Egypt. It is for sure the government.
That applies to EVERY government in the world not just “the government in Egypt”.