Amnesty International Report 2004 - Egypt

Covering events from January - December 2003

Prisoners of conscience continued to be sentenced to prison terms. Thousands of suspected supporters of banned Islamist groups, including possible prisoners of conscience, remained in detention without charge or trial; some had been held for years. Others were serving sentences imposed after grossly unfair trials before exceptional courts. Torture and ill-treatment of detainees continued to be systematic. Death sentences continued to be passed and carried out.

Background

In February, the state of emergency was extended for a further three years despite a campaign led by human rights organizations, political parties and civil society activists calling for it to be ended.

In April, Egypt ratified the Euro-Mediterranean Association Agreement with the European Union (EU). The accord focuses on trade, economic integration, security and political relations, but also contains a legally binding clause obliging the contracting parties to promote and protect human rights.

In June, two new laws were passed. The first was to establish a national council for human rights. At the end of the year, the 27 members of the council had not been appointed by the Shura Council, Egypt's Upper House, but they were expected to include representatives from human rights organizations. The second law restricted the scope of cases to be examined by state security courts and abolished the penalty of hard labour.

Between 1,000 and 2,000 alleged members of armed Islamist groups were reportedly released during the year. The Interior Minister presented the releases in the context of the public renunciation of past and present acts of violence, particularly by leading members of al-Gama'a al-Islamiya (Islamic Group).

Dozens of alleged members of the banned Muslim Brothers organization were detained in so-called preventive detention. By the end of the year, the majority had been released without being tried.

In the first half of the year, hundreds of people, including lawyers, journalists, members of parliament, academics and students, associated with the movement protesting against the war on Iraq were detained, the majority for participating in unauthorized demonstrations. Some were held for several weeks in administrative detention under emergency legislation. Many alleged that they were tortured or ill-treated in detention.

Freedom of expression and association restricted

Legal restrictions and government controls continued to limit the activities of political parties, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), professional associations, trade unions and the news media. The authorities maintained bans on several political parties imposed in previous years and party newspapers remained suspended.

People continued to be detained, tried and imprisoned in violation of their rights to freedom of expression and association. Prisoners of conscience included civil society activists and members of religious groups.

• A verdict scheduled to be announced at the end of the year in the trial before the (Emergency) Supreme State Security Court of 23 Egyptians and three United Kingdom nationals was postponed until 2004. The 26, all prisoners of conscience, were charged in connection with their alleged affiliation with Hizb al-Tahrir al-Islami (Islamic Liberation Party), which is not registered under Egyptian law. Several of the defendants were reportedly tortured or ill-treated following their detention in April and May 2002.

• In December, the trial of Ashraf Ibrahim and four other men opened before the (Emergency) Supreme State Security Court. At the opening of the trial, the four other men remained at liberty. Three of the men, including Ashraf Ibrahim, were charged with leadership of an illegal organization and faced up to 15 years' imprisonment. Ashraf Ibrahim faced two additional charges. One of these – harming Egypt's reputation by spreading abroad false information regarding the internal affairs of the country – related to information on alleged human rights violations given to international human rights organizations. The trial was continuing at the end of the year.

Human rights defenders

NGOs continued to operate under the shadow of a restrictive law, passed in June 2002, which regulates their activities. From June, the Ministry for Social Affairs began announcing its decisions on applications put forward by existing and newly established NGOs for registration under the new law. Certain organizations were granted registration while others were reportedly denied it without adequate explanation. In some cases, those denied registration challenged the decision before the courts.

• In March, the Court of Cassation acquitted human rights defenders Saad Eddin Ibrahim and Nadia 'Abd al-Nur of the Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies of all charges. They had been sentenced to seven and two years' imprisonment respectively after previous trials. The main charges against them related to EUfunded projects aimed at promoting participation in elections.

Freedom of religion violated

People continued to be at risk of detention, trial and imprisonment in violation of their right to freedom of religion.

• In February, the (Emergency) State Security Court for Misdemeanours sentenced six people to six months' imprisonment for "contempt of religion" in connection with holding private religious gatherings and advocating modifications to basic Islamic rules. The five men and one woman had been tried by the same court in March 2002 and were acquitted. Two other men, Amin Youssef and Ali Mamdouh, who were originally tried with the six and sentenced to three years' imprisonment each, were not included in the retrial ordered by President Mubarak.

Trials in connection with alleged sexual orientation

Dozens of men suffered discrimination, persecution and imprisonment solely in connection with their actual or perceived sexual orientation. Many of those arrested alleged that they were tortured or ill-treated in detention. Although same-sex relations are not explicitly prohibited under Egyptian law, men continued to be sentenced on the charge of "habitual debauchery", which is applied to consensual sexual relations between adult men.

• In June and July, 14 men had their sentences reduced on appeal from three to one year's imprisonment. This was the final stage of the retrial, ordered for 50 men by President Mubarak in July 2002, in the case of 52 men tried in 2001 in connection with their alleged sexual orientation.

• In February, Wissam Tawfiq Abyad was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment after meeting a man, later believed to be a security officer or police informant, he had contacted through an Internet website for gay men. Private electronic conversations held on the Internet were used as evidence against him.

Unfair trials

Dozens of people faced trial before exceptional courts, such as state security courts, established under emergency legislation. They were charged with a variety of offences, including membership of illegal organizations, contempt for religion, espionage and corruption. The procedures of these courts fell far short of international standards for fair trial.

• In February, Nabil Ahmed Soliman was sentenced to five years' imprisonment by the (Emergency) Supreme State Security Court in Cairo, which denies defendants the right to a full review before a higher tribunal, on charges of membership of an illegal organization in connection with his alleged affiliation with the armed Islamist group al-Gihad (Holy War). His trial took place after he was deported from the USA to Egypt on 12 June 2002 following a request by the Egyptian authorities on the basis of his alleged affiliation with al-Gihad.

Torture and ill-treatment

Torture continued to be used systematically in detention centres throughout the country. Several people died in custody in circumstances suggesting that torture or ill-treatment may have caused or contributed to their deaths.

Torture victims came from all walks of life and included political activists and people arrested during criminal investigations. The most common torture methods reported were electric shocks, beatings, suspension by the wrists or ankles, and various forms of psychological torture, including death threats and threats of rape or sexual abuse of the detainee or a female relative.

• Ramiz Gihad was among six men detained in connection with a demonstration against the war on Iraq held on 12 April outside the Egyptian Journalists' Union in Cairo. They were reportedly held incommunicado for between two and 10 days at the State Security Investigations headquarters in Lazoghly Square, Cairo. Ramiz Gihad alleged that he was beaten, slapped, kicked, suspended and subjected to electric shocks.

Inadequate investigations

In the vast majority of cases of alleged torture, no one was brought to justice because the authorities failed to conduct prompt, impartial and thorough investigations. However, some trials of alleged torturers did take place, but only in criminal, not political cases, and generally only after the most serious incidents, usually where the victims had died.

• In June, four police officers were sentenced on appeal to a suspended sentence of one year's imprisonment in connection with the case of Farid Shawqy 'Abd al-'Al, who died in al-Muntaza police station in 1999. An autopsy had found injuries on the body consistent with punching and beating with a stick, including on the soles of the feet (falaqa).

• In November, the trial of seven police officers opened before Alexandria Criminal Court in connection with the arrest, detention and torture of school bus driver Muhammad Badr al-Din Gum'a Isma'il in Alexandria in 1996.

Extraditions and abuses

The authorities reportedly requested the extradition of Egyptian nationals from several countries, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iran and Uruguay. As a result, some people were threatened with extradition or were forcibly returned to Egypt, where they were at risk of human rights violations, including torture or ill-treatment.

• On 7 July, the Uruguayan authorities forcibly returned Al-Sayid Hassan Mukhlis to Egypt following an extradition request by the Egyptian authorities. He was reportedly held incommunicado at the headquarters of the State Security Investigations in Cairo where torture has been frequently reported. Al-Sayid Hassan Mukhlis' extradition was sought for his alleged involvement in human rights abuses committed by al-Gama'a al-Islamiya.