A/HRC/45/36 9. Egypt 44. The case of Mr. Ebrahim Abdelmonem Metwally Hegazy of the Association of the Families of the Disappeared was included in the 2019 and 2018 reports of the SecretaryGeneral (A/HRC/42/30, para. 52 and Annex II, paras. 42–44; A/HRC/39/41 para. 38 and Annex I, paras. 32–35) on allegations of enforced disappearance and torture for his attempted cooperation with the Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances.33 On 14 August 2019, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found Mr. Metwally’s detention arbitrary, noted that his detention amounts to an act of retaliation for cooperation with the UN, and considered it the appropriate remedy that the Government release Mr. Metwally immediately and provide him compensation and other reparations (A/HRC/WGAD/2019/41, paras. 34, 40, 46, 51, 56).34 45. In September 2019, at the Human Rights Council, a Member State expressed deep concern about the case of Mr. Metwally. 35 On 13 November 2019, special procedures mandate holders raised concern about the continued detention of Mr. Metwally, which they stated was “in apparent contradiction with the Cairo Criminal Court’s acquittal verdict” in October 2019 (EGY 12/2019). They expressed concern about his health status and noted that, on 12 March 2019, Mr. Metwally’s lawyer filed a complaint to demand his transfer to the hospital for medical treatment of symptoms developed in detention, to no effect. On 14 October 2019, the Cairo Criminal Court held Mr. Metwally not guilty of the charges he was accused of and ordered his immediate release, but on 15 October 2019, he was returned to Tora Prison (EGY 12/2019). 46. On 20 November 2019, mandate holders stated that “on 5 November 2019, Mr. Metwally was notified of new charges which appear to be identical to those of which he was cleared,” and that he therefore “seems to be a victim of double jeopardy.”36 According to reports, Mr. Metwally has continued to be held incommunicado and in solitary confinement in the Al Aqrab maximum security section of Tora Prison for most of the reporting period, without family visits. On 16 March 2020, his pre-trial detention was renewed once again in absentia and on 25 March 2020, his relatives filed a complaint with the public prosecutor requesting his release. 47. The situation of Mr. Ahmed Mefreh Ali Elsaeidy of the Committee for Justice (CFJ) was included in the 2014 report of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/27/38, para. 24) on allegations of intimidation, arrest and charges following information he submitted to the UN when he was country representative in Egypt for the NGO Alkarama (EGY 14/2013). The CFJ and Mr. Mefreh engaged in the 2019 UPR of Egypt by contributing to six joint submissions, made publicly available.37 On 13 November 2019, CFJ organized an NGO side event on the margins of the UPR and a press conference at the UN Palais des Nations. On 14 November 2019, a representative of the Egyptian National Council for Human Rights who participated in the UPR of Egypt accused Mr. Mefreh on an internet-based news website ‘Cairo24’, of being present at the UN as part of the “Muslim Brotherhood’s delegation aimed to disrupt the UPR of Egypt.” On 15 November 2019, identical content was published by at least six online news outlets. 48. The case of Dr. Ahmed Shawky Abdelsattar Mohamed Amasha was included in the 2017, 2018, and 2019 reports of the Secretary-General (A/HRC/36/31, para. 33 and Annex I, para. 34; A/HRC/39/41, Annex II, paras. 17–18, 21; A/HRC/42/30, Annex II, paras. 45–46) on allegations of abduction, detention, torture following information he 33 34 35 36 37 60 OHCHR, “UN rights experts dismayed by arrest of Egyptian lawyer Ebrahim Metwally en route to meet them,” (15 September 2017); Oral presentation of the Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights to the Human Rights Council (20 September 2017). See also OHCHR, “Report highlights rising reprisals against human rights defenders cooperating with the UN,” (20 September 2017). Opinion 41/2019 adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eighty-fifth session, concerning Ebrahim Abdelmonem Metwally Hegazy (Egypt), 12–16 August 2019. http://webtv.un.org/meetings-events/watch/id-asg-on-sg-report-on-reprisals-22nd-meeting-42ndregular-session-human-rights-council/6087685267001/?term=#player. OHCHR, “Egypt must free human rights lawyer detained in “double jeopardy” case, say UN experts,” (20 November 2019), https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25323&LangID=E. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/UPR/Pages/UPREGStakeholdersInfoS34.aspx.