A/HRC/42/30
travel with his passport confiscated by the Service de Documentation et Sedimentation
(SDS). Mr. Ibrahim has brought concerns to the attention of the National Prosecutor’s
Office, the National Human Rights Commission, and the Office of the Mediator of the
Republic to no avail.
9.
Egypt
42.
The case of Mr. Ebrahim Abdelmonem Metwally Hegazy, of the Association of the
Families of the Disappeared, was included in the 2018 report of the Secretary-General
(A/HRC/39/41 para. 38 and Annex I, paras. 32–35) concerning his initial disappearance
and later detention while he was on his way to meet the Working Group on Enforced and
Involuntary Disappearances in Geneva in September 2017 (EGY 14/2017,
A/HRC/WGEID/109/1, para. 35 (p), and see also A/HRC/WGEID/114/1, para. 56). 130 He
was charged with founding and leading an illegal terrorist organization, conspiracy with
foreign entities or organizations to harm state security, and spreading false information. He
has been detained in Aqrab prison (Tora) and reportedly subjected to ill-treatment and
torture in detention.
43.
The Government responded on 8 November 2017 131 with assurances of Mr.
Metwally’s conditions of detention and access to a lawyer. On 31 July 2018, the
Government informed that he was charged with leading a terrorist group and spreading
false news, statements and rumors abroad about the situation in the country.
44.
It was reported in May 2019 that Mr. Metwally continues to be held incommunicado
from the time of his arrest in Aqrab prison, where he is subjected to systematic physical and
psychological abuse that could amount to torture. Since February 2019, the prison
administration has not allowed family visits, despite permission by the prosecution. During
this period, abuses against Mr. Metwally have reportedly intensified and his conditions of
detention are extremely poor. Despite suffering from acute medical problems, he has been
denied examination by medical specialists. Mr. Metwally has not had a trial, as he is still
being investigated before the Supreme State Security Court (case No. 900/2017). Mr.
Metwally’s lawyers were notified with adjournment dates that differed from the days when
he was physically present in the courtroom affecting both his right to prepare his defense
and the possibility for the lawyers to enquire about treatment in detention. The proceedings
have reportedly been adjourned to an unspecified date.
45.
The case of Dr. Ahmed Shawky Abdelsattar Mohamed Amasha was included in the
2017 and 2018 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) concerning his reported abduction,
detention, torture and ill-treatment in retaliation for his work documenting cases of
enforced disappearances for special procedures (EGY 5/2017). In November 2017, the
Working Group on Arbitrary Detention found the detention of Dr. Amasha arbitrary and
requested the Government to ensure his immediate release.132
46.
On 31 July 2018, the Government noted that Dr. Amasha was still in pre-trial
detention on charges of joining a group established contrary to law, calling for
demonstrations without authorization, incitement to violence and other charges. He was
recommended to undergo medical treatment in the prison’s clinic. According to information
received in May 2019, his family and lawyer have not been allowed to visit him in prison
since his initial abduction in March 2017. His lawyers are able to see him only when he is
presented to the prosecutor for the renewal of his pre-trial detention, during which time he
is held in a glass cage in the presence of the prosecutor. Dr. Amasha reportedly suffers from
130
131
132
GE.19-15332
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).
Response from Government:
https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadFile?gId=33769.
Opinion 78/2017 adopted by the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention at its eightieth session,
concerning Ahmed Shawky Amasha (Egypt), 20–24 November 2017.
53