Egypt: URGENT APPEAL – Another Name to Add to the List of Missing Persons Arrested by Police

On 17 November 2014, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) regarding the case of Yasser Ahmed Ahmed Abu Eita, a 23-year-old Egyptian citizen, disappeared since his arrest by the police forces in the streets of Damietta Port on 2 November 2014.

As Yasser Abu Eita was heading home on Avenue Al Matari, a pickup stopped by his side and several police and military officers got out. After severely beating him with no apparent reason, they forced him into their vehicle which left the scene quickly.

Alerted by some neighbours who witnessed the abduction, his family went after him, learning that after having been detained in the second section of Damietta's police section, Yasser Abu Eita had been transferred to the Security forces' centre, where he was subjected to tortures.

Worried about his fate, his relatives intervened with the authorities and his lawyer filed a complaint with Damietta's public prosecutor on 11 November 2014, requesting an investigation into his disappearance. Despite the different testimonies collected by the family, the prosecutor denied his detention. It has now been over than 15 days that Yasser Abu Eita disappeared, and his family fears that he be subjected to more torture during his detention.

Contacted by his family, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the WGEID so that it calls upon the Egyptian authorities to release Yasser Abu Eita or, at the very least, to disclose his whereabouts immediately and to allow his family and his lawyer to visit him. Once again, Alkarama urges the Egyptian authorities to put an end to the practice of enforced disappearances - which they have been conducting for over a year - and to ensure that its citizens are not subject to arbitrary arrest and detention.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)