Articles for Egypt

Egypt: Detention of top Muslim Brotherhood leaders follows consecutive waves of arrests across Egypt

Alkarama has been informed that 15 leaders of the Egyptian opposition movement, the Muslim Brotherhood, were arrested in the early hours of Monday 8 February 2010. Coordinated efforts by the State Security forces swept through Cairo, Giza, Al-Sharqiya, Al-Daqhliya and Al-Gharbiya. In the two weeks prior to this most recent incident, arrests also took place separately in Al-Bahira, Fayoum and northern Sinai.

Key figures of Muslim Brotherhood arrested

08 Feb 2010

Egypt: Mohamed Atef Ibrahim, 20, dies after being tortured

Alkarama is shocked by the Egyptian authorities disregard for the reoccurrence of deaths within their detention centers as a result of ill-treatment and torture. The most recent victim is Mohamed Atef Ibrahim, who died on 6 January 2010 after long periods of physical abuse. This case confirms the systematic nature of torture inside Egyptian prisons, where the vast majority of the detainees are exposed to ill-treatment.

Arrest and detention

06 Feb 2010

Egypt: Arbitrary arrests continue in Egypt - 10 new cases from Kafr Al-Sheikh

The Egyptian Security forces continue to suppress any opposition towards the government - often affiliating the detainees to banned organizations or terrorists groups as a pretext for arrest.

Since the new year, Alkarama has continued to closely follow the arbitrary arrests and detentions carried out by the Egyptian Security forces. The most recent violation from Egypt is the arbitrary arrest of 10 individuals from Kafr Al-Sheikh. The General Investigative services with the help of the Central Security services arrested them in Kafr Al-Sheikh governorate on 2 February 2010.

02 Feb 2010

Egypt: Student, Mamdouh Diab, arrested, tortured and disappeared

When Mamdouh Diab's family visited him in Al Marg al Jadid prison on 5 January 2010, they were informed he was to be transferred to Shabeen Al-Qanater Police Station the same day in order to be processed for his release. However, his family has not received any news of him since and Police officers from the Shabeen Al-Qanater deny ever having received him at the police station.

22 Jan 2010

Egypt: 15 previously disappeared victims from the so-called "Zeitoun Cell" now held at Istikbal Tora Prison

According to reliable sources from within Egypt, 15 of the 16 victims from the so-called "Zeitoun Cell" who were arrested on 2 July 2009 (and subsequently enforcedly disappeared), reappeared when they were presented to the Emergency State Security Supreme Court for a hearing on 4 January 2010. They have since been transferred to Istikbal Tora Prison near Cairo.

19 Jan 2010

Egypt: Mr Djema'a Ramadhan held for one year after UN confirmed arbitrary nature of his detention

Mr Djema'a Al-Seyed Suleymane Ramadhan, was arrested on 11 May 1994 from his home. He was detained for more than 15 years following an unfair trialbefore a Military Tribunal, only being released in September 2009.

19 Jan 2010

Egypt: Lack of medical care in Egyptian prisons leads to serious risk of death for numerous detainees

Egyptian prisons are notorious for their bad conditions of detention, the widespread practice of torture and the arbitrary nature of the detention of many of their inmates. In addition to this, Alkarama has been informing the United Nations human rights mechanisms of a further worrying problem in many Egyptian prisons, whereby detainees suffering from medical conditions at the time of their arrest, are given no medical attention, often putting them at serious risk of death.

18 Jan 2010

Egypt: The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention confirms the arbitrary nature of Dr Islam al Mazeny’s detention and calls for compensation

Dr Islam Sobhy Al-Mazeny, an Egyptian doctor and poet, was arrested on 7 April 2007 by the Egyptian State Security Intelligence (SSI) as he was organizing his departure to work in a Saudi Arabian clinic. In a poor state of health, he was detained without any legal basis for 8 months, until his release on 19 December 2007.

16 Jan 2010

Egypt: Arrest and torture of 5 individuals in Bani Suef, a further example of the un-ending cycle of human rights violations in the country

On 13 December 2009, the Egyptian State Security Intelligence (SSI) raided the houses and arrested Mohamed Omar Mohamed Omar, Ahmed Fathi Ahmed Amer, Mohamed Mustafa Mohamed Mustafa, Ahmed Sobhi Abulkasem Kotb and Mahmoud Adel Mohamed Mohamed Marzouk in Bani Suef.

They detained them at SSI headquarters in Bani Suef from 13 to 19 December 2009 where they were subject to all kinds of torture and mistreatment under the command of SSI officer Amro Al Mufti, known for his sadistic treatment of prisoners.

14 Jan 2010

Egypt: Ahmed Douma, student blogger, tortured during detention in Damanhour prison

Ahmed Saad Douma, a 20-year-old blogger and student at Tanta University, was arrested by State Security Intelligence (SSI -Amn Al-Dowla) at the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt on 4 February 2009. He was charged with "trying to illegally cross the eastern border." On 10 February 2009 he was tried before a military court and sentenced to one year in prison and fined 2000 LE ($US 360). He was tortured during his transfer to the prison and was again subjected to torture on 5 December 2009.

18 Dec 2009