Egypt: A Student Disappears Following Abduction by Police and National Security Forces
On 9 May 2017, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) concerning Khaled Saad Saad Abdallah , a 21-year-old student at the Faculty of Commerce of the Al Azhar University of Cairo, who was abducted on 24 April 2017 at home by members of the Police and National Security Forces. Despite their numerous requests to the authorities, his relatives remains without information about his fate and whereabouts and is extremely concerned over his health state.
On 24 April 2017, Abdallah was abducted in New Damietta by members of the Police and National Security. The forces which were composed of men wearing plainclothes and others in uniforms, broke into his house, ransacked and searched it before arresting the student. The forces did not present any warrant and did not give any reason to the search and arrest. Abdallah was forcibly taken to an unknown location and remains missing to date.
Since then, and despite their constant fear of reprisals, Abdallah’s parents have tried every legal recourse available: numerous complaints were sent to the Egyptian authorities, particularly to the Public Prosecutor and Attorney General of Damietta, the Ministry of Interior and the National Council for Human Rights, to inquire about his fate and whereabouts. This silence form the authorities caused even more distress to his family since Abdallah is suffering from a heart condition, which requires regular medical attention and a daily treatment, leaving his parents extremely concerned over his health state. So far, no answer was given to the family who therefore turned to Alkarama for assistance.
“This new case of disappearance shows once more the pattern of violations against students in Egypt,” said Radidja Nemar, Alkarama's Regional Legal Officer for North Africa. “State security are almost on a daily basis abducting students from their campuses, their dorms or homes, torturing them in secret detention before unfairly prosecuting them. We are extremely concerned over the persistence of such practice which illustrates the appalling abuses and the disturbing pattern of violations committed by the Egyptian authorities against its youth,” she added.
In its urgent appeal, Alkarama requested the WGEID to promptly intervene with the authorities and urge them to immediately inform Abdallah’s family of his fate and whereabouts and to immediately release him. A year ago, in April 2016, Alkarama was already concerned over the widespread practice of enforced disappearances in Egypt and sent a general allegation to the WGEID, to denounce the severity of the phenomenon. Alkarama calls on the Egyptian authorities to release all individuals secretly detained, to place them under the protection of the law, but also urges them to immediately halt this systematic practice and urgently open prompt, independent and impartial investigations into every report of enforced disappearance. Alkarama furthermore wishes to remind Egypt, member of the Human Rights Council, that due to their systematic and widespread nature, these violations would amount to a crime against humanity thus triggering international criminal responsibility of perpetrators and their superiors.
For more information or an interview, please contact media@alkarama.org (Dir: +41 22 734 1008).