Rights groups launch week-long campaign against forced disappearances

A group of rights organizations and movements have announced the launch of a campaign against forced disappearances, a practice that has become increasingly prevalent in Egypt over the past year.

Starting on November 3, the organizations will host a week of activities in solidarity with victims of forced disappearances and their families, “who only dream of finding their children alive in prisons only to make sure they weren’t killed,” their statement read.

The statement was issued by the Freedom for the Brave campaign, the Stop Forced Disappearances campaign, Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and the Association for Freedom of Thought and Expression, among others.

Reports of forced disappearances have been on the rise in recent months. There were at least 215 cases across the country in August and September, according to Stop Forced Disappearances.

The Interior Ministry has long denied the phenomenon, with Salah Fouad, the human rights assistant to the interior minister, recently claiming that the Muslim Brotherhood was behind recent reports that security forces were kidnapping political dissidents.

While Egypt is not a signatory to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, the statement said, the Constitution still guarantees the protection of citizens from being arrested in their residences, in public or their place of employment without clarifying where they will be taken.

When they eventually appear in courts, the detainees often show signs of abuse and assault, suggesting they have been mistreated and tortured, the statement continued. Their families’ testimony also indicates that they have been held by National Security.

In some cases, those who die in police custody are reported as having been killed after attempting to conduct a terrorist attack, the statement said. It cited the case of Islam Salah Eddin, popularly known as Atitu, who was allegedly arrested on campus and then reportedly killed by Interior Ministry personnel at an unknown location.

The statement cited Article 54 of the Constitution, which stipulates that no person may be arrested, searched, detained or have any restrictions imposed on their freedom except following a court order that necessitates investigations.

All those arrested or detained should also be informed of the reasons and of their rights in writing, be allowed to immediately contact their kin and lawyer, and be presented to the investigating authority within 24 hours of the time of arrest, according to the article.

“Keeping those detained from contacting their families and lawyers only means that security bodies want to keep them out of sight, to be able to extract confessions through torture,” the statement read.

The campaign calls on authorities to reveal the whereabouts of those detained and allow them to contact their kin and their lawyers. It also holds the Interior Ministry responsible for their wellbeing.

The statement cited Maha Mekkawi, whose husband has been missing for a year and a half. She last heard from him on January 13, 2014. Mekkawi has started a hunger strike to pressure the authorities to reveal where her husband is being held.

The campaign kicks off with a day of solidarity for Mekkawi and continues with filing reports with the general prosecutor, blogging and circulating pictures of those suspected of being forcibly disappeared.

The week will conclude with a press conference held by lawyers.