UPDATE: Activist Haitham al-Banna brought before prosecution 10 days after forcibly disappeared

Activist Haitham al-Banna was brought before the State Security Prosecution on Wednesday, ten days after he was arrested from his home and forcibly disappeared, lawyer Khaled Ali said in a Facebook post. 

During the session on Wednesday, the court handed Banna a 15-day remand detention order on charges of joining a terrorist group, spreading false news and misusing social media. 

Banna, a member of the Dostour Party, was arrested from his home on the evening of January 30 and held incommunicado until his appearance on Wednesday. His arrest came days after a now-deleted social media post he wrote on January 25 to commemorate the 11th anniversary of the 2011 revolution.

On Monday, former Dostour Party leader Khaled Dawoud called on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the interior minister and the public prosecutor to reveal Banna’s whereabouts, stating that the case “concerns the basic rights stipulated in the law and the constitution for all Egyptian citizens,” including the right of the accused to appear before the prosecution and face charges within 24 hours.

According to Dawoud, Banna’s mother and sister, who were present during the arrest, were told he would be taken to answer a few questions in the Old Cairo Police Station. However, Banna was not brought before the prosecution within the timeframe stipulated by law and his whereabouts remained unknown. 

Supporters launched a social media campaign in support of Banna using the hashtag #Where is Haitham al-Banna, while Ali said last Thursday that his family sent two telegraphs to the Public Prosecutor and the Interior Minister.

In a video posted online by Ali, Banna’s mother tearfully described the way her son was taken from home as “humiliating and terrifying” and demanded his release. She questioned the reasons for his arrest since the January revolution is celebrated as an official holiday.

Forced disappearance is a common and repeatedly criticized practice by Egyptian security forces, one which has continued despite promises of “criminal justice reform” in the new human rights strategy announced last September.

Last Thursday, 175 members of the European Parliament signed a joint letter calling on the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish a mechanism to monitor the human rights situation in Egypt. MEP Jean-Christoph Auten, who signed the letter, said in a tweet that Egypt “is in a human rights crisis.”

In a letter to the UN Human Rights Committee last week in advance of its upcoming pre-sessional review of Egypt, Human Rights Watch highlighted forced disappearances as one of the primary violations committed by Egyptian authorities. 

“The National Security Agency routinely arbitrarily arrests and forcibly disappears suspects with few consequences. National Security officers are responsible for numerous enforced disappearances, often targeting political activists, opposition figures, and journalists,” they wrote.