2 enforced disappearances in Cairo

On 30 December 2015, members of the police and Homeland Security forces in civilian clothes stormed into Abdelmoneim Nasr Kotb Mousa's family apartment in Ain Shams, Cairo, to conduct a search. Without showing an arrest warrant, they took the 15-year-old boy out of the apartment and left for an unknown location. The following day, members of the Homeland Security in civilian clothes stormed into the apartment of Ahmed Mustafa Shimi, a friend of the Mousa's family, to conduct another search. The men broke several objects and beat up everyone that was present in the apartment while other officers seized personal documents and mobile phones. Then, they arrested Ahmed and Abdelrahman Nasr Kotb Mousa, Abdelmoneim's 23-year-old brother, who was at Ahmed's apartment at that time, and took them to an unknown location. After Abdelrahman's arrest, their family filed complaints with the General Attorney, the General Prosecutor and Minister of Interior on 3 January 2016, but to no avail.

El Safty's arrest and disappearance

A month later, on 5 February 2016, it was Mohammed Gommaa Mahmoud El Safty's turn to be abducted by the Egyptian security services. As the 39-year-old bricklayer was on his way to meet acquaintances, members of the Homeland Security stopped him near his son's house, located in Nubaria − a city located in the coastal governorate of Beheira − in order to carry out an identity check. According to eyewitnesses, he was then arrested and immediately forced into a police vehicle that drove away for an unknown location. Three days later, still unaware of Mohammed's fate, his wife sent complaints to the Deputy Attorney General of Damanhour, the Minister of Interior's office, and to Damanhour's Chief of Security. Despite these efforts, the family has not received any official notification from the authorities regarding the victim's fate and whereabouts.

"Alkarama is particularly worried over the fates of these three victims, especially since one of them is only 15-year-old. Our organisation continues to receive more and more cases of enforced disappearances illustrating a systematic, planned and widespread practice which could characterise a crime against humanity as per Article 7 of the Rome Statute establishing the International Criminal Court," said Rachid Mesli, Alkarama's Legal Director. "We will continue to follow-up on the situation of every victim we have documented so far and assess with relevant UN human rights mechanism, what measures could be taken to end this gross practice."

Alkarama calls again the authorities to end the practice of enforced disappearances and to ensure that no one is at risk of arbitrary arrest, torture and secret detention, and urges the international community to take immediate measures against the gross human rights abuses that have been taking place in Egypt for more than two years and to address the situation at the next UN Human Rights Council (HRC) session that will take place in March 2016.

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