21 October 2014

Egypt: Abduction and Enforced Disappearance of a Muslim Brotherhood Member

On 17 October 2014, Alkarama sent an urgent appeal to the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to bring to their attention the case of Mohamed Abdulhamid Ali, a 32 years old Egyptian citizen disappeared since his abduction by the National Security Forces on 24 September 2014.

The Egyptian security forces arrested Abdulhamid Ali without any arrest warrant, as he was on the main avenue of the 6th of October City, in the Giza Governorate, part of the urban area of Cairo. Despite his family's repeated calls to the Ministries of Justice and Interior, as well as to the Attorney General, his family has not heard from him since. The Egyptian authorities have all denied his detention, even though former detainees reported having seen Adbulhamid Ali in the 6th of October City's Interior Security facilities.

His relatives believe that his political affiliation with the Muslim Brotherhood, whose members have been subject to unprecedented harassment and repression for over a year, be the cause of his abduction and disappearance. They also fear that this reason will lead the authorities, who detain him incommunicado, to torture him.

Fearing that Abdulhamid Ali becomes the victim of a new case of enforced disappearance, Alkarama asked the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) to call upon the Egyptian authorities to reveal his whereabouts immediately and to allow his family and his lawyer to see him. The Egyptian authorities must take urgent steps to stop the resurgence of this practice by the security services in its territory, including by ensuring prosecution for the perpetrators of those crimes.

For more information or an interview, please contact the media team at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. (Dir: +41 22 734 1007 Ext: 810)

Lebanon - HR Instruments

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)

ICCPR: Accessed on 03.11.1972
Optional Protocol: No

State report: Overdue since 21.03.2001 (3rd)
Last concluding observations: 05.05.1997

Convention against Torture (CAT)

CAT: Accessed on 05.10.2000
Optional Protocol: Yes
Art. 20 (Confidential inquiry): Yes
Art. 22 (Individual communications): No

State report: Overdue since 03.11.2001 (1st)
Last concluding observations: N/A

International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance (CED)

CED: Signed on 06.02.2007

Universal Periodic Review (UPR)

Last review: 11.2010 (1st cycle)
Next review: 2015 (2nd cycle)

National Human Rights Institution (NHRI)

No