The following people have so far been detained without trial for periods of 11 to 14 years:

1- Mohamed Abbas Al Lithi Suleiman, (محمد عباس الليثي سليمان) born 8 June 1957, resident at 4, Masakin Hijazi, qasm Chebra Al Kheima, civil servant, arrested at his home on 25 February 1993, currently imprisoned at Abu Zaabel high security prison.

2- Maslahi Hamed Maslahi Zaky, (مصلحي حمد مصلحي زكي) born 8 January 1978, then a student at the University of Cairo, living with his family at Avenue Abdelhamid Redouane, Ain-Shams,  Cairo, arrested on the night of 25 March 1993 at his home, currently imprisoned at Abu Zaabel high security prison.

3-Suleimane Ali Hassane ABD EL BARI, (سليمان علي حسن عبد الباري) born 17 October 1967, craftsman, resident at 42, Hara Al Askar, Berrad Al Sahel, Chabra, arrested at his home on the night of 4 September 1994, currently imprisoned at Wad Al Natrun prison.

4- Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamed REDOUANE, (ابراهيم محمد محمد رضوان) born 15 September 1971, university student, resident at Azba El Ouerd, Al Janina Al Charabia, Cairo, arrested at his home on the night of 5 September 1994, currently imprisoned at Wad Al Natrun prison.

6- Aymen Ahmed Djad Al KARIM (ايمن  احمد جاد الكريم) born 26 August 1970, then a student at the University of Cairo, resident at Azba El Ward, Al Janina Al Charabia, Cairo, arrested on the night of 4 September 1994, currently imprisoned at Abu Zaabel high security prison.

7- Khalfallah Munazaa Khalf Al Mouqim (خلف الله منازع خلف المقيم ) currently aged 52 years, sculptor, resident at Al Sahel, Cairo, arrested on 5 January 1995, currently imprisoned at Wad Al Natrun prison.

8- Wahid Mohamed Qotb, (وحيد محمد قطب) currently aged 34 years, then a student at the University of Cairo, resident at Bartos, Awsim, Al Hiza, arrested at his home on the night of 27 June 1996, currently imprisoned at Abu Zaabel high security prison.

9- Abdelhamid Mahmoud Qotb, (عبد الحميد محمود قطب), currently aged 40 years, unemployed, resident at Abou Al Ghait, Al Qanatar Al Kheiriya, Al Qaloubia, arrested on 20 July 1996 at his home, currently imprisoned at Abu Zaabel high security prison.

10- Sayed Mohamed Gherib AL KHOULI, (سيد محمد غريب الخولي ) currently aged  35 years, then a student, resident at Al Qanatar Al Kheïriya, Al Qaloubia, arrested at his home on the night of 20 July 1996, currently imprisoned at Abu Zaabel high security prison.

11- Taha Abu Al Abbas Mohamed Salim, (طه ابو العباس محمد محمد سليم ) born 16 March 1969, jobless, resident at Al Nouzha Airport District, near the Hassib Mosque, Alexandria,  arrested on 3 October 1996, currently imprisoned at Damanhur Prison.

All of them were arrested between 1993 and 1996 and are currently detained in various penitentiary establishments in Egypt.  They are detained through a simple administrative decision under the State of Emergency Law.

Article 3 of the State of Emergency Law confers upon the Minister of the Interior, in his capacity as representative of the President of the Republic, extremely far-reaching powers, including administrative internment without charge or trial for indefinite periods.

Broader context:

Following the assassination of president Anwar Sadat, a State of Emergency was instituted in Egypt on 6 October 1981.  Since then, it has become permanent and has been regularly renewed, most recently once again for the three consecutive years starting from 30 April 2006.

Article 148 of the Constitution provides for a State of Emergency to be decreed by the Head of State “a state of emergency may be declared whenever security or public order are threatened in the Republic's territories or parts of it, whether through a war, conditions that threaten war, internal unrest, natural disasters or an epidemic.” (Art. 1 of Law No. 162, 1958).

This article provides that the Minister of the Interior may have “any person threatening public order or security questioned and placed in detention.”

Neither the prosecution service nor any other judicial authority has the power to intervene in or control this strictly administrative measure.

Although a complex procedure for contesting this measure is provided for by the same law, judicial decisions ordering their liberation, when made, are never put into practice by the executive branch if the Minister of the Interior, who has the right to veto them, is opposed.

To justify the State of Emergency, the Egyptian government has regularly cited the need to “preserve democracy and combat terrorism.”  The consequences of the state of emergency have been regularly noted by all local and international human rights NGOs.

In fact, since its promulgation, thousands of people have been, and continue to be, tortured and detained arbitrarily for many years for political reasons despite the fact that Egypt ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights on 14 January 1982, and the Convention against Torture on 25 June 1986.

On the occasion of the committee’s examination of Egypt’s third and fourth periodical reports, presented seven years late as a single report, it expressed concern that the state of emergency proclaimed in Egypt in 1981 has remained in force since that date, adding that the state party should consider re-examining the need for its continuation.

Noting the persistence of cases of arbitrary detention, the Committee had told Egypt to put its legislation and its practice in regard to custody and pre-trial detention in conformity with the relevant provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Committee also noted the persistence of detention conditions incompatible with article 10 of the Covenant and regretted the obstacles to visits by conventional and non-conventional human rights bodies instituted through the UN, and of non-governmental human rights organisations.

Despite these recommendations and human rights NGOs’ many calls on the Egyptian authorities to put an end to the abuses committed, the situation of many thousands of political detainees continues to get worse.

The facts:

The men listed above, arrested on the dates indicated for each, were all secretly detained for periods ranging from one to three months, depending on the case.

They were all, without exception, been tortured by the general intelligence services during their secret detention.

At the time of their arrest, all by night from their homes, no warrant was presented to them nor was any reason given for their arrest.

Only after this secret detention were they notified verbally of a judgement of administrative detention by the Ministry of the Interior, without ever appearing before any jurisdiction.

The intelligence services’ interrogations of the detainees always centred on their political opinions, their real or supposed sympathy with the Islamist movement, or the fact that they had publicly criticised the government.

They were, however, never legally or formally charged for these reasons; no act of violence was laid at their feet, because if it had been, they would inevitably have been brought before the military tribunals as is normal in Egypt.

All of them have at various moments in their detention made demands to be set free before the competent judicial bodies, which in the absence of legal proceedings have consistently found these demands justified and decreed their liberation.

Following each decision to free them, the Ministry of the Interior administration has issued orders to keep them detained, rendering the recourse provided by the State of Emergency Law totally illusory and ineffective.

The detention of these people is under the circumstances incontestably arbitrary and contrary to the principles of the relevant international treaties on the protection of human rights.

Recall that Egypt, which has a member of the Human Rights Council, undertook to collaborate actively in this framework and reinforce the system of special procedures, including the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, during its three year mandate. (Declaration of candidacy, 18 April 2007 - A/61/878)

Alkarama for Human Rights calls upon the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention to note that the deprivation of liberty of these people is arbitrary and constitutes a serious violation by the State of the obligations it undertook by signing the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.  The Egyptian government must be invited to respect its solemn promises and to take the necessary measures to rectify this situation, starting by freeing these people immediately.