Description of the situation:
The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about the enforced disappearance of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, Researcher on the right to housing at the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms (ECRF), a human rights law firm based in Cairo operating in several governorates.
According to the information received, on June 12, 2019, Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din was arrested on his way home from ECRF office in Cairo’s Mokattam area. However, since then, despite requests from his mother and ECRF lawyers, the Mokattam police station has consistently denied detaining him. As of publication of this Urgent Appeal, despite communications from Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din’s mother and ECRF to the Attorney General, no information on the whereabouts of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din was available.
The Observatory expresses its utmost concerns over the enforced disappearance of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din and urges the Egyptian authorities to immediately disclose his whereabouts and allow him access to his lawyer and family.
The Observatory fears that Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din’s enforced disappearance comes as a result of his criticism of the policies of the government towards shanty urban areas and slums [1], and recalls that this is not the first time that ECRF and its members are subjected to harassment [2].
The Observatory urges the Egyptian authorities to release Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din immediately and unconditionally and to put an end to all forms of harassment against him, including at the judicial level.
Actions requested:
Please write to the authorities in Egypt, urging them to:
i. Guarantee, in all circumstances, the physical integrity and psychological well-being of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din as well as of all human rights defenders in Egypt;
ii. Immediately disclose Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din’s whereabouts and release him immediately and unconditionally as his detention is arbitrary since it only seems to aim at punishing him for his human rights activities;
iii. Guarantee the unhindered access of Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din to a lawyer of his choice and his family members;
iv. Put an end to all acts of harassment, including at the judicial level, against Mr. Ibrahim Ezz El-Din, as well as of all human rights defenders in Egypt and ensure that they are able to carry out their activities without hindrance;
v. Conform in all circumstances to the provisions of the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, adopted on December 9, 1998 by the United Nations General Assembly, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2.;
vi. Ensure in all circumstances respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with international human rights instruments ratified by Egypt.
Addresses:
• President of the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Fax: +202 2391 1441. Email: p.spokesman@op.gov.eg, Twitter: @AlsisiOfficial
• Prime Minister, Mr. Mustafa Kemal Madbouly Mohamed. Email: pm@cabinet.gov.eg
• Minister of the Interior, Mr. Mahmoud Tawfik, Email: center@iscmi.gov.eg
• Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohamed Hossam Abdel-Rahim, Fax: +202 2795 8103
• Public Prosecutor, Counsellor Nabeel Sadek, Fax: +202 2577 4716
• Head of the Egyptian parliament’s Human Rights Committee, Mr. Alaa Abed, Email: humanrightscomplaints@parliament.gov.eg
• Mr. Mohamed Fayeq, President of the National Council for Human Rights, Fax: + 202 25747497 / 25747670. Email: nchr@nchr.org.eg
• H.E. Mr. Alaa Youssef, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, Email: mission.egypt@bluewin.ch
• Embassy of Egypt in Brussels, Belgium, Fax: +32 2 675.58.88; Email: embassy.egypt@skynet.be
Please also write to the diplomatic missions or embassies of Egypt in your respective country.
***
Geneva-Paris, June 14, 2019
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. OMCT and FIDH are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.
To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:
• E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org
• Tel and fax OMCT + 41 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 809 49 29
• Tel and fax FIDH + 33 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80
[1] In particular he criticised the Maspero Triangle development project which led to the demolition of 75% of the Maspero triangle slums in Cairo and of the mass displacement of the inhabitants of Cairo’s Al-Warraq Island as a result of another development project.
[2] See in particular Observatory Urgent Appeal EGY 004 / 0917 / OBS 105, published on September 27, 2017, as well as Urgent Appeal EGY 002 / 0518 / OBS 059.9, published on January 11, 2019.