Numerous demonstrations in solidarity with independent judges and in particular two of them, Mr Mahmoud Mekki and Mr Hesham Bastawisi, both deputy presidents of the Court of Cassation, Egypt’s highest appellate court, who were due to appear before a disciplinary committee on 27 April 2006, have been held in Cairo since Mekki and Bastawisi’s hearing was announced. The disciplinary hearing was actually postponed until 11 May.
Mekki and Bastawisi are accused of damaging the reputation of the judiciary after criticizing irregularities in the parliamentary elections held in 2005, during which they noticed intimidation, violence towards voters and judges supervising the polls, as well as vote rigging. In the last months, Egyptian judges also urged a reform which would guarantee a true independence of the judiciary from the executive power. A campaign has been launched by the Judges Club (the quasi-official professional association of judges in Egypt) to obtain full financial and administrative independence from the Ministry of Justice.
On 27 April 2006, riot police sealed off the area around the High Court in central Cairo to keep out the demonstrators in the court area where the two-judges were facing questioning. Thousands of police were deployed across Cairo and intense security measures, designed to prevent demonstrations in solidarity with the judges have been taken. Some demonstrators were beaten with sticks by police to disperse them and dozens of them were detained, including in Alexandria where activists who heading to Cairo to join the protests were also arrested. Around 40 people would have been detained since 26 April night when police arrested dozens of activists who had gathered in front of the Judges Club to express solidarity.
Almost a dozen activists have also been detained since 24 April and placed in detention for 15 days.
On 26 April 2006, Egyptian plainclothes police were surrounded the Judges Club in Central Cairo where some activists had gathered. The police allegedly move in and pulled the demonstrators out of the club, 11 persons were arrested and detained. Most of them are from opposition groups. In Alexandria, 6 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood were said arrested and detained for supporting the organisation of a rally of 3 000 people in the city.
FIDH, EOHR and HRAAP express their deepest concerns regarding the repeated limitations to freedom of expression and opinion and to the right of peaceful assembly, whose victims were different groups of the Egyptian civil society over the last months and which constitute a flagrant violation of international standards and, in particular of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which was ratified by Egypt in January 1982.
FIDH, EOHR and HRAAP call upon the Egyptian authorities to :
drop all charges against Mekki and Bastawisi since they infringe on their freedom of expression and opinion;
investigate all allegations of irregularities made by the judges and civil society organisations
ensure the freedom of expression and guarantee the right of peaceful assembly to all residents as guaranteed by the Egyptian Constitution and international human rights instruments, in particular by Articles 19 and 21 of the ICCPR ;
release all demonstrators and activists arrested during the aforementioned sit in and demonstrations as it constitutes a violation of the right to peaceful assembly;
take measures to ensure that police officers conform their behavior to international standards which guarantee the right to freedom of peaceful assembly, and put an end to use of force in all circumstances; and,
put an end to the state of emergency and to all Egyptian laws which infringe on and restrict fundamental liberties, namely the freedoms of peaceful assembly and expression.
Furthermore, FIDH and its member organizations consider that all reform processes in a democratic society have to involve cooperation and dialogue between the authorities and representatives of civil society. Our organisations urge the Egyptian authorities to ensure a real independence of the judiciary which would guarantee the magistrates’ impartiality, which is essential for the protection of human rights and justice.