WUNRN
Nazra for Feminist Studies
Egypt - Arbitrary Arrests & Detention of Women Human Rights
Defenders
On 21 June 2014, nine women human rights
defenders were arrested for protesting peacefully against the Protest and
Public Assembly Law in Heliopolis, Cairo, after being dispersed by the police
using tear gas and bird shots.
During a peaceful protest headed for the Heliopolis presidential Palace calling
for the release of all detainees and imprisoned human rights defenders in
Egypt, the following nine women human rights defenders were arrested along with
several other human rights defenders and are being held at Heliopolis police
station: Yara Sallam, Sanaa Seif, Hanan Mustafa
Mohamed, Salwa Mihriz, Samar Ibrahim, Rania El-Sheikh, Nahid Sherif (known
as Nahid Bebo) and Fikreya Mohamed. Moreover,
prior to being arrested, unknown actors threw stones and glass at the peaceful
human rights defenders, which was followed by the use of tear gas and bird
shots by the police to disperse them.
The prosecution office issued an order on 22 June 2014 to extend their
detention until 23 June 2014 pending further investigation. The women human
rights defenders along with other defender have been charged with the
following: (1) Participating in an unauthorized demonstration whose aim was to
stop the implementation of the law and influence the effectiveness of the
public authorities during the carrying out of their work. The possession of
safeguards and tools that could cause death if they had been used as weapons;
(2) Organizing a demonstration without prior notice as stipulated by the law
and the participation in a demonstration that breached and threatened public
security and the interests of citizens and disrupted transportation and
transgressed public and private property; (3) The possession of incendiary
materials and fireworks during the participation in the demonstration; (4) The
use of force and violence to terrorize and intimidate citizens; (5) The
deliberate destruction of public property; (6) The deliberate destruction of
property owned by the aggrieved party as proven through investigations; (7) The
possession of fireworks without a license; (8) The possession of tools used to
assault persons without a legal justification.
Egyptian human rights defenders have been facing mounting acts of intimidation
and judicial harassment in the recent months, arbitrary arrest, harsh sentences
and imprisonment. The aforementioned women human rights defenders along with
other human rights defenders are only a few of several Egyptian human rights
defenders who have been targeted through the Protest and Public Assembly Law
(Law no 107 of 2013 on the Right to Public Meetings, Processions and Peaceful
Demonstrations). On 22 May 2014, the Sidi Gaber Misdemeanor Court in Alexandria
upheld the sentence of prominent women human rights defender Mahienour
El-Massry and several human rights defenders and detained her on charges of
unauthorized protest and attacking police officers during the Khaled Said
murder retrial on 2 December 2014. The next hearing for this case has been
scheduled for the 28 June 2014.
Moreover, El-Massry is also facing trial on separate charges for an incident
that occurred in March 2013. On 16 July 2014, the aforementioned second case
was adjourned to 21 July 2014. In the second case, El-Massry is charged with
allegedly “assaulting security forces”, after she and a group of lawyers went
to Raml police station to provide legal assistance to activists who had been
arrested and handed in to the police by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood.
Nazra for Feminist Studies condemns the arrest and detention of the
aforementioned women human rights defenders and believes that it is directly
related to their legitimate activities in the defense of human rights.
Nazra for Feminist Studies calls on the Egyptian
authorities to:
1. Drop all charges
directed at the women human rights defenders and effectuate their immediate and
unconditional release;
2. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological integrity of
all the aforementioned women human rights defenders;
3. Cease the harassment and persecution of human rights defenders and ensure
that all human rights defenders in Egypt are able to carry out their legitimate
human rights activities free from persecution, arbitrary arrest, judicial
harassment and physical violence;
4. Ensure that the Protest and Public Assembly Law is revised to be fully
compliant with relevant international standards and the newly passed Egyptian
constitution;
5. Guarantee the right of women human rights defenders to engage in human
rights work and take measures to ensure their protection before the law and in
society;
6. Quash the convictions of other human rights defenders that are based on a
Protest and Public Assembly Law and drop all charges stemming from the
legitimate exercise of the rights of freedom of expression and peaceful
assembly.
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Press Release - 22 June 2014