WUNRN
Egypt - 23 Women Rights Defenders
Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison + Fine, for Violating Protest Law
CAIRO,
Oct 26 (Aswat Masriya) – A Cairo Misdemeanour court sentenced on Sunday 23
defendants charged with violating the protest law to three years in prison and
a 10 thousand Egyptian-pound fine.
Sanaa Seif, sister of prominent political activist Alaa Abdel Fattah, was arrested alongside 23 others on June 21 while taking part in a march calling for the repeal of the protest law and the release of all those arrested on background of the law.
The defendants have been referred to a misdemeanour court for illegal assembly, vandalism and displaying force.
The defence team will appeal the verdict, said Mohamed Abdel Aziz, director of the Cairo-based al-Haqanya human rights centre and one of the lawyers representing the defendants.
Former interim President Adli Mansour issued the protest law on November 24 to regulate peaceful assembly. The law has long been the epicentre of wide criticism by domestic and international human rights organisations which say it violates international standards for peaceful protests.
The legislation obliges demonstrators to inform the authorities of their intention to assemble three days prior to their scheduled events. It also gives the interior ministry the right to cancel, postpone or move protests.
International human rights watchdog Amnesty International described the law as "repressive" and called for the release of all those in detention for "defying" it.
Among those sentenced is human rights defender Yara Sallam, transitional justice officer at the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR). Sallam was reportedly arrested with her cousin while buying water from a kiosk in Cairo's Heliopolis neighbourhood, where the June 21 protest was held.
Sallam remained in detention and faced official charges despite the release of her cousin the next day, which causes Amnesty International to believe the human rights defender is being persecuted for her activism.
“The charges against Yara Sallam, who did not even participate in the protest in question, are completely farcical," Philip Luther, Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, had earlier said. "She has been kept in detention and put on trial because of her work as a human rights defender. She is a prisoner of conscience and must be released immediately and unconditionally.”
The Egyptian Centre for Economic and Social Rights (ECESR) filed on September 13 a lawsuit at the Supreme Constitutional Court, Egypt's top court, challenging the constitutionality of articles in the law.
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----- Original Message -----
From: WUNRN
LISTSERVE
To: WUNRN ListServe
Sent: Wednesday, September 17, 2014 12:21 PM
Subject: Egypt - Women Rights Defenders Remain Imprisoned - Court
Hearing Extended till 11 October
WUNRN
Via Women Living Under Muslim Laws
Egypt - Women Rights Defenders
Remain Imprisoned - Court Hearing Extended till 11 October
Photo: Egyptian
sister Yara Salam (second from left) and other women human rights defenders who
were arrested and detained since 14 June during a peaceful demonstration
against the infamous new draconian law protest law (Law 107 of 2013) - in a
cheerful mood awaiting their trial last Saturday. Their smiles when I saw the
photo made me and so many others hopeful that they will soon rejoin their
colleagues in Egypt's human rights and women's rights organisations. The
accusations against them were baseless in the first place.
But sadly
the result of the trial dampened our hopes. Their detention was again extended,
reportedly till October 11, without any justifiable legal basis. Our fear
that it will be another unfair trial as shown in recent hearings of human
rights activists, journalists, and other dissidents who were not afforded their
basic rights in court was confirmed.
These
women and male colleagues are now detained in Qanater Prison facing charges of
participating in a demonstration without authorization, which allegedly
endangered public security. They are also charged with damaging property,
displaying force with the aim of terrorizing passersby and endangering their
lives, and taking part in a gathering of more than five people with the aim of
threatening "public peace" and committing crimes. The authorities
have presented no evidence that they found weapons on any of the defendants or
shown why they believe they were intent on violence.
Their case
has generated international attention putting into spotlight the new protest
law that basically tramples upon the fundamental rights to freedoms of
assembly, association and expression which Egypt is obliged to uphold. The law
has been condemned by the former United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, Navi Pillay, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of
peaceful assembly and association, Maina Kiai, and other leading international
human rights experts.
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----- Original Message -----
From: WUNRN
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To: WUNRN ListServe
Sent: Monday, June 30, 2014 11:06 PM
Subject: Egypt - Shock by Continued Detention of 23, Including Women
Human Rights Defenders
WUNRN
Egyptian Initiative for Personal
Rights
Women Living Under Muslim Laws
EGYPT - SHOCK BY CONTINUED DETENTION
OF 23, INCLUDING WOMEN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS
June
30, 2014 - The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights is shocked by today's
decision by the Heliopolis Misdemeanor Court to keep the organization's
transitional justice officer, Yara Sallam, and 22 others
behind bars, while their trial on charges of breaching the draconian protest
law and other accusations including damaging property and displaying force
continues. The charges relate to a peaceful protest on 21 June in the
neighborhood of Heliopolis, which was forcibly dispersed by security forces
aided by unknown assailants in civilian dress.
Confusion remains around the next hearing date as the Judge and the court administration left without informing lawyers and distressed relatives of his decision. Court security claimed that the next hearing will be held on 13 September – the date also reported in the state newspaper al-Ahram. However, official confirmation can only be obtained tomorrow when the courts re-open. In the meantime, families and colleagues remain in agony.
EIPR believes that Ms. Sallam was arrested and indicted to trial on baseless charges and that the judicial authorities’ handling of the case raises strong concerns about due process and the fairness of the trial. The way detention or trials of human rights defenders, peaceful protesters and journalists have been conducted recently denies defendants the right to adequate defense and keeps families and lawyers in the dark sometimes about what is happening to their loved ones.
During today's hearing, defense lawyers asked to see and verify the validity of all the evidence presented against the defendants by the prosecution including audiovisual material of the demonstration. That request was granted by the court. However, lawyers' request for the provisional release of the defendants was rejected. In recent months, prolonged pretrial detention has afflicted protesters, activists and others suspected of dissent. The EIPR believes that today's decision amounts to a punitive measure given the lack of credible evidence linking the defendants to any violent acts, and the low risk of absconding if the defendants were released on bail.
Four days after their arrest on 21 June, the public prosecution speedily issued an indictment order referring Ms. Sallam and 22 others to trial on charges of participating in a demonstration without authorization which allegedly endangered public order and security, damaging property and displaying force with the aim of terrorizing passersby and endangering their lives and taking part in a gathering of more than five people with the aim of threatening “public peace” and committing crimes.
The EIPR has repeatedly called on the government to repeal or amend the protest law (Law number 107 of 2013) and other legislation severely limiting the right to freedom of assembly and in practice used to clampdown on dissent. So far, all such demands have gone unheeded.
The seven women, child, and 15 men in the cage today were either targeted for exercising their right to freedom of expression and assembly or simply were unlucky bystanders picked-up randomly in the vicinity of a dispersed protest.
Further, the EIPR is deeply concerned that the defendants may be facing trumped-up charges of damaging property in the absence of any credible evidence and with inconsistencies in the police reports. For instance, a police report claims that a police vehicle was damaged at 9:30pm on 21 June while most defendants including Ms. Sallam had been arrested earlier. The prosecution's case accusing the defendants of violent acts rests on reports from the National Security Agency and the Criminal Investigations Department, as well as witness testimonies from police officers. Further, no weapons or other items were seized from the defendants or presented as evidence to back-up claims that they damaged property or used force.
Since Ms. Sallam's and her co-defendants’ arrest on 21 June, procedures in this case have been characterized by a lack of transparency and respect for due process rights. Not only did the authorities prevent defendants' from contacting their lawyers or families upon arrest, they also failed to provide information about defendants’ whereabouts at one stage or the other. Today's decision to hold the hearing inside the Police Academy in the Tora Prison Complex instead of the Heliopolis Court was not communicated to lawyers, who upon unofficially discovering the change of location rushed across Cairo to make the trial.
Further, the EIPR fears that Ms. Sallam's predicament may be linked to her human rights work given the release of her cousin without charge on the night of their arrest together at a kiosk in Heliopolis. These fears are substantiated by the fact that during initial interrogations at the Masr al-Gidida Police Station on the night of her arrest on 21 June, Ms. Sallam was repeatedly questioned on the nature of her work and the organization's management.
The speed with which this case was referred to court, coupled with the logistical challenges facing lawyers in obtaining the case file and information about hearing dates and locations, infringes on the rights of all defendants to have adequate time and facilities for the preparation of defense. The defendants were expected to appear in court on 25 June following the expiry of their four-day detention order. They were not brought to court, and lawyers were informed that the indictment order had been issued instead. As such, before their referral to trial, the defendants were not able to challenge the lawfulness of their pretrial detention in front of an independent judicial body.
The handling of this case thus far casts doubts on whether defendants could have a fair trial with due process which mandates that all evidence for and against the defendants is examined impartially and under the same conditions. An adequate due process also requires cross examination of the prosecution’s witnesses and for the defense witnesses to be heard. If the court date of 19 September is confirmed, the defendants will have spent 10 more weeks in prison until they get their day in court and their chance to prove their innocence.
In the meantime, Ms. Sallam and the six other women remain detained at the al-Qanater Prison, after spending three nights at different police stations. The authorities did not inform lawyers or families of any of these transfers.
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----- Original Message -----
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Sent: Monday, June 23, 2014 5:02 PM
Subject: Egypt - Arbitrary Arrests & Detention of Women Human
Rights Defenders
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