Egypt – Researched and compiled by the Refugee Documentation Centre of Ireland on 21 November 2016

Information on those opposed to the military being imprisoned/tortured.

The Summary of a briefing paper published by the UK House of Commons Library states:

“In 2013 an army-backed coup removed the unpopular government of Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood. The new authorities changed the constitution, held a presidential election that massively confirmed Abdel Fatah al-Sisi in power. After a postponement parliamentary elections took place in November and December 2015. The new parliament is unlikely to wield decisive influence. Though he has come in for sharp criticism from outside, Sisi remains very popular among Egyptians. The new government embarked from the start on a vigorous crackdown on opposition forces, including Islamists, liberals and campaigners and the press. The government of Abdel Fattah al-Sisi banned the Muslim Brotherhood and arrested thousands of its supporters, sentencing hundreds to death in mass trials. Morsi himself was handed a death sentence in May 2015. Some death sentences have been quashed, however, in what may be something of a change of course.” (UK House of Commons Library (26 February 2016) under Sisi, p.3)

A report published by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in a section headed “Imprisonment and ”, states:

“Within four months only (August and November 2015) there were at least 340 unresolved cases of enforced disappearance of citizens, with an average of three cases a day. The quasi-governmental National Council for Human Rights NCHR has confirmed that it is working on cases of enforced disappearance.

At least 41,000 people were detained, charged, or sentenced between July 2013 and May 2014, however unconfirmed reports suggest that the numberfigure has now reached over 100,000 detainees. The Interior Ministry claims that 11,877 people have been arrested on alleged terrorism-related charges since the beginning of 2015. In February 2015, President Abdelfatah al-Sisi acknowledged in a speech that there are innocent youth in .

At least 470 death sentences were handed down by Egyptian courts for alleged violence and terrorism related charges in 2015 alone and many more were sentenced to life imprisonment for alleged political violence or activism. The sentences came through mass trials that lacked due process in what was described earlier by a group of UN experts as a ‘mockery of justice’.

During President Sisi’s first year in office, at least 289 cases of torture and 16 cases of sexual assaults, were reported. According to Nasser Amin,

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Chairman of the Complaints Committee of the NCHR, the actual number of torture cases that occur far exceeds those documented or reported in the media, describing torture as a systematic pattern.” (International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (22 January 2016) Five years after the revolution : Egypt's Poorest Human Rights Record in its Modern History)

The Introduction to a briefing paper from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights states:

“Since June 2013, Egyptian authorities have increasingly used pretrial detention as a punitive measure to silence activists, journalists, and peaceful political . The number of pretrial detainees in Egypt has exponentially increased and the periods of pretrial detention have exceeded international legal standards and even domestic maximums.” (Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (10 February 2016) The Problem of Punitive Pretrial Detention in Egypt)

In a section headed “Pretrial Detention in Practice” this paper states:

“Since 2013, the number of pretrial detainees in Egypt has exponentially increased. As per the most recent official Egyptian Authority count announced in December 2014, out of 12,800 persons detained since June 2013, 7,389 were still being held in pretrial detention; the United States Department of State reports that this number alone reflects a 360% increase over the prior year’s estimate of pretrial detainees. With Egyptian organizations estimating that the total number of political prisoners is closer to 40,000, the number of pretrial detainees is likely to be even higher today than the 2014 numbers.

Despite the two-year maximum set out in domestic law for cases of first review that carry possible death or life imprisonment, at least 700 pretrial detainees have been held in pretrial detention beyond the two year mark as of August 2015.

In violation of Egypt’s international human rights obligations and its own domestic regulations, pretrial detainees are being held in the same detention facilities as convicted prisoners, including individuals with radical ideologies. Prison cells are often dirty, filled with cockroaches and ants, largely- overcrowded, and subject to extreme temperatures due to poor ventilation. Detainees endure beatings, insults, sexual assault, and torture. At times, they are arbitrarily prevented from meeting with family members and face the confiscation of various personal belongings. Medical neglect is increasingly common and many detainees do not receive the treatment they require, and when detainees are finally taken to the prison hospital, care is limited and resources are constrained. Pretrial detainees arrested on bogus grounds, subjected to torture and cruel and inhuman conditions, and held in the same prison cells as convicted prisoners are at serious risk of radicalization.” (ibid, pp.2-3)

The 2015 US Department of State country report on Egypt, in a section titled “Political Prisoners and Detainees”, states:

“There were reports of political prisoners and detainees, although verifiable estimates were not available. The government claimed there were no political

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prisoners and all persons in detention had been or were in the process of being, charged with a . Human rights groups and international observers maintained the government detained or imprisoned as many as several thousand persons solely or chiefly because of their political beliefs or opposition to the government. A local rights group considered any persons arrested under the 2013 demonstrations law to be political prisoners. In their view these persons were political prisoners or detainees because authorities held them based on laws that restricted the exercise of a human right, because charges were false or inflated motivated by the individual’s political opinion or membership in a particular group, or because some individuals faced unduly harsh and disproportionate treatment due to their political opinions or membership in particular groups.” (US Department of State (13 April 2016) 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Egypt, pp.15- 16)

A report from states:

“Arbitrary and politically motivated arrests have soared since al-Sisi, then defense minister, seized power in July 2013 from Egypt’s first democratically elected president, Mohamed al-Morsy. An Interior Ministry official in July 2014 acknowledged that authorities had arrested 22,000 people over the previous year. The Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights, which independently monitors political arrests, said that the number was more like 41,000 arrested or facing criminal charges as of last May. There is little doubt that Muslim Brotherhood members and alleged supporters of Morsy constituted the greatest number – Brotherhood leaders said 29,000 of their number were in custody. But the arrest campaign includes numerous secularist and leftist activists as well.

And of course once in custody they are subject to the same abuse and intense overcrowding. According to an investigation published in Al Watan, an independent daily that generally supports the government, drawing on statistics from the Justice Ministry’s Forensic Medical Authority, at least 90 detainees died in police custody in and Giza governorates in the first 11 months of 2014, from inhumane conditions, lack of adequate health care, and in some cases torture.” (Human Rights Watch (6 March 2015) Egypt’s Political Prisoners)

A report published by , in a section titled “Background”, states:

“In November 2013, the new authorities moved to outlaw any further protests against their rule. The interim President signed Law No. 107 of 2013 Regulating Public Gatherings, Processions and Peaceful Protests, handing security forces sweeping powers to use lethal force to disperse protests not authorized by the authorities and providing for heavy sentences reaching up to five years.

In December 2013, the interim government declared the MB a 'terrorist' organization following a bomb attack on the al-Dakahliya Security Directorate in the city of Mansoura that the authorities attributed to the MB, although without providing concrete evidence. Membership of the MB can incur the death penalty under the revised Penal Code and the Counter-Terrorism Law.

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Having resigned from the armed forces in March 2014, Abd el-Fattah al-Sisi became President in June 2014 after he defeated his sole opponent in presidential elections held the previous month. Since then, his government has maintained a relentless crackdown against the MB and Morsi supporters, detaining thousands and referring them to unfair mass trials in which hundreds have been sentenced to death. Furthermore, hundreds of perceived liberal activists, including prominent activists, human rights defenders and lawyers were also arrested for criticizing the government or the president. In August 2015, President al-Sisi signed a draconian new ‘Counter-Terrorism’ law that arbitrarily restricts the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association while granting the president powers that previously could only be invoked during a state of emergency, taking the country back to a position similar to the 30 years emergency rule of Hosni Mubarak.” (Amnesty International (13 July 2016) Egypt: ‘Officially, you do not exist’ – Disappeared and tortured in the name of counter-terrorism, p.15)

In a section titled “Arrest And Detention Statistics” (section 4.2) this report states:

“Thousands of people in Egypt are currently detained without trial or serving lengthy prison sentences imposed after unfair trials on account of their real or perceived opposition to the government of President al-Sisi. Supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi as well as leaders and members of the MB continue to be particularly targeted.

According to the government, its security forces arrested almost 22,000 suspects in 2013 and 2014, including some 3,000 top and middle-level MB leaders and members. In 2015, according to the Ministry of Interior, the security forces arrested almost 12,000 further suspects, mostly MB members and supporters of Mohamed Morsi, including students, academics, engineers, medical professionals. Hundreds more are held under sentence of death, including former President Mohamed Morsi, his supporters and leaders of the MB.

Some rights groups estimate that as many as 60,000 people have been detained for political reasons since July 2013. Ten new prisons are reported to have been built or planned between 2013 and 2016 to accommodate the rising numbers of detainees.” (ibid, pp.18-19)

A section of this report titled “Scale Of Enforced Disappearances” (section 4.3) states:

“However, through documentation and figures provided by different Egyptian NGOs and rights groups, it is evident that at least several hundred Egyptians were disappeared since the beginning of 2015 with a reported average of three or four people subjected to enforced disappearance each day since the beginning of 2015. Three criteria were used by Egyptian NGOs to determine whether an individual was subjected to enforced disappearance: they were arrested by state agents; they were held in an undisclosed location for a period exceeding 48 hours without referral to the Public Prosecution, and outside of the oversight of the judiciary; and the authorities denied that the individual was in their custody when the family inquired about them.

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In June 2015, the ‘Freedom for the Brave’ campaign18 reported that it had documented 163 cases of enforced disappearance in April and May 2015 alone19. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms reported in April 2016 that it documented 544 cases of enforced disappearance over an eight- month period, between August 2015 and March 2016, making it an average of two or three persons forcibly disappeared each day20. The Egyptian Co- ordination for Rights and Freedoms reported in January 2016 that it had documented 1,023 cases of enforced disappearance during the first eight months of 2015, and in total 1,840 cases were reported to them by the end of 2015, this was an average of four to five persons each day.21 The Egyptian Co-ordination for Rights and Freedoms also told Amnesty International in May 2016 that between January and 15 May 2016, it had documented 630 cases of enforced disappearance, an average of three to four persons forcibly disappeared each day.

The UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (WGEID) has also expressed concern. In its 2015 report, WGEID said that in the 12 months up to May 2015, it had communicated 79 cases to the Egyptian government that illustrated ‘a recent pattern of short-term disappearances’ and that it had received a response from the Egyptian government on only six of the cases, all of which the government denied were cases of enforced disappearance.” (ibid, p.19)

See also chapter of this report titled “Arbitrary Arrests, Detentions And Enforced Disappearances” (Part 5) which states:

“Those detained by the NSA were held incommunicado – for between four days and seven months in NSA premises or police stations, or CSF camps and denied access to lawyers or any contact with their families. They were held in conditions of enforced disappearance; the authorities did not acknowledge their arrest and detention and their families were unable to obtain any information about them when they inquired at police stations and approached the Ministries of Interior and Justice and the Public Prosecution.

The authorities’ refusal to acknowledge detentions persisted even after detainees’ enforced disappearance ended. Once the NSA had completed their interrogation and took them to a Public Prosecutor for questioning and to lay charges, the NSA provided false dates of arrest in official documents to conceal how long they had held the detainee and make it appear that they had been arrested lawfully and in conformity with the constitutional requirements. Article 54 stated that police must transfer everyone they arrest to a competent prosecutor within 24 hours. Failure to meet this requirement, lawyers say, may lead to a court dismissing a case on procedural grounds.

Most detainees were not permitted to contact their families or have access to legal counsel during their enforced disappearance and until after the prosecutor had questioned and charged them. Most detainees allege that they were subjected to torture and other ill-treatment by NSA interrogators and low-ranking police officers to extract ‘confessions’ or other incriminatory information for use in future trials and prosecutions.

Some victims of enforced disappearance were detained in police stations, from which NSA officers took them out to identify other suspects, including people listed in their phone or social media records, while others were held

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mostly in NSA premises in which they were interrogated and tortured.” (ibid, p.24)

A chapter of this report titled “Torture And Other Ill-Treatment Of Detainees” (Part 7) states:

“In almost all of the cases documented by Amnesty International, detainees allege that during their enforced disappearance NSA officers tortured and otherwise ill-treated them in order to obtain 'confessions' that could be used at trial to convict them or others, including friends and relatives who oppose or protest against the government.

The NSA’s own actions – notably, their falsification of detainees’ arrest dates in official documents, apparently to conceal the unlawfulness of their arrest and the duration of their detention as an enforced disappearance victim liable to torture – lend obvious credence to these allegations. Likewise, the authorities’ refusal to allow lawyers access to forensic medical examinations of detainees in the rare cases when these are ordered by prosecutors, suggests that the authorities wish to withhold possible evidence of torture or other ill-treatment.” (ibid, p.40)

A section in this chapter titled “Methods Of Torture” (section 7.1) states:

“The most common methods of torture used by the NSA, according to former detainees, their families and lawyers, are beating; prolonged suspension by the limbs from a ceiling or door while handcuffed and blindfolded; and the application of electric shocks, mostly using electro-shock weapons, to the genitals and other sensitive areas of the body and face. Some detainees allege that they were subjected to the ‘grill’, a method in which the victim is rotated over a rod inserted between his tied hands and legs and balanced between two chairs. Some detainees say that while detained in NSA premises, they were handcuffed to another detainee and on the other side, to a high wall to prevent them from sleeping, damaging their wrists, arms and shoulders.

Former detainees said they were tortured while being interrogated, usually in their first two weeks of incommunicado detention, in sessions that lasted for up to six or seven hours. After their interrogation, detainees continued to be detained incommunicado until any visible signs of torture had faded but faced a threat of further torture or the arrest of family members if they sought to retract their ‘confessions’ when questioned by a Public Prosecutor. Consequently, some detainees say, they felt obliged to repeat their ‘confessions’ to the prosecutor.

Detainees told Amnesty International they were handcuffed and blindfolded throughout their incommunicado detention, and beaten or suspended by their arms or legs if they tried to remove these restraints or were caught speaking to other detainees.” (ibid, p.41)

A country update report from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office states:

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“Reports of torture, police brutality and enforced disappearance in Egypt have continued. Local NGO, the Nadeem Centre for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence, compiled media reports of 270 cases of torture and 51 deaths in detention from 1 January to 7 June 2016. The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms documented 168 cases of enforced disappearance from January to March 2016, based on reports from victims' relatives and friends. Data for the full period is unavailable, and there are no official figures, although Egypt's National Council for Human Rights has submitted a list of 331 cases to the Ministry of the Interior. In response to a number of police abuse cases, including some which resulted in the killing of , President Sisi has stated that the government will pass new legislation regulating the conduct of police officers. Implementation of this commitment would be a welcome development. Senior UK officials have raised concerns about torture with the Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry of Interior.” (UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO 21 July 2016) Egypt - Human Rights Priority Country update report: January to June 2016)

A report from Human Rights Watch states:

“Egyptian security forces arrested at least 382 people in the days leading up to and during the dispersal of mostly peaceful protests on April 25, 2016. The protests followed a rare mass demonstration against President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in Cairo on April 15. Police arrested lawyers and numerous activists, and temporarily held at least 33 journalists, according to witnesses and media reports, who also said that police stopped people riding public transportation or walking in the street, made warrantless inspections of their mobile phones, and arrested them if they found anti-government images. ‘Egypt’s effective zero-tolerance policy for protests leaves people with no outlet to peacefully express their grievances, and protesting can mean years in prison,’ said Nadim Houry, deputy Middle East director. ‘The authorities should release all those held solely for peaceful expression, and parliament should amend the repressive law on public assembly.’ Police arrested at least 286 people on April 25, according to the Front for the Defense of Egyptian Protesters, an independent group of lawyers and activists. The large majority of the arrests, which spanned seven governorates, occurred in the greater Cairo area, the group said.” (Human Rights Watch (27 April 2016) Egypt: Fearing Protests, Police Arrest Hundreds)

See also Human Rights Watch which states:

“Egyptian courts have sentenced more than 150 people to prison terms since the beginning of May 2016 for participating in peaceful protests or spreading false information. On May 24, an appeals court replaced the prison sentences for 47 who had started hunger strikes, with a fine of 100,000 L.E ($11,270 USD) each which they have to pay before being released.” (Human Rights Watch (25 May 2016) Egypt: Scores of Protesters Jailed Unjustly)

This report also states:

“Courts sentenced 152 people in three trials to between two and five years in prison for protest-related charges, and 2 others to shorter sentences in other trials. Most were sentenced under Law 107 of 2013, which prohibits peaceful protests without Interior Ministry approval.” (ibid)

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A report from Human Rights Watch on conditions for detainees in Tora Maximum Security Prison, in a section titled “Background: Scorpion Prison”, states:

“The arrest campaign that followed Morsy’s ouster was one of the widest in Egypt’s modern history. Between July 2013 and May 2014, Egyptian authorities arrested or charged at least 41,000 people in connection with the fallout, according to a documented count by the Egyptian Center for Economic and Social Rights. The Egyptian Coordination for Rights and Freedoms, an activist and legal support group, said that security forces made at least 26,000 additional arrests between the beginning of 2015 and August 2016. The Egyptian government admitted to arresting tens of thousands of people. In March 2014, the , citing military and Interior Ministry officials, reported that roughly 16,000 people had been arrested since Morsy’s removal. By July 2014, that number had risen to 22,000. Then, in October 2015, the assistant interior minister for public security said that police had arrested nearly 11,900 people on terrorism charges that year alone, bringing the number of acknowledged arrests since Morsy’s ouster to roughly 34,000.” (Human Rights Watch (27 September 2016) “We are in Tombs”: Abuses in Egypt’s Scorpion Prison, pp.20-21)

This report also states:

“Since 2013, Scorpion has emerged, again, as the central prison for those deemed the most dangerous enemies of the state, a designation that now includes the Muslim Brotherhood, which remains al-Sisi’s primary opposition.” (ibid, p.22)

A report from the Arab Organization for Human Rights in UK states:

“Arab Organization for Human Rights in the UK (AOHR UK) stressed that cases of forced disappearance in Egypt have become rampant since the 3rd of July 2013 coup despite international calls to put an end to these grave violations. It is estimated that most detainees have been subjected to forced disappearance at one point or another. AOHR UK added that it had received hundreds of complaints from individuals who were disappeared for various periods of time with families kept in the dark about their whereabouts. Security forces often deny they were arrested in the first place. According to the Organisation, what makes this issue particularly pressing is the fact that many were killed after being subjected to forced disappearance following their illegal arrest. Security forces made up fabricated stories alleging they were killed during clashes with the police, allegations that were refuted by many reports and investigations.” (Arab Organization for Human Rights in UK (22 September 2016) Cases of forced disappearance by Egyptian authorities on the increase)

This report also states:

“AOHR UK pointed out that more than 65000 Egyptians were arbitrarily arrested for opposing the military regime and that most of them were subjected to forced disappeared for longer than 24 hours without being allowed to contact their families or lawyers. Many detainees appeared before the public prosecutor on fabricated criminal charges after being tortured to force them to confess to those .” (ibid)

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In an article published in UK newspaper Irish citizen Ibrahim Halawa describes his experiences in an Egyptian prison as follows:

“My three older sisters and I, all Irish citizens, were caught up in a protest in Cairo. I was 17 at the time, and about to start my final year of school. My sisters were released on bail, but I, along with 493 other people, was charged with attending an illegal protest and have been incarcerated ever since, waiting for a mass trial, and possibly facing the death penalty. Each time you are transferred to a new prison, there is something called ‘the party’. They show you who’s boss. In most cases it’s beatings, but in one, we were stripped, told to lie down facing the ground with our arms behind our back, and they started to jump on our backs, from one prisoner to the next. It’s normal to be cursed, stripped naked, beaten with a bar, or put in solitary confinement or the ‘tank’ (a pitch-black 3.5m x 5.5m cell). They might also torture another prisoner in front of you. Of course you never forget. Ever.” (The Guardian (2 September 2016) I'm in an Egyptian prison – being stripped and beaten is normal)

An RTE news report states:

“The trial of Ibrahim Halawa has been postponed for the 16th time in Cairo, Egypt, until 13 December. The 20-year-old Dublin man has been detained by Egyptian authorities since he was arrested at a protest in August 2013. This is the 16th time the mass trial, involving 494 defendants, has been adjourned.” (RTE (12 November 2016) Halawa trial delayed in Egypt for 16th time)

References:

Amnesty International (13 July 2016) Egypt: ‘Officially, you do not exist’ – Disappeared and tortured in the name of counter-terrorism https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/MDE1243682016ENGLISH.P DF (Accessed 18 November 2016)

Arab Organization for Human Rights in UK (22 September 2016) Cases of forced disappearance by Egyptian authorities on the increase http://www.ein.org.uk/members/country-report/cases-forced-disappearance- egyptian-authorities-increase (Accessed 21 November 2016) This is a subscription database

The Guardian (2 September 2016) I'm in an Egyptian prison – being stripped and beaten is normal https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/02/prison-egypt- stripped-beaten-witness-torture-egypt (Accessed 21 November 2016)

Human Rights Watch (27 September 2016) “We are in Tombs”: Abuses in Egypt’s Scorpion Prison https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/egypt0916_web_4.pdf (Accessed 18 November 2016)

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Human Rights Watch (25 May 2016) Egypt: Scores of Protesters Jailed Unjustly https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/25/egypt-scores-protesters-jailed-unjustly (Accessed 21 November 2016)

Human Rights Watch (27 April 2016) Egypt: Fearing Protests, Police Arrest Hundreds https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/04/27/egypt-fearing-protests-police-arrest- hundreds (Accessed 21 November 2016)

Human Rights Watch (6 March 2015) Egypt’s Political Prisoners https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/03/06/egypts-political-prisoners (Accessed 18 November 2016)

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) (22 January 2016) Five years after the revolution : Egypt's Poorest Human Rights Record in its Modern History https://www.fidh.org/en/region/north-africa-middle-east/egypt/five-years-after- the-revolution-egypt-s-poorest-human-rights-record (Accessed 21 November 2016)

Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights (10 February 2016) The Problem of Punitive Pretrial Detention in Egypt http://rfkcenter.org/media/filer_public/35/82/358250ae-e317-4c64-a8d6- 8490a280f065/rkfhr_- _the_problem_of_punitive_pretrial_detention_in_egypt_.pdf

RTE (12 November 2016) Halawa trial delayed in Egypt for 16th time http://www.rte.ie/news/2016/1112/831172-halawa-trial/ (Accessed 21 November 2016)

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO 21 July 2016) Egypt - Human Rights Priority Country update report: January to June 2016 http://www.ein.org.uk/members/country-report/egypt-human-rights-priority- country-update-report-january-june-2016 (Accessed 21 November 2016) This is a subscription database

UK House of Commons (26 February 2016) Egypt under Sisi http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN07146/SN07146.pdf (Accessed 18 November 2016)

US Department of State (13 April 2016) 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – Egypt http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/253133.pdf (Accessed 21 November 2016)

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This response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research and Information Unit within time constraints. This response is not and does not purport to be conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please read in full all documents referred to.

Sources Consulted:

Amnesty International Electronic Immigration Network European Country of Origin Information Network Google Human Rights Watch Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada International Federation for Human Rights Refugee Documentation Centre Query Database Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights UK House of Commons UNHCR Refworld US Department of State

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