Egypt Torture
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Egypt Torture: A Systematic Practice First Follow-up Report Report to the Committee against Torture under Article 20 of the Convention against Torture 1 October 2012 Alkarama Foundation – 2bis Chemin des Vignes – 1209 Geneva – Switzerland ( +41 22 734 10 06 – 7 +41 22 734 10 34 – * [email protected] – 8 www.alkarama.org Table of Contents 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................. 3 2 DEVELOPMENTS IN EGYPT SINCE MARCH 2012 ........................................................... 3 3 OBLIGATIONS UNDER CONVENTION STILL UNFULFILLED ........................................... 5 4 ADDITIONAL CASES OF TORTURE IN EGYPT ................................................................. 5 4.1 Extrajudicial Executions Due to Torture ............................................................................. 5 4.2 Coerced Confessions Used in Unfair Trials ......................................................................... 8 4.3 The Issue of Impunity ...................................................................................................... 9 4.4 Torture of Minors ........................................................................................................... 11 4.5 Other Reports about Torture in Egypt ............................................................................. 13 5 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................... 14 ANNEXE 1 – EL-NADEEM CENTER REPORT ........................................................................ 15 ANNEXE 2 – EIPR REPORT ............................................................................................... 108 ANNEXE 3 – HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT ................................................................ 156 ANNEXE 4 – AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL REPORT ........................................................... 207 2 1 Introduction This is our first follow-up report for the Committee against Torture (the Committee) to be considered alongside our Original Communication entitled "Egypt – Torture: A Systematic Practice" dated March 2012. In this report, we provide further examples of cases of torture reported to us since the submission of our Original Communication. This concerns nine cases relating to more than 13 individuals, covering the period of February 2011 to the present day. These cases serve to highlight some of our concerns relating to torture in the country, and the long-term consequences these acts have – extrajudicial executions due to torture, unfair trials based on confessions made under torture leading to arbitrary detention, and of course, the issue of widespread impunity, which have not been sufficiently addressed despite the political changes taking place in the country, as well as the torture of minors. In addition, we provide as annexes reports prepared by other reliable organisations on the question of torture in Egypt, in support of the information presented in this report. Alkarama strongly urges the Committee to find that reliable information has been received which contains well-founded information indicating that torture is being systematically practiced in all places of detention in Egypt and that it should decide, as set out by article 20 (2), that a confidential enquiry be initiated. We also urge you to remind Egypt of its obligations under the convention, which it ratified in 1986. 2 Developments in Egypt since March 2012 The political situation in Egypt over the past 6 months has been more stable than that immediately following the revolution. However it is not completely stabilised, with the adoption of the new draft constitution due shortly, which will be followed by new parliamentary elections. On the streets, there continues to be ongoing protests and strikes demanding improvements in diverse rights and freedoms. On 19 March 2012, a referendum on constitutional amendments took place. The Egyptian people approved the referendum, voting in favour of nine amendments to the constitution. This referendum came after results of the elections to the People’s Assembly (Egypt’s lower house of parliament) were made public on 22 January 2012, with the Muslim Brotherhood winning over two-thirds of the vote, 216 seats out of a total of 498. Ten members of parliament were chosen directly by the head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) including three women and five Copts, in lieu of the President. In May, winners of the first round of the presidential elections were announced, with Mohamed Morsi and Ahmed Shafik, the last prime minister appointed under Mubarak, winning. In June 2012, days before the final results of the presidential elections were announced, the SCAF issued a constitutional declaration effectively granting itself a number of legislative powers, control over the budget and over who would write the permanent constitution. The Military Council also dissolved the parliament, claiming that one third of its membership had been elected illegally. It also moved to limit the authority of the presidency. This was labelled a coup by opposition figures, and was widely condemned by human rights organisations and international observers. On 24 June, President Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the primary opposition to Mubarak’s military dictatorship, was officially announced as the winner of the presidential elections. On 8 July President Morsi reconvened the parliament; however on 9 July the Military Council and the Supreme Constitutional Court reaffirmed the dissolution of the parliament. In late July, President Morsi appointed Prime Minister Mr Hesham Kandil, who himself appointed 35 ministers including two women and one Copt to the government. 3 On 4 August 2012, the new composition of the National Council for Human Rights was approved by the Shura Council (Egypt’s upper house, responsible for the work of the Council). However, the appointment of the 27 new members was widely criticised for being of a political nature, as it included politicians and public figures instead of human rights experts. The new membership was considered by many to be the weakest since the establishment of the Council during the Mubarak era. On 5 August, 16 Egyptian soldiers were killed by masked gunmen at an Egyptian Army checkpoint in Northern Sinai, on the border with Israel. Three days later, on 8 August 2012, Egypt deployed attack helicopters to strike at gunmen in the first airstrike in decades in the history of Egypt. On 12 August 2012, President Mohamed Morsi, announced the retirement of Defence Minister Field Marshal Mohamed Tantawi, and Army Chief of Staff Sami Anan along with several other senior generals. That same day, General Abdel Fattah El-Sisi was appointed as Commander-In-Chief of the Egyptian Armed Forces, Minister of Defense and Military Production, and Chairman of the SCAF by President Morsi. On 19 August, President Morsi issued a presidential pardon leading to the release of more than 6300 civilians tried in military courts as well as other political detainees. On 23 August 2012, President Morsi issued his first presidential decree prohibiting the arrest of journalists for crimes related to the publication of information by the press, after a journalist was arrested for publishing false news aiming to insult him. In September, protests took place in front of the American Embassy over an anti-Islamic film made in the United States. This led to tensions in the relationship between Egypt and the United States, as President Obama warned that relations would be jeopardized if anti-American attacks were not controlled and if American diplomats were not protected. Currently, a Constituent Assembly, composed of a hundred members elected by the Parliament, are drafting the new constitution which is due to be finalised and announced shortly, although the final publication date has not yet been announced. Despite these changes, Alkarama submits that the rates of torture in Egypt since our March 2012 report has not decreased, and continues, encouraged by the ongoing impunity described on page 10 of our Original Communication. In this regard, there are concerns about the possibility of a new state of emergency being declared, which would reinforce the sentiment of impunity that continues to date. The state of emergency, in force since 1958 (with a brief pause in 1980-1981), expired on 31 May 2012 and was not renewed. This was widely heralded as a positive step for Egypt. However, in early September, the Interior Ministry raised the question of whether the state of emergency should be re-introduced, and introduced a draft bill entitled 'protecting society from dangerous people', which is viewed by civil society as replicating the worst features of the former emergency law. This was condemned by other parts of the government, and while President Morsi has yet to adopt the bill, Alkarama fears that such a move would grant extended powers to security forces and lead to increased human rights abuses. In an effort to reverse the trend of the systematic use of torture in Egypt, Alkarama submitted detailed suggestions on the amendments of some articles relating to the definition of torture in the Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedures to the Parliament. We sought to bring the definition of torture in line with the Convention. We were pleased by the approval given by the parliament’s Suggestions and Complaint Committee to the amendments we submitted on