The International League Against Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Egypt to take all the necessary actions to implement the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention Opinion No. 70/2023 concerning Hussein Abdelrazek Abdelhafez Ismail and Mohamed Abdelrazek Abdelhafez Ismail, asking the Government of Egypt to immediately and unconditionally release them, and to accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning these individuals (Egypt): Opinion No. 70/2023.
TWO RELATIVES ARRESTED FOR THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO A JOURNALIST WHO CRITICISED THE GOVERNMENT
Hussein Abdelrazek Abdelhafez Ismail, a merchant in a mobile store born on 1 February 1983, and Mohamed Abdelrazek Abdelhafez Ismail, an administrator in a contracting company born on 5 July 1979, are both Egyptian nationals and residents of Agouza Governorate of Giza. According to the source, both men were targeted in relation to the views expressed by one of their relative living abroad, as part of his professional activities as a journalist, and against the Egyptian Government.
On 26 December 2013, both men were arrested in their family home by State security forces wearing civilian clothes and face masks and uniformed police officers, alongside all the other male members of their family. Following this, both men were held in an unkown location for four days, later revealed to be the State security headquarters in Al Dokki. During these four days, both individuals were solely questioned about this relative, and Mr. Mohamed Ismail was subjected to severe torture.
On 30 December 2013, both men were officially accused of belonging to a terrorist organization, and were sent to Giza Central Prison pending investigation. After two years of pre-trial detention, both individuals were transferred to Wadi Al-Natroum Prison and added to the "Giza ISIS Cell" case, charged with attempt to assassinate an officer, burning a police box, and possessing weapons. Ordered again into detention pending investigation, they were then transferred to Fayoum Prison in solitary confinement.
In a mass trial before the Terrorism Criminal Court on 22 October 2017, both men were tried and sentenced to 25 years in prison. In 2019, their attempt to appeal this decision was rejected. Since their sentencing, and so at the time of the source's communication, both individuals had been detained in Al-Minya Prison.
The Government of Egypt was given the opportunity to answer these allegations, which it did on 21 September 2023.
DETAINED BY ASSUMPTION, NOT ON A LEGAL BASIS
While according to the source both men were arrested on 26 December 2013 without an arrest warrant, according to the Government they were arrested in 2015. Considering the lack of details of the Government's version, as well as the numerous witnesses' accounts confirming the source's version, the Working Group considered that Messrs. Hussein and Mohamed Ismail were indeed arrested without an arrest warrant on 26 December 2013, and without any judicial authority ordering their detention. As such, the Working Group found a violation of articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 9(1) of the Covenant.
Following their arrest, Messrs. Hussein and Mohamed Ismail were subjected to a de facto enforced disappearance for 4 days, which the Working Group found in breach of article 9(1) of the Covenant. Under such circumstances, the Working Group also found they were denied their right to be recognised as persons before the law, in violation of article 6 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 16 of the Covenant.
As above-explained, both individuals were originally arrested for their relation to a family member, and eventually accused of partaking in a terrorist group four days after their arrest. Considering the lack of explanation concerning their alleged membership to the said group, not even the name of that group, the Working Group thus found that Messrs. Hussein and Mohamed Ismail were not promptly informed of the reasons for their arrests, nor of the charges existing against them.
Furthermore, Messrs. Hussein and Mohamed Ismail did not appear before a judicial authority within 48 hours following their arrest, which the Working Group considered a denial of their right to be brought promptly before a judge following their arrest, under article 9(3) of the Covenant. Not only this, but both men were held in pre-trial detention for about 4 years following their arrest. Considering that no alternative measure was ever examined, and the lack of justification for this pre-trial detention, the Working Group established this situation further violated article 9(3) of the Covenant.
Considering all the above, the Working Group found that the detention of Messrs. Hussein and Mohamed Ismail lacked a legal basis, rendering it arbitrary under Category I.
VIOLATION OF THE STANDARDS OF A FAIR TRIAL
The enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions of both Messrs. Hussein and Mohamed Ismail deprived them of their right to legal counsel at a critical stage of the proceedings and exposed them to a risk of coercion. As such, the Working Group found that their right to legal assistance and to prepare their defence, as well as the principle of equality of arms, enshrined in articles 10 and 11(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 14(3)(b) of the Covenant, had been violated. The Working Group noted that their compromised capacity to participate effectively in any court proceedings was later worsened, given that their charges were modified after 2 years in detention.
The Working Group further took note that Messrs. Mohamed and Hussein Ismail spent about four years in pre-trial detention. The Working Group recalled the right of the accused to be tried without undue delay, to which the Government had not presented any reason to justify the delay, therefore violating article 14(3)(c) of the Covenant.
The Working Group also expressed its concern at the allegations that both individuals were subjected to torture. Mr. Mohamed Ismail was subjected to beating, electric shocks and other forms of ill-treatment while Mr. Hussein Ismail faced ill-treatment by prison riot forces for participating in a hunger strike. Although the Government denied these allegations, it failed to provide the Working Group with any proof to believe otherwise. In consequence, the Working Group concluded that such treatment revealed a prima facie breach of the absolute prohibition of torture, as enshrined in the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Lastly, the Working Group considered that mass trial, wherein both Mr. Mohamed Ismail and Mr. Hussein Ismail were subjected and was not denied by the Government, did not meet the standards of a fair trial. Specifically, a mass trial risk seriously jeopardising the rights of the accused and preclude an individualised assessment of their culpability beyond reasonable doubt - which the Working Group found materialised in this case.
In these circumstances, the Working Group concluded that the breaches of the right to fair trial of Messrs. Mohamed and Hussein Ismail were of such gravity that it rendered their deprivation of liberty arbitrary under category III.
CONCLUSIONS OF THE UN WORKING GROUP AGAINST ARBITRARY DETENTION
In light of the foregoing, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention considered that the detention of Hussein Abdelrazek Abdelhafez Isamil and Mohamed Abdelrazek Abdelhafez Isamil was arbitrary and fell under categories I and III because their deprivation of liberty was in contravention of articles 3, 6, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 9, 14 and 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Working Group requested the Government of Egypt to take the steps necessary to remedy the situation of Mr. Hussein Ismail and Mr. Mohamed Ismail without delay and bring it into conformity with the relevant international norms. The Working Group considered that the appropriate remedy would be to release Mr. Hussein Ismail and Mr. Mohamed Ismail immediately and accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
The Working Group urged the Government to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr. Hussein Ismail and Mr. Mohamed Ismail and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of their rights.
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