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. 20/2023 concerning Islam Atef Omar Jaballah and Abdelsamad Mahmoud Mohamed al-Fiqi starting for the Government of Egypt to immediately and unconditionally release and accord them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations in accordance with international law.
Read the full WGAD Opinion concerning Islam Atef Omar Jaballah and Abdelsamad Mahmoud Mohamed al-Fiqi (Egypt): Opinion No. 20/2023
UNLAWFULLY ARRESTED, SUBJECTED TO ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE AND REPEATED DETENTION FOR 5 YEARS
Islam Atef Omar Jaballah is an Egyptian national born on 26 May 1984. He is a pharmacist and is married with four children. Abdelsamad Mahmoud Mohamed al-Fiqi is an Egyptian national born on 7 December 1964. Prior to his arrest, Mr. al-Fiqi worked in the educational field. He is married and has three children.
Mr. Jaballah was arrested on 4 May 2018 by State security officers and forced into a van while he was walking home from the mosque in Kawm Hamadah city. Mr. al-Fiqi was arrested on 21 June 2018 by security officers in plainclothes who broke into his house, damaged items, and took hundreds of thousands of Egyptian pounds and Mr. al-Fiqi’s passport. At the time of their arrest, neither Mr. Jaballah nor Mr. al-Fiqi were shown an arrest warrant or provided with an explanation of the reasons for the arrest, which the Working Group found in violation of articles 3 and 9 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 9 of the Covenant and principles 2, 4 and 10 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
Following their arrest, both Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi were reportedly taken to undisclosed detention facilities and subjected to enforced disappearance. Mr. Jaballah was subjected to enforced disappearance for almost four months following his arrest Mr. Al-Fiqi was reportedly subjected to enforced disappearance twice, the first time for 24 days and the second time for six months, in violation of article 9 (1) of the Covenant. The enforced disappearances resulted in the incommunicado detention of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi, precluding them from being brought promptly before a judge or other officer authorized to exercise judicial power, in violation of articles 9 (3) and 9 (4) of the Covenant. Given that they were not able to challenge their detention, their right to an effective remedy under article 8 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 2 (3) of the Covenant was also violated.
Mr. Jaballah was ordered to be released after he reached the maximum two years in pretrial detention. Instead of being released, he was charged with a second case and a new pretrial detention for Mr. Jaballah was issued. He was subsequently charged in a third case with joining a terrorist group. Mr. al-Fiqi was ordered to be released on 25 May 2019 and transferred to await his release. After two weeks he was taken to an undisclosed location and subjected to enforced disappearance for six months, following which he was charged in another case with joining a terrorist group.
The Supreme State Security Prosecution failed to implement the release orders of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi and kept the two men in pretrial detention until they were charged with another case, as part of a systematic practice known as “rotation” whereby Egyptian authorities detain political prisoners as part of multiple separate cases, usually on similar charges, to ensure that they remain in pretrial detention. The Working Group expressed their concern over this systemic practice and found it in violation of the rights of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi under Article 9 (1) and 9 (3) of the Covenant and the Criminal Procedure Code of Egypt.
Consequently, the Working Group concluded that the arrests and detentions of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi are arbitrary under category I.
SUBJECTED TO ACTS OF TORTURE AND DENIED THEIR RIGHTS TO DUE PROCESS
The Working Group found that the enforced disappearances and incommunicado detentions to which both Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi were subjected to deprived them of their right to legal counsel at a critical stage of criminal proceedings and exposed them to a risk of coercion, which according to the source indeed took place, in violation of articles 10 and 11 (1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 14 (3) (b) of the Covenant.
Further, Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi were subjected to severe torture and ill-treatment, especially during the period that they were disappeared. The Working Group determined that, not only does torture constitute a grave violation of human rights per se, but it undermined the ability of persons to defend themselves and hinders their right to a fair trial. It found therefore a breach of the absolute prohibition of torture and of the Convention against Torture, principle 6 of the Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment and rule 1 of the Nelson Mandela Rules. The Working Group expressed its gravest concern at the allegations of torture and ill-treatment brought forward. Lastly, the Working Group also noted that both Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi spent about five years in pretrial detention. The Working Group was presented with no justifications for this, in violation of the rights of the accused to be tried without undue delay, in violation of article 14 (3) (c) of the Covenant.
Therefore, the Working Group concluded that the arrest and detention of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi are 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 Mr. Jaballah and Mr. Al-Fiqi was arbitrary and fell under categories I and III because their deprivation of liberty of was in contravention of articles 3, 8, 9, 10 and 11 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and articles 2, 6, 9, 14 and 16 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
The Working Group urged the government of Egypt to ensure a full and independent investigation of the circumstances surrounding the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi and to take appropriate measures against those responsible for the violation of their rights. The Working Group considered that, taking into account all the circumstances of the case, the appropriate remedy would be to take the necessary steps to remedy the situations of Mr. Jaballah and Mr. al-Fiqi without delay and bring them into conformity with the relevant international norms, starting with their immediate release and according them an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, in accordance with international law.
The Working Group also noted that the present opinion is one of many in recent years finding the Government to be in violation of its international human rights obligations, and expressed their concern that this indicates a systemic problem with arbitrary detention in Egypt, including through the unlawful practice of rotation. The Working Group recalled that, under certain circumstances, widespread or systematic imprisonment or other severe deprivation of liberty in violation of the rules of international law may constitute crimes against humanity.
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