A/HRC/28/68/Add.1 (f) JUA 20/05/2014 Case No. EGY 7/2014 State Reply: 05/06/2014 Allegations concerning the continued detention of Mr. Abdullah el-Shamy and the alleged denial of medical care in detention as well as the use of solitary confinement. 154. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Egypt for its reply, dated 06.06.2014, to the present communication. 155. The Rapporteur takes note of the information provided by the Government that Mr. el-Shamy was arrested on accusations of using a firearm on members of the security forces. The Rapporteur also notes that the case, as of the date of the reply, was still in the investigatory phase. 156. However, eight months later, as of the drafting of this report, the Rapporteur has not received any further information from the Government of Egypt regarding the investigation. 157. The Rapporteur finds that the Government, in its reply, does not sufficiently address the concerns, legal obligations, and questions raised in the initial communication, which prompts him to infer that the Government fails to fully and expeditiously cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13, as well as to comply with its obligation, under international customary law, to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as codified, inter alia, in the Convention against Torture (CAT). 158. In the absence of sufficient and compelling information to the contrary, the Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, reiterated above, and thus, that the Government of Egypt, by failing to formally charge Mr. el-Shamy, by denying him proper medical treatment, by subjecting him to prolonged solitary confinement, and by denying him proper access to his lawyer, has violated his right to be free from torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as provided by articles 1 and 16 of the CAT. (g) JUA 26/06/2014 Case No. EGY 9/2014 State Reply: 04/07/2014 Allegations concerning the confirmation of mass death sentences against 220 individuals by a criminal court in Minya, Egpyt. 159. The Special Rapporteur thanks the Government of Egypt for its reply, dated 04 July 2014, to the present communication. 160. The Rapporteur takes note of the information provided by the Government that 37 individuals were sentenced to death by a criminal court in Minya, Egypt, and that these sentences were immediately appealed. 161. The Rapporteur finds that the Government, in its reply, does not sufficiently address the concerns raised in the initial communication, thereby failing to fully and expeditiously cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. The Government fails as well to comply with its obligation, under international customary law, to investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as codified, inter alia, in the Convention against Torture (CAT). 162. As observed by the Special Rapporteur in his 2012-report to the General Assembly (A/67/279), there is evidence of an evolving standard within international bodies and a robust State practice to frame the debate about the legality of the death penalty within the context of the fundamental concepts of human dignity and the prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. This evolving standard, along with the resulting illegality of the death penalty under such prohibition, is developing into a norm of customary law, if it has not already done so (para. 74). The Special Rapporteur 27