A/HRC/31/57/Add.1 (j) JAL 10/11/2015 Case No. EGY 16/2015 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning the arrest and detention of human rights defender Mr. Hossam Bahgat. 142. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Egypt has not replied to the present communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. 143. In the absence of information to the contrary, the Rapporteur concludes that there is substance in the allegations presented in the initial communication, available via the link above, and thus that the Government of Egypt, by failing to protect the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Hossam Bahgat, including by subjecting him to incommunicado detention, has violated his right to be free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as provided by articles 2 and 16 of the CAT. 144. It has come to the attention of the Special Rapporteur that, as of the drafting of this report, the Government of Egypt has released Mr. Hossam Bahgat. The Special Rapporteur welcomes this development and would like to remind the State that prolonged incommunicado detention can facilitate the perpetration of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and can in itself constitute a form of such treatment, as stated in the paragraph 27 of General Assembly Resolution 68/156. Ethiopia (a) JUA 27/02/2015 and JUA 12/05/2015 Case No. ETH 1/2015 and ETH 3/2015 State Reply: None to date Allegations concerning the arbitrary arrest, detention, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, continued prolonged solitary confinement, and imposition of two death sentences of Mr. Andargachew Tsege, a British national, following his forced rendition and the imposition of an arbitrary death sentence, as well as allegations concerning his deteriorating mental and physical health. 145. The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has not replied to the present communications (both ETH 1/2015 and ETH 3/2015), thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human Rights Council in its resolution 25/13. In particular the letter expressed concerns regarding the alleged arbitrary arrest and detention, as well the prolonged solitary confinement and incommunicado detention, of Mr. Tsege, a British national and a political activist who has advocated for free elections and civil rights in Ethiopia. Mr. Tsege was tried in absentia for his political activism and sentenced to death and on 23 June 2014, Mr. Tsege was arrested in Yemen and then detained and sent back to Ethiopia where he has been denied access to his family and allegedly suffered cruel and inhumane treatment. 146. With regards to the allegations of prolonged solitary confinement, the Special Rapporteur would like to recall his interim report to the General Assembly of 5 August 2011 (A/66/268), wherein he defined solitary confinement, in accordance with the Istanbul Statement on the Use and Effects of Solitary Confinement, as the physical and social isolation of individuals who are confined in their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day. He observed that while solitary confinement for short periods of time may be justified under certain circumstances, with adequate and effective safeguards in place, the use of prolonged (in excess of 15 days under conditions of total isolation) or indefinite solitary confinement may never constitute a legitimate instrument of the State, as it may cause severe mental and physical pain or suffering, a point which has been reiterated in paragraph 28 of the General Assembly resolution 68/156 – Prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement runs afoul of the absolute prohibition of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Furthermore, due to the prisoner’s lack of communication, as well as the lack of witnesses inside the prison, solitary confinement may also give rise to other acts of torture or ill-treatment. 28