A/HRC/19/61/Add.4
(d) JUA 01/02/2011 Case No. EGY 4/2011 State reply: None to date Alleged arrests,
excessive use of force, killings, attacks against journalists, and disruptions in media
coverage and access to the Internet in relation to demonstrations.
50.
The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Egypt has not responded to
this communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human
Rights Council. The communication referred to allegations of arrests, enforced
disappearance, excessive use of force, killings, and attacks against journalists in Egypt
since 25 January 2011. According to the information received, the following demonstrators
were killed between 25 and 29 January 2011: Mutapha Ragab, aged 21, Sulaiman Saber,
aged 35, Ghareeb Abdulall, Fayez Fahim, Mohamed Ahmed Yosph, aged 23, Mahmoud
Ahmed Mahmoud, aged 26, Alae Abdelmehsen, Mustapha Abdellah, Mohamed Sha„ban
Bashir, aged 30, Mutafa Jamal Wardani, Eraddi Mohamed „eraddi, Ahmed Ali Mohamed,
Achraf Nour Al DIn Mohamed, aged 40, Islam Metwali Mohamed, Sharif Al Sayed
Redwan, Faraj Abdelfatah Awad, Mohamed Mahrous Anwar, Samir Abdellah, aged 55, Ali
Ahmed Ali, Abdelmajeed Abdelalim Abdelmajeed, aged 41. Moreover, information
received indicates that the following journalists suffered beatings and other ill-treatment by
security forces while covering the demonstrations: Mr. Asadallah al-Sawi, Mr. Ahmad
Mansour, Mr. Ben Wedemen and Ms. Mary Roger. Accordingly, the Special Rapporteur is
gravely concerned about the fate and whereabouts of demonstrators identified in the
communication. The Special Rapporteur affirms that repression of demonstrations with
excessive use of force constitutes either torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,
depending on the gravity of the pain and suffering inflicted on demonstrators. The Special
Rapporteur considers enforced disappearance a form of incommunicado detention and
notes that paragraph 8(b) of Human Rights Council Resolution 16/23 of 12 April 2011
asserts that “[p]rolonged incommunicado detention or detention in secret places 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, and urges all States to
respect the safeguards concerning the liberty, security and the dignity of the person and to
ensure that secret places of detention and interrogation are abolished.” Accordingly, based
on the information received, the Special Rapporteur determines that the rights under the UN
Convention against Torture of the identified journalists have been violated. The Special
Rapporteur calls on the Government to immediately investigate the whereabouts and fate of
the disappeared journalists, and ensure that perpetrators of torture and other ill-treatment
are prosecuted, no matter their military rank or other affiliation. Moreover, the Government
must ensure that all individuals whose rights have been violated obtain redress, including
fair and adequate compensation, and as full rehabilitation as possible.
(e) JAL 01/04/2011 Case No. EGY 6/2011 State reply: None to date Alleged torture inflicted
by the army on peaceful demonstrators.
51.
The Special Rapporteur regrets that the Government of Egypt has not responded to
this communication, thereby failing to cooperate with the mandate issued by the Human
Rights Council. The communication referred, inter alia, to the alleged torture of 18 women
detained by the Egyptian military during a peaceful protest in Tahrir Square. The women
were reportedly handcuffed, beaten, given electric shocks, and called prostitutes. 17 were
transferred to a military prison where prison guards subjected them to “virginity tests.” In
the absence of evidence to the contrary, the Special Rapporteur determines that the rights of
these individuals under the UN Convention against Torture have been violated, and calls on
the Government of Egypt to undertake a prompt, impartial and effective investigation of the
alleged acts of torture, leading to prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators, and to
provide redress to the victims.
24
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents